In another era, in a bygone time, a group of Barrington kids would have spent much of Tuesday zipping through wooded trails and soaring off crazy, sick jumps. It was Election Day, schools were closed, and the weather was glorious.

Instead, they were angry, frustrated and disenchanted with their hometown, less than a week after the Town of Barrington destroyed their “secret,” hidden playground.

We admire these kids, and we feel their loss. A generation ago, we (and most of their parents, and the guys operating the bull-dozers, and the folks in town government) would have been doing the exact, same thing.

Back then, this is what kids did. They made trails in the woods, built bike jumps that were makeshift and unsafe, and constructed tree houses from scrap wood and discarded nails — usually on someone else’s property.

Woods, fields and distant, hidden spaces were plentiful. Kids could easily vanish for hours, dream up and scheme up imaginative play places, and operate free of oversight and regulation. It’s amazing that, for a brief time, it happened here in 2026.

Gone are far too many of those distant, hidden spaces. They’ve been replaced by neighborhoods and homes. Gone are those carefree property owners. They’ve been scared by the warnings of insurance carriers and the threats of personal injury lawsuits.

Those risks are felt as much by the local government as they are by private property owners — maybe more so. Everyone knows the government has deeper pockets than most private land owners, so the potential lawsuits are even greater.

Once a child was seriously hurt and rescuers were called to the scene, the town had no choice but to act. They had officially discovered an impressive, wondrous and awe-inspiring track, with crazy, sick jumps, all of it located on town-owned property. For good reason, they had to tear it down.

We feel badly for the kids, and we feel badly for the adults who had to be the bad guys. No one did anything wrong here. No one is to blame. The town did what it had to do.