Disneyland Not Out of Line in Handling Teens

Well, here we are in an election year when family values are one of the hottest issues on the ticket, and we just don’t get it. When will we stop looking to government or other institutions to solve family problems for us, problems that frequently erupt into social problems, and start to recognize that the solutions to the problems begin at home?

Something is desperately wrong when mothers get angry at Disneyland for doing their job for them (“Disneyland, Teen Locals Eye Each Other Nervously,” Aug. 23), for warning their kids that they are treading a fine line, whether they are actually guilty of committing some misdemeanor or just hanging around with those who do or even just being troublemaker wanna-bes.

If it were my son who had had his annual pass lifted for suspicious behavior, I would regard this as a red flag that something needed to be corrected before the price for my son’s behavior became far more than the $150 or so that it cost me. And I would be thankful for the warning! Parents, we cannot afford to blindly regard our children as those who can do no wrong, while failing to teach them the difference between what is right and wrong!

Disneyland is not a juvenile day-care center, though I witnessed what Disneyland President Jack Lindquist stated . . . that for 37 years now, many local parents have allowed Disneyland to become just that.

Well, it’s one thing to let Disneyland shoulder the responsibility but another altogether not to expect them to exercise any authority over our kids while (they are) on park property.

Considering the widespread outbreak of youth-instigated violence Southern California has experienced over the past few years, Disneyland has every right to be nervous--and maybe even a little overprotective. The majority of local parents who do teach their kids good family values and who do monitor their behavior deserve to have Disneyland remain that safe haven of escape from the pressures of the outside world that Walt Disney intended it to be.

PEGGY ROSE, Lake Forest