Parents abdicate role

Playgrounds, pools and parks are not a substitute for supervision of children. It is increasingly evident that parents are relying on public areas like parks to “baby-sit” their children, instead of doing their job and raising their kids and teaching them basic things, like safety.

For example, Monday morning, I was driving the slower speed limit of 20 mph on Maxwell Street near A.M. Cannon water park. There were five children, some on bikes, with no adult in sight. I know many people ignore the new speed limit posting, so it was fortunate that I was the car those children darted in front of (several times) in the middle of the street. This was not the “look both ways, then cross the street quickly” that my parents taught me. This was kids running in front of my car with no warning, back and forth across the street.

Where were the parents? If you don’t teach your children basic safety, like “Don’t run out into the middle of the street,” then your children have no business being in public unsupervised. If children are our future, the future is looking bleak.

D’Aun Robinson

Spokane