When you think of defacing public property, you likely picture graffiti-sprayed subway trains or mailboxes, right? What about sidewalk chalk?
According to an article in the Daily Mail, British police were called to the scene in Halesowen, West Midlands, where "too many" hopscotch grids were drawn on the pavement.
As part of an initiative to "stamp out anti-social behaviour" the cops were reported to have attended the area, ordering 14-year-olds Kayleigh Mangan and Georgina Smallwood to clean up the sidewalk chalk on Spring Street.
"They said they didn't mind one [grid], but four or five was too many," Kayleigh told the Birmingham Mail.
"By targeting what may seem relatively low level crime, we aim to prevent it developing into more serious matters," said a police spokesperson. "We will continue to respond positively to community complaints and concerns to combat fear of crime."
(If chalking the sidewalk is a crime, then my son is a total felon. As far as he's concerned, the more numbers on the hopscotch, the better. We've seen them go up to thirty!)
And who would complain about such a thing? To my mind, the only antisocial aspects of this story are the neighbour (and police) with nothing better to do than rob a couple of girls of some innocent, old-fashioned fun.
Printer-friendly version