I Stopped To Watch Kids Playing at Recess. Security Was Called.
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood—that neighborhood being Queens in New York City. I was walking by one of the local elementary schools and slowed down to watch the girls doing cartwheels at recess. They practice it over and over again, which is proof that kids learn frustration-tolerance and focus during unstructured free play. That's why I'm such a fan of it.
I stopped to watch another gaggle of kids playing hopscotch like I used to do. The teacher or teacher's aide looked over at me through a 20-foot-high chainlink fence and said: "Ma'am, you cannot stand there. You have to move."
"I really think I'm allowed to stay here," I said, half angry, half baffled. I am allowed to stay on a public sidewalk, separated from the kids by a fence, aren't I?
After walking a bit beyond the playground, I paused to think about what had just happened. I took out my phone and tweeted this:
