Editor:
Some child development experts have said that playgrounds have negatively affected kids and that they were much better off playing in streets, backyards, and vacant lots. That was sure my experience; one of our best ever play areas as kids were the three- and four-storey apartment buildings under construction in the West End in the late ’40s. I still remember our adventures at the one next to Ken Power’s home at Haro and Guilford when there was no one around. The leftover, short 2x4s and other wood scraps were our treasures.
Today we are robbing children of the risk, adventure, exploration, discovery, and improvisation that are their birthrights. Sanitizing, commodifying, and domesticating their world are the real hazards in the lives of the young.
I have a picture in my collection about childhood that says that the world’s best toys are sticks, rocks, water, dirt, and buckets. To that list, I would add trees, mates, dogs, string and rope, an old bike, and a good jackknife. I would also include the vital elements of freedom to roam, knowing one’s community, and lots of unscheduled time. I welcome other stories about real kid stuff in the old days and additional ways to return childhood to children.
Garfield Pennington, Roberts Creek
