Mom punished for letting daughter draw on rocks

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/susan-mortensen-chalk_n_1728849.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Only in America :P

While I don't think said mother should resort to "cursing" as the article put it, some places are far too restrictive with such things. Let the kids be outside and artistic. It doesn't bother me.

Bit extreme....just have her wash them off if it's such a problem. Though chalk and paint aren't quite the same thing.LJS9502_basic

Exactly.

Seems mom is a potty mouth and got a ticket before so she should have kept a eye on her child to avoid this. This seems like a wake up call msg for the mother.

There's always more to these stories:

NBC12 reports that when mom was ticketed "she responded with an attitude and curse words." Mortensen declined to comment on that. Also, according to WTVR, court records show that the same officer convicted Mortensen for painting on rocks two years ago. She didn't think her previous mishap should have had any bearing on the current charge.

With that in mind, the punishment is not all that surprising.

That being said, I find the anti-chalk crackdown to be pretty silly. Chalk washes off pretty easily and I think those people who are of the opinion that little kid sidewalk chalk art makes the neighborhood less pleasent need to get those sticks out of their ass ASAP before they damage some organs.

This is a classic case of people creating an issue where there shouldn't be one.

What rocks were they chalking on?

Are we talking about a landscaping display on private property?

Or are we just talking about big, random rocks laying around somewhere?

Should have tased her.

Chalk that up as one of the weirdest laws in the US.harashawn

Oh, you're just chalk-full of surprises, aren't you?

Ehh as long as its not paint I don't see the problem. Sounds like the mom was ticketed for painting before this- that should have been punished, but chalk? that'll wash off with any light amount of rain.

I am so tired of all the outrage when people get in trouble for doing things in places they shouldn't do them...

The park has rules, no grafiti is one of them... The people who run the park consider drawing with chalk on the ground grafiti... IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT RULE AND FEEL YOU JUST HAVE TO DRAW WITH CHALK ON THE GROUND............ GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

It's freaking ridiculous that people just ignore rules and then are outraged when they are punished for their violation... Especially when the people over react and get offensive and crazy about it (the mother cursing at an officer for doing his job)...

The people of this country are disgusting sometimes...

I believe waterboarding is in order.

I am so tired of all the outrage when people get in trouble for doing things in places they shouldn't do them...

The park has rules, no grafiti is one of them... The people who run the park consider drawing with chalk on the ground grafiti... IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT RULE AND FEEL YOU JUST HAVE TO DRAW WITH CHALK ON THE GROUND............ GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

It's freaking ridiculous that people just ignore rules and then are outraged when they are punished for their violation... Especially when the people over react and get offensive and crazy about it (the mother cursing at an officer for doing his job)...

The people of this country are disgusting sometimes...

C2N2

"This isn't the first time that sidewalk chalk has ruffled feathers recently."

[QUOTE="C2N2"]

I am so tired of all the outrage when people get in trouble for doing things in places they shouldn't do them...

The park has rules, no grafiti is one of them... The people who run the park consider drawing with chalk on the ground grafiti... IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT RULE AND FEEL YOU JUST HAVE TO DRAW WITH CHALK ON THE GROUND............ GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

It's freaking ridiculous that people just ignore rules and then are outraged when they are punished for their violation... Especially when the people over react and get offensive and crazy about it (the mother cursing at an officer for doing his job)...

The people of this country are disgusting sometimes...

Inconsistancy

How is it a stupid rule? Did you even watch the video? The man who runs the park says there are profanities and pornagraphy drawn all over his park with chalk... So to prevent that using chalk is considered vandalism in the park... If those people want to ignore that then its their own damn fault... Why is that so hard for people to comprehend...?

Chalk one up to justice.

How is it a stupid rule? Did you even watch the video? The man who runs the park says there are profanities and pornagraphy drawn all over his park with chalk... So to prevent that using chalk is considered vandalism in the park... If those people want to ignore that then its their own damn fault... Why is that so hard for people to comprehend...?

C2N2

What's that guy's definition of "porn", a crudely drawn penis ? Bet that's what it is that he's crying about. I highly doubt there's an extremely graphic, detailed, drawling of nude people. And the government shouldn't be in the business of regulating what is or isn't considered "decent", especially with words, they're just words(though they do that...).

I'm a fan of our first amendment, though I think the second one is fairly crap.

And chalk isn't permanent, and on 'rocks' come on. I could see there being a problem with spray painting something onto public land, but not chalk.