Local kids an asset

August 04, 2008 09:17 am

— Editor, Daily Press:
This is a letter I sent to Tahlequah Mayor Ken Purdy in response to the ordinance prohibiting the use of skateboards in Norris Park.
I cannot tell you how personally disappointed I am with you and Park Medearis for signing this ordinance into agreement. It is a sad day for the city of Tahlequah.
One of the things that make our town awesome is our kids. Believe me, it is not the cranky old folks. I attend church, work a daytime job, and am the director of The Music Room downtown. My undergrad degree is in music (Oklahoma State University) and my graduate study is in philosophy (applied ethics) from Colorado State University. I have travelled extensively in the United States from coast to coast. We have some of the most wonderful skateboarders I have ever met.
I interact with Tahlequah teens every day. I have seen more disturbing behavior come from the NSU and city police than I have from the majority of our kids hanging out. Of course, there will always be the one who ruins it for everyone, something I studied extensively in my graduate work in applied ethics.
It is sad to see our mayor succumb to this type of mentality… to punish the majority over actions of the (very) few. Anyone who knows anything about kids knows that it does no good to simply tell them “no” without demonstrating how to handle problems. Problems need to be addressed in a group manner, not by some heavy handed legislation.
You are teaching our children nothing by this, except to further distrust the authority that has no faith in them in the first place. Our kids are our future. If you want people to continue to leave Tahlequah because there is nothing here for kids, keep up this kind of work.
I don’t know whose interest you are protecting, but it is not our kids. It was comforting to know they could hang at the park in public and we could know where they are … right in plain sight. The kids hanging there give a wonderful vibe to our town. Now there will be a horrible situation between police and teens as the police seek to enforce this ordinance and continue to harass (yeah, I said it!) our kids.
Hopefully, I am being too hard on you and you have plans for a wonderful skate park in the hopper right now. Please correct me if this is the case. I would be interested in knowing, because I promise to protect the interests of skateboarding … one of the most “green” ways of travel for a small town.
I promise to do my best to relieve people of the false belief that skateboarding is a crime.
Dana Waters
Tahlequah