Kids have a right to play outdoors

I am one of the residents mentioned in the recent Acorn HOA rules article and would like to reply to one the letters of last week.

The original rules of 1980 stated that "every owner of a lot shall have a right and easement of ingress and egress and enjoyment in and to the common areas."

Because they have the time, retirees of this community have attended HOA meetings over the years and totally eroded the children's right to play outside.

Parents collect their children from school, cook meals and help with their homework and do not have the time to attend these HOA meetings. I am sure if pressed, the retirees of this estate will admit to the pleasures of their own childhood- removing training wheels from their first bicycle, learning to roller skate.

Yes, children do exist here- this is not a retirement community. We do not want or need HOA self-appointed police to jump on the children as soon as they step outside and to threaten the parent with fines if they do not comply. We are all adults and perfectly capable of letting a neighbor know if their child is misbehaving.

Myself and all of my immediate neighbors have never once had to complain about noisy children. Every single one of the parents in my culdesac is in favor of letting children play outside.

Stop hiding behind rule books; this is all about the children. They spend far too much time in front of TVs and on the Internet. They need to thrive and prosper in this beautiful area and have the same enjoyment we all had when we were growing up.

The ACLU has shown a keen interest in this case. Let's resolve this amicably. Derek Gardner Oak Park