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

@StrawberryJamAndRaspberryPie

First, you tell us all no-one should be terrified of having their door and I'm going to quote you here, "KICKED"

Then when asked if you think it would be ok to kick a car and damage it in the same way a door is kicked, you reply that you haven't got a car-laughable!

Then you say a postman knocks on the door.

And then, you drop all references to kicking and change the verb to knocking.

But the point is you first of all clearly said that people should not be terrified of others KICKING their door.

That is pure shite and nonsense and no matter how much you go on about postmen, your carless state and changing kicking to knocking, it will not alter the fact that a grown woman thinks it is acceptable to have the front door KICKED.

Anyway, it's clear you think it's all a good bit of healthy fun no matter how much it might distress older people, women living on their own and dogs and you can't be shamed or reasoned with so have a goodish day.

@MissAustenMadeAQuiltyou need to chill out tbh. Yes, I said kicked. I don’t think it’s that big a deal so long as it doesn’t leave damage aka a light kick not kicking the door in. Do I think kids should purposely terrorise the elderly etc? No, obviously not. Do I think a bit of knock a door run is innocent fun? Yes.

The postmen, the car etc were all just ways of trying to argue that grown adults being shivering wrecks over the door being kicked/knocked on at night (leaving no damage and not as part of a wider reign of terror) isn’t normal. And that your attempts to ‘show’ me my error weren’t working - the car one for example didn’t make sense. A car and a house door are not the same material, they damage from different things and house doors are made to withstand knocking/kicking whereas car doors will dent. Not sure why you’re spitting feathers over it.

Clearly your absolute frothing rage over my not thinking it’s a massive deal and refusal to agree with you that kids playing a game (that has been played for generations) should all be arrested and whipped is a part of your overreactions to normal life.

We wonder why so many children have anxiety nowadays and then see grown adults like this who think a repeated unexpected knock on the door after dark = an imminent threat to life.

And to clarify, I would tell my own children off for doing it because that is also part of the game. To learn consequences when caught being mischievous. So I’m not saying that kids shouldn’t be punished for it but that we should keep everything in perspective and see it as part of wider community life.

My son did this to some poor old woman who was in her 90’s. He was caught on camera and we live in small town so it got back to me.
I marched him round there and made him apologise. He never did it again. He was absolutely mortified.

We have one little shit that comes to visit a house were we live. He throws himself at front doors then boots them with his heel. He did it to our front fence too which had to be repaired. It’s not “silly games” it’s destruction and an invasion of privacy.

They did it too much as four times but part of me likes the thought of kids actually playing out even if this involves low level mischief.

We did this as kids plus used to scrump for apples. Then there was bad mischief like the boys who used to go cow tipping or said they did and hunting for rats in barns and risking getting bitten. But these were feral times in the late 1970’s.

Another game involved us putting my dads old hat over a dog turd, of which there were plenty in those days. Standing with a shoe box and telling unsuspecting adults that our budgie was underneath and we were scared to put our hand under to pick him up...not proud of myself but was funny if you could run fast enough

Yes, I said kicked. I don’t think it’s that big a deal so long as it doesn’t leave damage aka a light kick not kicking the door in.

When you're alone in your house late in the evening and one or more teenagers comes kicking your door, how do you know whether they're playing a jolly game, or kicking with the intention of being intimidating or doing damage or breaking in?

I read somewhere, maybe on MN, about kids who were chasing & yelling at pigeons, encouraged by their dad.

One of the pigeons, or maybe two, flew up & shat on them.

That was funny because they deserved it. If one of the adults @MinnieCauldwell & friends caught with their turd prank had caught up with them & wiped the shit from their hand onto the kids’ clothes or hair, that would have been well deserved too.

I’m obviously missing something but I just don’t get what’s funny about causing stress or annoyance to people who haven’t done anything to you.

Because they message you and tell you what time they're coming and how far away they are.

we used to call it ginger knocking
and the evri driver doesnt even knock!

You find out when you open the door and ask what they’re playing at.

So you think a disabled, elderly person should just open their door and ask what the person wants who is kicking their door? What happens when it's not their friendly, neighbourhood postman delivering at 10pm, or a "cheeky little chap" of 8 years old just having a little harmless larf, but it turns out to be a teenage thug who is actually going to push you over and rob you? Which happened round my way.

