Manhattan Beach City Council: Vince Vaughn Talks COVID And Kids

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Manhattan Beach resident and actor Vince Vaughn, who is one of the organizers of a"Rally for the SAFE Opening of Schools and Sports Activities" set for 4 p.m. today [Wednesday, Nov. 18] in Polliwog Park in front of the Manhattan Beach Historical Society Museum, addressed the Manhattan Beach City Council last night during its regularly scheduled meeting about today's event .

"I'm really speaking as a father here tonight, as an uncle who has some kids at Mira Costa High School, a nephew and a niece, and I have two younger kids who are involved in youth sports. And as we've gone through the pandemic, what we've been talking about is not providing, you know having the Zoom and the social distance learning for those that are in need of it but also recognizing that some kids are not flourishing during this time, that they're not really learning or need more structure when it comes to social learning.

"We have a bunch of teachers that are advocating for them to go back to school, they can tell that the kids are struggling, they want to come up with a plan to be able to reach some of these kids that do need the help and there're some kids that you know just need to walk up to the desk and ask a question or need some extra help or just aren't getting study skills because they're not as focused or able to pay attention or have the support at home and they're getting left behind," said Vaughn.

"As a complement to that, where our youth sports are concerned, we're having the kids practice but we're really just standing next to each other and doing drills and what we're noticing is that a lot of the kids are losing interest, there's a lot less activity. They're outside, they're in the parks but they're just not able to scrimmage. And so they're not having the opportunities to be able to play against each other, learn about winning, learn about losing, and just basically have fun, get to play a game and enjoy it," he explained.

The Manhattan Beach resident, father and actor, whose focus is on youth sports, told council, "We're allowing the outdoor stuff [kids practicing sports drills] and have been for awhile. They're next to each other when they get their water bottles. They're able to sort of stand next to each other but things like baseball, where there's kind of social distance anyway, the ask that I have for the Council is, and providing the protections you have for those that are fearful, is maybe taking an approach like you've done with the restaurants. I think the outdoor seating, which have allowed opportunities for people to meet up and to be able to eat with each other and have that opportunity, has been a good thing.

"And I think the time to look at the sports and youth activities and the fact that we're practicing: What are the safe guidelines to allow a little more interactiveness during that as well as supporting some of these families?"

Vaughn then offered more details about the protest.

"There's other speakers that will talk about a lot of the mental health stuff that has come out. Kids are really struggling during this. These are people that are needing sort of help and support. So, this is a peaceful protest. We have people from both sides of the aisle coming out. They're just parents that are wanting to see some evolution where these concerns are."

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