Park Board made aware of Emerald Palace intimidation
It was the spirit of community that created the Emerald Palace playground in Greencastle's Robe-Ann Park 15 years ago.
Six days and 1,200 volunteers turned a dream into a reality back in October 2001.
Now the Greencastle Park Board is hoping a few bad kids aren't going to ruin that spirit or its memory.
Board members were advised at their April meeting that some older children -- likely teenagers exceeding the intended 2-12 age range for the park -- have been intimidating smaller children and even some of their parents with inappropriate behavior at the Robe-Ann Park facility.
"If we have kids chasing parents and younger kids out of the park, we've got a problem," Greencastle Park Director Rod Weinschenk acknowledged.
Park Board member Cathy Merrell who lives on Anderson Street recently witnessed some of the problems, saying it was intimidating for young children.
"It's not that they're doing anything terribly bad," Merrell said, "they're just off in their own world, running around (playing ) 'I'll get you, you get me.'"
But scaring little kids to the point they don't want to go back in the playground shouldn't be tolerated, Weinschenk said.
"They're breaking the printed rules (displayed outside the playground)," the park director said. "Running and rough play are not allowed, and certainly not running people over."
The problem isn't that the culprits might be 13 or 14 years old, he said, adding that as long as they are not causing problems, age is not an issue.
He suggested parents can be the best line of defense against such misbehavior.
"Remember, it takes village to raise a child," he said, indicating parents can help alleviate problems by standing up to misbehaving children.
Weinschenk suggested adding verbiage to the Emerald Palace playground rules sign along the lines of "if a parent or an adult feels the need to correct a child's behavior at the facility, that youngster needs to leave the playground."
Merrell said the older children aren't necessarily "doing things so bad that we feel we need to call the police."
However, Park Board audience member Tina Kennedy said she no longer lets her young children use the playground after witnessing one older child throw a bottle at another.
Another parent at the park Saturday afternoon was not surprised at the reports.
"I've seen it," she said as she sat in her vehicle while kids played nearby. "And some of the language, oh my."
Then she added another layer to the issue.
"I've seen older kids climb up in the towers (either side of the entrance to the Emerald Palace) and start kissing and hugging on each other. Little kids don't need to see that."
Weinschenk told Park Board members he would share the new signage for the playground with them once it is formulated and run past the city attorney.