by Amna El Tawil
It’s the right of every child to have a carefree life with peace, safety, and freedom to play with their friends. Unfortunately, kids are victims of trafficking and it’s needless to mention that pedophiles are lurking on the internet, around schools, even at playgrounds. It’s disgusting and kids should be protected. While most people assume the protection would come in the form of stricter laws and other measures, LA councilman proposed a solution that shocked everyone – playground ban for all single adults without kids. That would mean that if you’re an adult person without the presence of a child, you wouldn’t be able to, let’s say sit on the bench and relax and so on.
Council member Mitch O’Farrell proposed that adults who are not accompanying children should be banned from the perimeter of playgrounds in the parks and ticketed for violating the regulation. The Democrat said he is putting forward the motion following complaints from his constituents about drug dealing in the city parks. The council is due to debate the proposal in coming weeks.
The proposal is based on a similar law in New York which led to an uproar in 2011 after two women were ticketed for eating donuts on a park bench near a playground. According to the NRPA: “Enforcement of the exclusive playground rule has generated some adverse media publicity for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks). In one instance, seven men were cited for playing chess in a playground park. In another, a woman was ticketed for eating a doughnut in a park playground.”
@mfpseth @MitchOFarrell @latimes pic.twitter.com/F7MAywTxKe
— Oliver-Sweeney-Cohen (@dd10023) December 29, 2016
Further commentary: Critics have rounded on the idea as a nanny-state affront to single people. Also, it’s not just about single people, it’s the idea that every adult who’s in the area without a child is considered dangerous. Some innocent man can be regarded as a drug dealer, pedophile, and so on. This type of generalization only contributes to the rising trend of discrimination and if you ask me, we have enough of that today. End of commentary.
It comes as no wonder why the proposed ban was met with such a harsh criticism. The Los Angeles Times editorial wrote: “Who wouldn’t want to ban creepy activity or creepy people from playgrounds? But what O’Farrell is proposing goes far beyond targeting worrisome activities that, in most cases, are already outlawed. It would bar any adult from sitting on a bench, exercising or otherwise enjoying public space near playground unless he or she brought a child along. Is this really necessary?… O’Farrell argues that we can’t assume every adult who wanders into a children’s play area is benign. But why should the city assume that every adult without a child is a pedophile? That makes a childless adult a criminal just for being in a particular public space, which is an overreach that can lead to foolish enforcement — like ticketing people for sitting on a bench eating donuts.”
His Facebook page was swamped by comments from people who don’t agree with the proposed ban, but at this point, all guest posts are deleted and it’s not possible to add new ones. However, The Guardian mentioned several, including:
- “I am a single person, who has often had legitimate reasons to spend time in a children’s playground without a child,” wrote Krystal Rains. “I take offense at the implication that I am a danger to anyone, child or adult when doing so.”
- “That is ludicrous, I’m a woman over 60 years old and I can’t go to a playground,” said another post, from Cathy Prange. “My best memories are of my children and how much fun we had.”
- Robert Alvarez said: “You can spin it any way you want but you are stigmatizing single people who visit the park as pedophiles. Shame on you.”
- “I have a bad back, and frequently use playground equipment to hang, and stretch out my back. Would you make me a criminal for trying to get some pain relief?” wrote Gary Lynch.
After the uproar, O’Farrell tried to justify his proposal mentioning it only applies to certain areas of parks and playgrounds, but do you believe him?
Great work, Amana. I know people are going to think I am crazy, but after learning about pedophilia and child sex trafficking I agree with this drastic measure. There are too many children being molested and kidnapped. It is at an epidemic level.
You may not understand the point of Amna’s article, Crazy.
I do, but I am far out on what I believe. I actually think and agree with that single or lone entities should not be allowed in parks any longer. Leave the parks to children and parents. Things have just gotten too serious and risky, and we must take radical steps to secure the children.
Nonsense. By your argument you could ban people of color by racially profiling drug dealers in a local lockup. Your argument is similar to that used to restrict Jews in Nazi Germany. If there’s a concern, install cameras. I don’t want to live in a police state where I have to worry about where I eat my lunch. The presumption of innocence is a basic human right.
In my opinion…pedophiles have no basic human right. Once an innocent child has been preyed upon by these demons, their entire life is ruined. There must be a plan in place to protect the children first and foremost. Yes, I am radical at this point!
So your plan is to throw away the Constitution and put your life (and your children’s) lives in the hands of Big Brother? I’d rather see free psychiatric care for pedophiles and parents/teachers/caregivers, watch over your children! Don’t expect government to do everything for you…
There is currently no cure for pedophilia. In my opinion, pedophiles are first and foremost Satanists. We are currently fighting a battle between good and evil. The victims are children, and their victimization by Satanic pedophiles are at an epidemic level. Have you ever known or heard of a good pedophile? No, most crimes as of late seems to be done by pedophiles. Think about most amber alerts…it seems most of these children are kidnapped by a pedophile. OK…I will tell you what…just place a huge sign at the entrance of the park: All pedophiles will be arrested. Humiliate them, scare them, just keep them out. They must be stopped. They are not redeemable. Trust me. I have researched this.
I want free psychiatric care for anyone who has pedophilic tendencies….let ’em walk in and get immediate treatment before they get to our kids….I’ll bet lots of Psych cases with voices in their heads would willingly get help if they knew there was a way to treat them confidentially. If we want to solve this problem, throwing then in jail after they’ve ruined a child’s life isn’t the answer. You think jail will correct the mind of a psychopath?
You make a good point, but frankly I don’t think they want help.
Parks are paid for by all taxpayers, not just parents. Are we going to start rebating single and childless taxpayers for their share? Schools are also paid for by all taxpayers so the same question pertains there, and to a greater degree.
I think you’re correct in identifying yourself as a radical, though.
I admit I am a radical thinker about pedophilia at this time, but I think it is rampant. We know for sure that pedophiles hang around children; therefore, we need to have a plan in the system to monitor and make laws using the information we find through the monitoring. I no longer respect the rights of a pedophile…they deserve no rights. We must come up with a way to monitor children’s playground areas and keep pedophiles out of these areas. Most parents are not doing enough to protect their children from this garbage.
California…the land of Fruits and Nuts.