no road hockey...and no skateboarding....

[skategeezer]

Gee, and they wonder why childhood obesity is going through the roof....

New road hockey ban frustrates youngsters

Doug Hallett, Guelph, Ontario




Madeline and Evan Rolfe are having a tough time understanding why the condominium in which they live is banning the great Canadian tradition of road hockey.

"I don't think it is really fair, because we just want to play and we haven't hurt anybody while doing it," says Madeline, 11, whose family is renting a condominium unit in the south end's Pine Ridge subdivision.

"We haven't done anything wrong, we just want to play. We don't play at night when people are trying to sleep," she adds.

Her nine-year-old brother Evan agrees. "I don't think it's very nice," he says of the new rule passed by the condominium banning all games and sports on the development's roads, effective Dec. 1. The roads are private and not part of the City of Guelph's road network.

"It's just road hockey, and we're not throwing pucks at their windows or anything," Evan says.

John Rolfe said his two children had missed road hockey while living in England the past few years and were looking forward to it. Coming back to Guelph earlier this year, "the children felt free" because of the extra space in Canada and the prospect of being able to get exercise playing road hockey.

Noted Madeline about the new rule: "It's almost like they're trying to say they want us to play video games and watch TV all the time."

Rolfe said his children "are disappointed, because I think they really don't understand what motivates adults to show so little sympathy towards their needs."

Residents of a condominium development called The Cottages, off Lowes Road near Edinburgh Road, recently received notices from the condo corporation saying its board is banning all games and sports on the roads, as well as all "coasting" on sleighs, skateboards, rollerskates, inline skates, carts, children's wagons and toboggans.

The notice says the rule was developed as a result of increased activity on the roads, as well as toys and play equipment left on the street, obstructing the flow of traffic and causing a safety hazard.

It's interesting that bicycling, which adult residents enjoy, isn't being forbidden on the roads, Rolfe noted.

His wife, Karen, said it's easy to cite safety concerns, "but I think there's more to it than that."

It could be that these activities mean some people don't find the development as aesthetically pleasing or quiet as they'd like, she suggested.
Her husband said only five children, all under the age of 12, have been playing road hockey in the development, which he figures has about 50 units. His children have also been skateboarding and rollerblading.

"When children get together at this time of year," he said, "it's natural they'll play road hockey."

Older residents in the development seem to have "forgotten they were young once" and are "practising ageism" against youngsters in the development, said Rolfe, who, like his wife, grew up and were educated in this area.
He said he wonders where this sort of thing might lead. "I think it's the beginning of the end of children's play."

His job in recent years with the Scouting Association in England has given him a particular viewpoint on the issue.

"My job has been to create international children's programming," he said. "So I really do know what I'm talking about when I talk about children's right to play."
If adverse publicity doesn't change the condominium board's mind, Rolfe said his kids will have to abide by the new rule, come December.
"We wouldn't break the rules," he said. "I guess I just think it's a sad state of affairs, and that ageism is really at the heart of it."

[phidauex]

NO PLAYING!! DON'T PLAY!!

Stupid children, you think you can just run around and laugh and skip and be free?!? YOU SIT!! Watch scheduled educational programming!! BE QUIET!!

BIG ADULTS HAVE BUSINESS TO DO. Like drive our big ugly cars way too fast up the development streets!! I popped a tire driving over your bike! STUPID CHILD!! I should make you pay for that!

.....

This sort of thing really pisses me off. That little 11 year old Madeline has the right idea though, she's a smart one.

peace,
sam