Don't chalk that pavement!

Melbourne's MX free "news"paper/gossip rag ran a small news story yesterday, Monday 1st August. Er, guys, that would be Tuesday 1st August. Way to go for proof-reading.

Anyway, MX reports that 14 year-olds Kayleigh Mangan and Georgina Smallwood were told by British police to stop playing hopscotch because drawing lines on the pavement with chalk was a crime.

The unnamed community support officers ordered the girls to scrub the markings off the sidewalk to prevent their actions "developing into more serious matters".

A police spokesperson claims they were responding to a complaint about "numerous chalk markings" by a resident of Halesowen.

Remember folks: hopscotch is not a victimless crime. If history teaches us anything, playing hopscotch invariably leads to more serious crimes. If our children are free to play hopscotch on their own street, the terrorists will have won.