Lying under the sun at the park always conjures up childhood nostalgia – something stressed-out college students need in larger doses. Now imagine if we weren’t able to enjoy these simple comforts.
College students and other childless adults may face this reality. Mitch O’Farrell, a member of the Los Angeles City Council, has created a heavy-handed proposal that bans childless adults from accessing playgrounds, allowing only children and their supervisors free range. The restricted access would be marked with signs, and people who violate the regulations could be ticketed. Supposedly the plan would protect children from illegal drug activity, but it just seems like an inefficient way to keep adults out of parks.
And even though this proposal has been panned by a plethora of negative reviews, it’s somehow still alive. O’Farrell has asked the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney to write up a draft for the proposal.
While the safety of children should always be a priority, this plan does not aid the community as a whole. This proposed ordinance hides unwanted activities from the public eye but does nothing to actually stop the problem from occurring.
Instead of banning adults from local playgrounds altogether, park playgrounds should be better monitored, whether that be with security officers or surveillance cameras. Monitoring the playground via security cameras would be an ideal solution that accomplishes the same safety goals without excluding anyone from playgrounds and other areas in the park.
Some cities in Florida and New York have already enacted similar restrictions, which have made playgrounds strictly for children and their adult supervisors. But instead of protecting local children, the laws have only given people some ridiculous citations. In New York City, seven men were cited for playing chess at a playground, and another woman was ticketed simply for eating a doughnut.
That’s not what we need in Los Angeles. O’Farrell’s proposed regulation would prevent adults – college students included – from enjoying the amenities our public spaces have to offer. As a college student, sitting on the grass at the park is a chance to leave all worries behind for a brief period of time. Reminiscing about the good days of having no responsibilities by swinging on the swings and monkey bars is inevitable. And a few minutes of watching carefree children enjoying the jungle gym can help melt away the stress of midterms and projects.
Under the proposal, adults who live near small parks – including UCLA students – might not be able to use them at all. Kenia Gomez, a second-year English student and dog owner, said that traveling farther to another park would make it a lot more troublesome to enjoy simple things, such as walking her dog.
“The park is a place I rely on to let my dog go out and enjoy himself,” said Stephanie Maldonado, a second-year philosophy student and dog owner. “I don’t have a backyard so I rely on the nearby park to take my dog out.”
Furthermore, the proposal wouldn’t even help safety. The signs that would mark the restricted areas are a laughably inefficient way to enforce this regulation. They wouldn’t stop anyone from entering playground areas. Sure, the city could decide to surround sandboxes with barbed wire fences and have an entrance patrolled by a bouncer-like employee who checks ID of kids and adults in order to ward off all childless adults. But why go through all the trouble? It would make the city’s public spaces more like an exclusive club with no clear benefit.
Playgrounds should improve security instead of imprisoning children into a sandbox or posting up signs that result in fines if violated. Surveillance cameras that constantly monitor the park for actual illegal activities would be a safer, more efficient and more just option for both children and adults. And whichever bouncer-like security officers who would be keeping adults off public property can instead focus on stopping actual illegal activities from happening – not renegade chess games.
Although the public park might not be the most ideal place to reunite with friends or go on a date, it should always be an option because it is after all, a public park. College students should have the liberty of going to the park to relive high school memories with friends, or just to blow off some steam. So let us enjoy the sun, the swings and the park benches without fear of repercussions.