Just caught 2 kids playing knock down ginger

[BitterlyLemon]

They had been knocking on the door all night to the extent that the dog was going mental.

What they didn’t realise is I have a camera on the front of the house so the 4th time they did it, I opened the door as they were about to knock

I meant to just scare them but for some godforsaken reason I chased them (god knows what got into me) and caught one 🫣

They were absolutely terrified. I told them to stop it as they were winding up the dog and asked them where they lived (on the street).

Have I officially gone mad? Will I forever be known as the madwoman on the street? They were only about 8 or 9

Ring and run for me but I want to know WHO invented this game in the first place. It kept us busy for a couple of summers and I only remember us getting properly told off once.

My dad once hit a random child for screaming , well for not stopping screaming when my dad told them to. This was the 80’s though - child’s dad turned up and was angry but nothing happened to my dad.

I didn’t play Knock a door run (or do anything mildly badly behaved, wonder why!).

Well one of my neighbours dogs seems to enjoy having it’s morning shit on my drive. Does piss me off even though they bag it.

The dog gets pissed off too if the car is still on the drive when it’s ready to curl one out.

This is what we called it.

We had it last year and we thought it was funny kids are still doing it.
4 times though in one night is taking the piss but @BitterlyLemon shouldn’t have grabbed the child 🫣 chasing them is hilarious though.

I remember playing this as a kid. Unfortunately though getting a chase or big reaction was exactly what we wanted and were more likely to target that house the next time we played. If no one answers or they don’t react it’s boring.

hopefully you haven’t made yourself a target

Don’t know why it’s called knock down ginger (I’m in London if it’s an area specific name!)

I posted on the street WhatsApp (tbh mainly because I was concerned I had upset them as they got such a fright) and their dad brought them round to apologise. I think they were older 12/13 maybe. It makes the dog bark like a loon and it winds up the neighbours then. Also loads of old folk on the street who would be v upset by it (I don’t think we were the only house they were doing it to).

Before we moved to a rural location we used to get kids doing this. After they woke DS1 up several times in the early evening by knocking and setting the dog off, I ran the hosepipe through the house from the back garden, opened the door and soaked the wee fuckers the next time. Don't be messing with a sleep deprived new mother!

I didn’t grab a child - I chased one and he stopped running

Ring and razz we used to call it. I didnt know kids still did it tbh I thought they were all indoors hunched over screens nowadays 😅

🤣👏

Anyone know a good plumber?

Ring, bang , schoosh (west coast Scotland!)

It's not acceptable to knock on doors and run away either.

I'm feeling very irritated by the wet posters bleating on about how unacceptable it is to "lay a finger" on someone else's child.

The op has said that she didn't grab the child who rang her bell but why on earth would it have mattered if she had? Physical chastisement of a child (your own or someone else's) is wrong (eg smacking or hitting) but when did it become a thing that you're not even supposed to touch someone else's child?

What else are you supposed to do if a child repeatedly knocks on your door, runs away, you chase them and you can't catch them because they are younger and faster than you? If you give chase and they get away, they will know that they have wound you up and will think it's fun to come back and do it again.

It's an attitude that makes me nostalgic for the time of the Just William and Enid Blyton stories which I read as a child (and which were written long before I was a born) when there was an understanding that "It takes a village to raise a child," didn't just mean that neighbours should look out for a child and should support the parents, but felt a responsibility to intervene when they saw children misbehaving too.

Attitudes like this is what’s driving the massive decline of kids playing out, and being stuck indoors in front of screens all day instead. It’s perfectly reasonable to let an 8 or 9 year old play out on their street unsupervised. I did it much younger when I was a kid. It helps kids become more independent & resilient. Of course they’re going to get up to a bit of mischief sometimes, they’re kids! Adults shouldn’t be afraid to tell them off if they’re being disruptive or annoying. Which is what the OP did. She did the right thing and they probably learned a valuable real-world lesson that they’d never have learnt if they were stuck in front of a screen all day. You can’t learn how to live in the world if you don’t experience it.

I guess it was called 'Knock and run' but I don't recall it being a thing when I was a child. Maybe because we lived on a hill and there were lots of steps up to the front door.

Then you’re both a bit thick aren’t you.

The proper way to play this was tie all the door knockers with a length of string and pull at the same time, you would get all the irate neighbours out at once, and run...

Rude! 😮

Would you prefer I call them fucking idiots?

Lo

Chap door, run was what we called it (scotland)

Ahahahhaha excellent. It’s the true meaning of the game! We used to get shot with salt pellets.

We had a little gang of kids that used to do this years ago. There was one larger child that couldn't run as fast as the others and would always get caught 🤭

We live on a hill and the front gardens slope down to the street. One day one of the girls slipped while running and smashed a few of her front teeth 😢 and that put an end to their mini reign of terror. I see those same kids driving to work now.

Well done OP and everyone else who has managed to catch them.

i have been advised by the Police that this has recently gone beyond a childish prank and become the latest TikTok craze.

My door was repeatedly booted, with the glass also being hammered, on several occasions a few Saturdays ago. I could see there were 6 14-17 year olds, but couldn’t catch them as they were running away up the road opposite.

On the fourth occasion (it was happening every 45 minutes) I phoned 101. They told me not to engage.

The next day a PCSO came round to look at the mess they had made of my front door. He told me that there had been numerous incidents running in 7 separate villages in their area that Saturday night. That the group of teens are attempting to get you to come to the door where they will film your outrage and post it on TikTok to ridicule you.

He reaffirmed not to engage, but to get a Video doorbell and a camera for my back garden.

For some it might be a harmless prank but I am old, live alone and was really worried about what was going on by the fourth incident. I have had to spend £400 on a doorbell and camera and the quote for my front door is £2k.

Knock down Ginger is one thing, smashing in my front door totally another !!