Playground Signs Polite in English, Threatening in Spanish

By Adam Taylor and Esteban Parra, DELAWARE ONLINE

Credit: GARY EMEIGH/The News Journal

Milford School District Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Kohel takes down a playground sign at Lulu Ross Elementary School on Sunday.

January 8, 2013 Updated Jan 8, 2013 at 1:30 PM PDT

Before Milford families could get to the jungle gyms, sliding boards and rock-climbing walls at the Lulu M. Ross and Mispillion elementary schools’ playgrounds, they were greeted by signs.

The one in English read like a legal disclaimer. The one in Spanish read more like a no-trespassing sign.

The English sign said adult supervision is required to use the facility, and noted that users played at their own risk. The Spanish version said a permit was needed to use the playground and that violators were subject to police action.

“It’s very intimidating and very threatening,” Lewes resident Margaret Reyes said.

The signs – which had been in place for about a year – were removed Sunday, a day after radio talk-show host Dan Gaffney noticed the signs, took a picture of them with his smartphone and posted them on his Facebook page.

“I don’t speak Spanish, but it was obvious that the messages were different and that it was wrong,” said Gaffney, who hosts a show on WXDE.

There is much more to this story from Delaware Online, to read about it CLICK HERE.

To submit a comment on this article, your email address is required. We respect your privacy and your email will not be visible to others nor will it be added to any email lists.