A retail establishment catering to the purchasing needs of new or returning parents is perhaps among one of the last places parents in yellow springs might hope to find their teenage children. But anyone who happens to walk back through the racks of children’s books, stuffed animals and gently worn one piece pajama outfits hanging on the racks inside Dayton Streets’ Pass-it-on Kids on a Sunday afternoon will see plainly enough that the defenders of virtue have nothing to fear – the only body these teens are embracing is the democratically governed politik.
To be sure, there is passion enough to go around: the air is thick with frequent interruptions, urgent protests, heated debates, lengthy discussions and other assorted cacophanous mischief. But in this case a cliche application of literary devices will not suffice, because the passion displayed is not ill-founded; for what at first seems like chaos is truly self-organizing. It reflects the depth of the investment these youths have in their community. And if the expression finds its origin in the authentic experience of a definitive culture, it is neither ill-founded nor ill-placed. It is readily apparent that this group of youths realize that the issues they face in Yellow Springs today are numerous, and they believe that their organizing efforts will yeild positive and tangible results.
Thus far, public comment regarding the council has portrayed the scope of their activities in a manner that serves to equate their efforts with a single issue: namely, the protest over the introduction of canine aided, arbitrarily conducted searches for drugs being evaluated for translation into policy by the Yellow Springs Exempted School District’s Board. The actual agenda of the next meeting, as sent out to a 90 member facebook group and corrosponding mailing list, shows that the scope of their concerns is actually much greater.