Editorial: Brackenridge proposal: Take your ball and go home

The lament about kids these days is often about laziness.

They don’t get up. They don’t go outside. They’re always on their phones or video game systems or online. Remember when kids would actually run around and do things?

There’s some truth in there, but there are also some problems.

Why? Because 20, 30, 40 years ago, people expected kids to be outside and didn’t discourage it. If you weren’t in school or doing chores, your parents tended to push you outside to amuse yourself.

Maybe you didn’t have a yard or a park, but there was always a parking lot or an alley or a sleepy residential street where the kids could have a quick pickup game of whatever the sport of the moment happened to be.

For some neighborhoods, that kind of juvenile camaraderie can hold on as local kids haul out a hoop to play basketball or a goal for hockey or soccer.

But maybe not in Brackenridge. At least not for much longer.

A proposed ordinance is a response to what officials say are multiple residential complaints about bouncing balls causing damage and game play obstructing traffic. Games would be banished from streets and sidewalks because of the potential to “endanger the health, safety and welfare of both pedestrians and motorists.”

The penalty? A warning the first time but a fine of up to $1,000 for each instance after that. Good luck getting that from a 10-year-old.

When the Tribune-Review posted the story about this to social media, the reaction was swift and vehement. Of the hundreds of comments, almost all agree the move is overreach. In addition to suggesting the council pay closer attention to more obvious problems like blighted properties, the commenters state what should be clear:

Why target kids doing something healthy and wholesome like playing the same sports the same way their parents and grandparents did? Support the kids and keep them where you can see them, and they are less likely to fall into destructive and dangerous things such as drugs and crime.

Kids play games. They need to be encouraged to do so safely and responsibly, but is banning the games the best way to do that? Is it even better for the community at all? An area that is inhospitable to children and families isn’t likely to be popular for homebuyers, and that could ultimately affect all taxpayers badly.

Overall, this seems like burning down the house to kill a spider — an overreaction out of proportion to the problem.

If Brackenridge leaders would prefer to keep kids in the house playing the PlayStation version of basketball instead of the real thing, well, OK. But someone will probably cry foul if families get the message they should take their ball and find a new home.