NEWSBYKERALA TAYLOR

[This post comes from Kerala Taylor, Online Content Manager at KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to saving play for America's children. --Eds.]

In this simultaneously uplifting and disheartening story from the National Post, four teenagers took a stand against a decades-old law in Toronto, Canada that bans children from playing hockey on residential streets.

Andrew Polanyi, age 13, insisted, “Roads aren’t only for cars.” He said of street hockey: “It’s fun for us, and it keeps us active, not to always play video games.” Andrew and three friends brought a petition with more than 125 signatures to City Hall a few weeks ago to request that the ban be lifted.

In a day and age when one in three children are overweight or obese, and when the average child spends 7.5 hours a day in front of a screen, kids need all the outdoor playtime they can get. But in Edgewater, Florida, a homeowner association cares more about peace and quiet than it does about the health and well-being of neighborhood children.

The Persimmon Place HOA’s new list of proposed rules includes no running, no playing tag, no “act[ing] boisterously on the association property,” and no playing at all in “common areas” or parking lots. In other words, kids can no longer be kids. The punishment for noncompliance? A $100 fine.

The ban has allegedly been proposed because of “safety concerns.” Not only must kids walk and use their “indoor voices” outside, but they must also be supervised by a “responsible” adult at all times, regardless of whether they are three or 11 years old. HOA board member Kim Scott said of residents with children, “They came in and rented (a home) in a community that does not have a playground and is not conducive to children. Then they expect the children to play in the driveways and parking lot. You wouldn't see them playing in the parking lot at Walmart or Kmart, but they come here and turn the children loose.”