Dear Editor,

As is my routine for the past several years, on a recent Sunday afternoon I went to the yard behind Magnolia School to hit some tennis balls against the backboard and run on the grass field. Evidently, I disturbed the couch potato time of one of the local denizens who called the authorities and reported me for trespassing on the school grounds. As a native Oakdalean who grew up right across the street from Magnolia School, Oakdale Union then, as a kid I spent nearly every afternoon, weekend and all summer long playing one sport or another, with other local kids, on the Magnolia school yard. So now it is considered trespassing? So what am I, others and their kids supposed to do? Traverse across town to one of the few parks that have recreational facilities and hope that they are not already occupied. Keep ourselves and our kids inside playing video games and watching others recreate on the boob tube. Why are the local taxpayer funded schoolyards off limits to those who fund them? The rationale for this law escapes me, the absurdity of it does not.

John Brennan