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Rules Should Be Respected

As Stevie Wonder said, “We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability.” Don’t you agree that people with disabilities should have access to things that other people have? You’d be devastated if you had a disability and couldn’t get access to things you wanted.

One reason why I think the rules should be respected is that people who are disabled need places to park. Sadly, they can’t find places to park because people who don’t need accessible parking places are taking up all the spots. The other day, Alex and Sam Bode from the Peace, Love, and ACCESSibility nonprofit group came into my classroom and told us how difficult it is to find parking spaces because accessible parking placards aren’t being used correctly. For example, people are using expired placards in accessible parking spaces, and people who really need spaces can’t find them. Imagine if you were physically disabled, wanted to go to your favorite store and couldn’t because someone was parked in an accessible parking spot that they didn’t need it. Sometimes someone has a disability, and then when it’s all healed, they pass their placard on to another family member—which is wrong.

Something else that has been a challenge for people in wheelchairs is people parking over the striped line areas. People who are physically disabled and rely on their vans with ramps cannot get in or out.. Another challenge for people in wheelchairs is curb cuts that help wheelchairs to get on and off sidewalks. The problem is sometimes there’s snow that hasn’t been plowed that covers it, or people park in front of it.

I feel that it’s important that townspeople respect the rules of accessible parking.

Lila Loretta Francis

Madison

Lila Loretta Francis is a student at J. Milton Jeffrey School