Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 119. No.30	July 28 , 2010

Letter to the Editor

To the Messenger:

I would like to share what I know about the water fight by the river on the last day of school and give my opinion of why it should be allowed to continue. This event is to let students have an afternoon of fun with their friends before they go their separate ways for the summer. Yes, some people have trouble understanding when you cross the line and fun becomes danger.

Now as parents, I think it is our job to help our kids understand where this line is and how important it is not to cross over it. In 1998, my son was a senior and wanted to show the others how to really have a water fight. He put a 500-gallon water tank in the back of our 1-ton dually pickup truck with a gasoline-powered pump and garden hose hooked to it. The truck also had wood racks on it to make somewhat of a fort; to an 18-year-old, this was just what was needed to be Superman at the water fight. Now comes the grown-up part, I asked how someone was going to ride in the bed of the truck without getting crushed if the tank moved, or got burnt from the hot exhaust? So my son decided to chain the tank in the truck and cover the exhaust to prevent injury. My point here is, folks need to get involved in what their kids do and don’t wait for them to ask for your help. We need to teach them each day that they are responsible for what they do.

Something I find very disturbing is to have a coach – interviewed by a local newspaper – make it sound like losing a track runner was the worst part of this injury and say I’ve heard, I’ve heard, I’ve heard. If someone tells you something, tell who told you, it gives credibility to your story.

There is always going to be someone causing problems for the people who try to be responsible while having fun. So parents, empress on your kids what is safe and what is not so they can continue having fun.

Louis LaTondress
Guston

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