“Today’s kids need a reason to play outside.”
A nine-year old boy successfully campaigned for the repeal of his Colorado town’s ban on snowball fights.
After spending the past month preparing his case against the ordinance, Dane Best on Monday made an impassioned three-minute presentation to the Severance Town Board, the Greeley Tribune reported.
“The children of Severance want the opportunity to have a snowball fight like the rest of the world,” he said. “Today’s kids need a reason to play outside.”
Dane next fielded questions from lawmakers and was compelled to promise not to throw snowballs with rocks in them or to aim at windows. The board was swayed and voted unanimously to legalize snowball fights within town limits.
To celebrate the board gives Dane his first LEGAL snowball to throw. Plus one for his little brother who is apparently Dane’s first target. pic.twitter.com/1ePrg0wykq
— Xandra McMahon (@xanmcmahon) December 4, 2018
According to Dane’s mother, Brooke Best, he learned about the law on a visit to the town hall and was moved to correct the social injustice.
“We are proud of him for taking initiative to make some change, no matter how small it may be,” Derrick Best, Dane’s father, told CBS Denver.
Beyond being a feel-good story, Dane’s legislative victory is a blow against worrying cultural trends: a growing loss of faith in democracy by young people and the kind of “snowflakery” and coddling of youth that saw Delaware State University in August enact its own ban on snowball fights
However, Severance’s buzz-killing law was not a product of such forces. Rather, it was an unenforced part of a century-old ordinance that prevented people from throwing missiles or stones at people of property.
After the town, located north of Denver, overturned the ban, the children and parents who had gathered at the town hall erupted into cheers. Minutes later, Dane and his 4-year-old brother, Dax Best, were presented with snowballs by Mayor Don McLeod, which they immediately used to exercise their new right.
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