It really does take a village

This election season, it may seem passé (and in some circles, wildly unpopular) to invoke Hillary Clinton, but here goes anyway.

"It takes a village to raise a child."

Clinton may have re-popularized the African proverb 20 years ago, but we are reminded of its importance here in Greencastle in 2016.

Parks Department Director Rod Weinschenk invoked the line at the most recent Park Board meeting in response to issues at the Emerald Palace playground.

At issue are kids older than the Emerald Palace target age (2-12) playing aggressively and intimidating the younger children.

Park Board member Cathy Merrell lives near Robe-Ann Park and recently witnessed some of the problems.

"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 that's just the sort of play that makes the smaller children nervous.

"Running and rough play are not allowed, and certainly not running people over," Weinschenk said.

Therein lies the problem, though. How do we police the actions of kids playing in a park?

That's where the village enters the equation. In a society that increasingly says, "You do your thing, I'll do mine," such a philosophy can never apply to children.

If you see a little kid intimidated, even scared, by the bigger kids around him, don't be shy about correcting the situation. If that's moving the small one to a better place, with his own peers, go right ahead.

If that even means correcting the bigger kids, do it. If they're being too aggressive with the younger kids, tell them to stop. They may listen, or they may walk away, grumbling about the jerk who just chewed them out.

Either way, you've fixed the problem.

And don't simply think of it as simply protecting the younger kid. How many of us can recall, as teenagers, a valuable lesson from an adult? It may sting a little at the time, but we can look back on it later and think, "I'm glad that guy had the guts to tell me I was wrong."

The kids of our community are just -- they are the kids of our community. They are our future.

And they are ours to take care of and protect. Let's make sure we do it.