I used to live in a block of flats, a gang of 15-20 year old thugs, high after huffing gas, came along booting all the flat doors. I flung open the door and yelled at them and chased them down the stairs which was foolish in hindsight, but I'm a healthy, fit 50-something with a seriously bad temper. My poor neighbour, a young single lady with a small child at the time, was absolutely terrified. She was fleeing abuse and thought it was her ex that had found her. Can you imagine how terrified she and her son were? You think that's funny? Should she have just opened her door to ask what they were playing at? What about the elderly lady on the end who's door was damaged and was so scared? She should get over it because it's just kids? You have to be being deliberately goady?

I said that it’s not that scary to have children play knock down ginger and kick on the door.

I don’t know how people have twisted that into me apparently saying weapons wielding teenagers kicking down doors in neighbourhoods where the elderly are being regularly robbed by said door kicking thugs isn’t frightening?

Obviously if you live in an area filled with crimes of this kind you would be scared. I don’t approve of teenagers breaking into houses and robbing people.

Although this scenario would be helped by the solution I offered in the post that lead to this bizarre argument - get a video doorbell so you don’t have to open the door to see/ask. But yes that would be scary.

That would have made your house far more appealing when I used to play. Where is the fun without a little danger

When I was a kid I assumed the name Knock Down Ginger referred to a hypothetical ginger cat sitting on a nearby wall that would get knocked down as kids ran away after knocking on the door/ringing doorbell.

When you're alone in your house late in the evening and one or more teenagers comes kicking your door, how do you know whether they're playing a jolly game, or kicking with the intention of being intimidating or doing damage or breaking in?

We're not talking about teenagers late at night though are we. Nobody thinks it's alright for teenagers to go around kicking doors, damaging property, intentionally intimidating people or breaking in to their houses late at night. There's no 'jolly game' of that nature.

People are saying it's not the end of the world when a couple of naughty 9 years olds knock and leg it, so they can laugh at someone opening their door to fresh air or get a chase.

We had teenagers here, throwing bricks at my window and hammering/kicking on the patio doors so hard that my blinds came down
my neighbour who lives above me kept an eye out and dumped a full bucket of ice cold water on them

I don’t really classify this as ‘innocent fun’ because it’s premised on basically pissing off your neighbours and the kids should be learning it isn’t ok to be having fun at someone else’s expense. It’s not really been common where I live but some lads did it for a period one summer holiday when I had a newborn and it really pissed me off as it would be just as I’d got the baby down. They stopped pretty quickly.

kids should be learning it isn’t ok to be having fun at someone else’s expense

They learn that when they get a roasting, or while they're shitting themselves as they're chased up the street, or when it gets back to their parents and they're made to apologise.

It's naughty. I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise, just that if that's all it is, then it's hardly the end of the world.

When the neighbourhood brats did this to my aunt who has dementia she was so confused and scared she barricaded herself in her bedroom and her daughter found her like that the next day having not slept and thinking she'd been burgled. While it should not necessarily be terrifying for your average healthy adult, there are vulnerable people out there who will be scared by it and it should not have to be part of community life for them. Thankfully she has a Ring doorbell now and it's put the little shits off.

Dear oh dear!

Ah a ring doorbell. So the exact thing I suggested in my first post that was shouted down

The family shouldn't have had the financial outlay of it though just to keep the little shits from doing it. And obviously they know they shouldn't be, otherwise they wouldn't mind about being seen.

But you said "You find out when you open the door and ask what they’re playing at." , How do you know if it's a kid or your abusive ex or someone that's going to rob you?

Also, some buildings don't allow video doorbells. And even if that isn't an issue, some elderly or vulnerable people don't have smartphones or the ability to use an app. Is it okay for kids (of any age) to knock on their door and they just have to suck it up and go see...? How about parents teach their kids to be respectful of other people and their propertires? It's not a fun, harmless game for many people, as many posters have explained. Even healthy, young people with video cameras shouldn't be disturbed by some feral child / children knocking on their door for entertainment purposes! There are a million other ways to play / spend time outside without knocking or kicking other people's doors. It's indefensible and it's not just a bit of fun as you don't know what's going on behind those doors. And if labouring the point makes me a miserable, boring, fun sponge, then so be it.