Soon, those days of having a picnic in the grass or taking your dog on a stroll in the park could be long gone—illegal, in fact. L.A. councilman Mitch O'Farrell has proposed banning adults from being in city parks without a child present. Seems pretty drastic right? O'Farrell has proposed the ban due to drug deals in local parks, so at least his heart is in the right place. The ban would make it so that adults not in the company of children would have to stay outside of an (as-yet undefined) perimeter around any playground or play area aimed at children within all city parks.
According to KTLA, a statement from O'Farrell's office says, "As city leaders, we owe this to families to create safe spaces for their children at city play areas. Our park facilities should be a safe haven, and we must do our part to provide proper shelter for our kids."
While the proposed ban has been reported on by multiple outlets, it seems O'Farrell's office is backing off a bit.
The L.A. Times wrote a harsh editorial about the ban, but it garnered a harsh response from O'Farrell.There is no proposed ban of adults in parks, or near children's play areas for that matter. @octopushat @latimes
— Mitch O'Farrell (@MitchOFarrell) December 28, 2016
Unfortunately @jaydee4673 -the @latimes still doesn't understand the very limited scope of the proposal. @ericgarcetti
— Mitch O'Farrell (@MitchOFarrell) December 27, 2016
So what exactly is O'Farrell trying to do? Looks like we will have to wait to see. And in the meantime, we'll be taking our childless-selves to our nearby playground for some thrills on the swings while we still can. See you there?
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