Tweet
Source: https://www.latimes.com/california/s...ed-playgrounds
Angry parents won’t let officials slide over closed playgrounds, packed malls
By Hailey Branson-PottsStaff Writer
Dec. 3, 2020
5 AM
Sydney Beckman ran beneath the yellow caution tape surrounding the empty playground equipment and flopped her tiny body over a swing.
The 2-year-old had tried opening a gate blocking the big green slide at Anderson Park in Redondo Beach, but her dad had tugged her away — trying to explain that the playground was closed. They would, he joked, have to sneak back “under cover of darkness.”
“Look at her! She looks so sad,” Zachary Beckman said, laughing at her small act of defiance.
But the transformation of the playground into a no-fun zone angered the 38-year-old father in a way that belied his laughter.
Los Angeles County closed outdoor public playgrounds this week as part of a set of restrictions meant to slow an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. To many parents confounded by an array of official dictates — playgrounds and in-person schooling closed but malls open for business and packed with shoppers — a line in the sandbox has been crossed.
“Parents are really taking the brunt of all this,” Beckman said. “I understand the need for safety, but the inconsistencies and lack of logic is very frustrating.”
A few feet away, three adults played on the tennis court, which remains open. None wore masks.
Nine weary months in, many Californians have entered the “why-is-this-closed-while-that-is-open” stage of the pandemic.
And as new restrictions take effect, those who have followed the rules say they are having an increasingly hard time taking orders from politicians who don’t always seem to heed their own advice.
Angry parents pointed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attendance at a birthday dinner at the French Laundry in Napa Valley, even as he was warning against Thanksgiving dinner gatherings; L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl dining out in Santa Monica hours after voting last week to uphold a ban on outdoor dining; and state lawmakers flying to Hawaii last month to schmooze with interest groups while health officials were discouraging travel.
“The economic disparities of how they’re enforcing the rules is just obscene,” Beckman said “It’s clear that California is being run by the wealthy, not people with families. They opened up bars before playgrounds — how is that?”
Many fume over the county’s decisions to close outdoor public playgrounds and ban outdoor dining while allowing a slew of indoor businesses to stay open at reduced capacity — including shopping malls, tattoo and massage parlors and hair salons.
While children’s jungle gyms and monkey bars have been deemed too dangerous, tennis courts, golf courses, beaches, skate parks and hiking trails are still open. So too are outdoor gym classes with sweaty adults.
Playgrounds have emerged as focal points of the anger. The county has not publicly linked coronavirus outbreaks to playgrounds...
Angry parents won’t let officials slide over closed playgrounds, packed malls
By Hailey Branson-PottsStaff Writer
Dec. 3, 2020
5 AM
Sydney Beckman ran beneath the yellow caution tape surrounding the empty playground equipment and flopped her tiny body over a swing.
The 2-year-old had tried opening a gate blocking the big green slide at Anderson Park in Redondo Beach, but her dad had tugged her away — trying to explain that the playground was closed. They would, he joked, have to sneak back “under cover of darkness.”
“Look at her! She looks so sad,” Zachary Beckman said, laughing at her small act of defiance.
But the transformation of the playground into a no-fun zone angered the 38-year-old father in a way that belied his laughter.
Los Angeles County closed outdoor public playgrounds this week as part of a set of restrictions meant to slow an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. To many parents confounded by an array of official dictates — playgrounds and in-person schooling closed but malls open for business and packed with shoppers — a line in the sandbox has been crossed.
“Parents are really taking the brunt of all this,” Beckman said. “I understand the need for safety, but the inconsistencies and lack of logic is very frustrating.”
A few feet away, three adults played on the tennis court, which remains open. None wore masks.
Nine weary months in, many Californians have entered the “why-is-this-closed-while-that-is-open” stage of the pandemic.
And as new restrictions take effect, those who have followed the rules say they are having an increasingly hard time taking orders from politicians who don’t always seem to heed their own advice.
Angry parents pointed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attendance at a birthday dinner at the French Laundry in Napa Valley, even as he was warning against Thanksgiving dinner gatherings; L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl dining out in Santa Monica hours after voting last week to uphold a ban on outdoor dining; and state lawmakers flying to Hawaii last month to schmooze with interest groups while health officials were discouraging travel.
“The economic disparities of how they’re enforcing the rules is just obscene,” Beckman said “It’s clear that California is being run by the wealthy, not people with families. They opened up bars before playgrounds — how is that?”
Many fume over the county’s decisions to close outdoor public playgrounds and ban outdoor dining while allowing a slew of indoor businesses to stay open at reduced capacity — including shopping malls, tattoo and massage parlors and hair salons.
While children’s jungle gyms and monkey bars have been deemed too dangerous, tennis courts, golf courses, beaches, skate parks and hiking trails are still open. So too are outdoor gym classes with sweaty adults.
Playgrounds have emerged as focal points of the anger. The county has not publicly linked coronavirus outbreaks to playgrounds...