I cameacross this article last night about some kids from California. Apparently a couple of industrious 12 year old brothers cleaned out an empty lot near their house, took the discarded wood and (with their parents’ permission) built a fort in their backyard. Now it seems the city of Hesperia (where they live) is demanding that they tear it down due to "a safety issue.”
When I was a kid, even younger than 12, I spent endless hours with my friend trying to build a fort in his backyard. It basically amounted to us nailing a bunch of scrap wood to some random trees, but it was fun. If we ever got anything even remotely resembling a fort built it would have destroyed me to have to tear it down. I realize that things are different now – kids have to wear bike helmets, can’t sit in the front seat of the car etc. – all for their own safety, but can’t a couple of kids have a fort anymore? And what will my baby do in a few years that her kids won’t be allowed to do? All of this kind of bums me out.