Council may soon crack down on some forms of begging on city streets:
Houston might soon crack down on children soliciting money for charity on city streets.
A proposed city ordinance would forbid charities from using youngsters under the age of 16 to collect contributions. And even 16- and 17-year-olds would have to be supervised by adults.
The ordinance would also require people walking around intersections collecting money for charity to wear high visibility traffic vests.
Council probably has more pressing problems to be solving (say, funding for the HPD Crime Lab investigation that is stalled once again), but here in midtown, I have noticed young children in football jerseys out begging on the streets. Sometimes they’ve had one adult in the vicinity. Other times they haven’t. Every time I’ve seen them, they’ve had signs that say “Third Ward Football Fundraiser.”
Begging in the streets isn’t a fundraiser. It’s dangerous, and children ought not to be doing it. It’s unfortunate that we have to substitute municipal ordinances for parental common sense.
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