To think boys should be able to kick a ball in the street

[scruffybird]

We live in a new build close with no park or green area. There are a couple of boys who like to kick the football around by their back gate, the prolem is they keep getting told to stop doing it by this old couple, who live in the house right near them. They even phoned the police, who came round and told the parents that the boys needed to play it in their very small garden.
I find it really sad that children can't play buy their back gates without being shouted at. No wonder you don't see many children playing out side.
The mum was telling me she is considering moving because of this.
Is she being unreasonable to let her boys play football near someones house?

football first then what?
drinking
drug taking

this kind of behavior should be stamped out

"I take it from all these posts no one played outside when you were young - or are you just all miserable sods like the couple op described!! What about the childrens rights to play out. Oh yes forgot children have no rights they are just an irritation. Especially with the deafening sound of kicking a football!!"

Try reading the thread maybe? This has all been answered. I went to some trouble to explain that I played outside all the time when I was a kid, but the parents expected us children to have some consideration for neighbours. So, while we did play outside, we weren't allowed to kick footballs where they would be banging on people's walls and fences and go into their gardens. Maybe some parents should get off their over-sized posteriors and take their children to the park to play football? Reserving other, less anti-social activities for the street?

Lucyinthepie
take their children to the park to play football?

That would be the park packed full of the neighbours dogs shit would it? I know we are lucky that there is a park relatively close not all housing estates have that, but still it not a nice place to play because of the local peoples behaviour.

I don't really care if the issue of dogshit in the local park needs to be dealt with. I care that children have rights to play outdoors, and that others have rights to also enjoy some relaxation without a football banging on their garden fence.

Lucyinthepie
I care that children have rights to play outdoors

Yes - everyone thinks DC should have the right to play outside but ignore their behaviour that contribuets to this not being possible - driving, dog fouling ect and moan when DC play near them, make noise ect.

If the football noise was all the time or the DC were causing damage them maybe the old couple had a point but a lot of phone call are made to police about gangs ie more than one teenager hanging around and they 'might do something' and are letting them know just in case. There is a lack of tolerance and a lot of hypocrisy about .

They have a right to peace and quiet in their own home

Really? where did you get that from?
And I would have asked the police under which legislation are they are not allowed to play football in the street.

I find some of the attitude on here astounding, truly shocking. I watch kids in our street running to and fro over the road, kicking balls, playing on other people's drives and in their front gardens and they are allowed to at will. There is no respect for other people or their property or right to peace and quiet (maybe not a statutory right, princessparty, but a moral and decent right). And as for road safety - the car drivers are the ones having to look out for the children - it's putting the onus of child safety on the car drivers, where it should be the parents responsibility. These children vary from 2 to 9. I know it's a hackneyed cliché, but there is going to be an accident one day.

Mine and 4 and 7 and are not allowed to roam - I find it intrusive, ill mannered and, dare I say it, common (that's why I'd be against no ball games signs as well - they're common!)

Having said that, where I grew up was in private flats in acres of land and we ran riot. We were very safe as there were so few cars around and looking back, it must have been very unpleasant for some of the older people.

I think YABU one of the reasons I hate visiting my parents is because there are boys outside their house kicking balls, hitting the windows causing mayhem. Dh won't even park his car in their drive in case of damage also my boys won't go to bed because the local kids are still roaming the streets at 10pm. I find it really disturbing.

Have not read this thread but I do think these signs which are now flipping everywhere are awful. First the government want kids to be more active then they ban all ball games everywhere and dont build any parks to make up for it.
The council put up a sign like this in the green in front of our house before I even had my baby and it made me so mad. Poor kids next door now have to play in their tiny garden. Exercise and fresh air are more important than the occasional broken window which being old people in old peoples bungalows would be fixed by the council anyway.

Sorry goodname I totally disagree if you want kids to have space to play move somewhere with a garden why don't disturb everyone else living in the neighbourhood. As I said the kids living near my parents are still out kicking balls at 10pm - some only 5 years old!

Oh my goodness just read some of the comments, kids should get on a bus to play football!!!!!! For crying out loud, the kids who play football near us are just wee. Also how inconventient is it exactly yo have a shild getting their ball out of your garden, our neighbours boys do it all the time and I am glad they are out playing!
All these people who have a problem need to get a life, surely there are worse things in life than a football in your garden, and surely you can put up with it to avoid an epidemic of obese children! I feel really mad now

It's a shame the older couple don't enjoy watching the children play. There is more tolerance abroad.

Yes it's a tough one. It does seem a bit mean to stop them playing BUT I have lived with this problem (we couldn't sit in our (tiny)garden at times because the back wall of it was the goal on the neighbouring new estate, and the thumping was annoying but the regular landings of mis-kicked balls was too nerve-wracking to tolerate. There was a huge park just over the road with several football pitches on it, and some of the boys were quite big. The problem tailed off when the estate filled up and there were more cars parked and moving around there, but for several weeks or months (ages ago so can't remember) it was beyond annoying!

The sound of the football thumping against stone walls, etc is very annoying and was waking up the baby during his twice daily naps! So I actually went and spoke to the neighbour Mum about it. Naturally I took around a fresh batch of macaroons and warmed up to the subject gradually. She was mortified that the kids were waking up the baby. We agreed on a system - when the curtains of the baby's room are closed it means he is sleeping and the kids can play football at the very local park or something quiet. The can do whatever they want when the curtains are open. It works well, and everyone is on good terms and happy.

Can these neighbours not get together and talk about it? There must be some give and take in this situation surely.........?

Jo you sensible macaroon-baking mummy! Can I have a macaroon?

I visited a rather posh area a while ago and had to smile at sign displayed next to their lovely huge expanse of green :

"No golfing practice" !!!

Jo I wish you lived by me! :)

i once worked for a HA that put a noball games sign up on the wall next to my house my kids kicked around a ball, but much much better than that, dh kicked around the ball with them. so i unscrewed the sign, and took it into work. i mean for fucks sake

By goodname -

'Exercise and fresh air are more important than the occasional broken window which being old people in old peoples bungalows would be fixed by the council anyway.'

FGS, can't believe you said that! Pity the poor old person sat next to the window.

YABU. Even in the palmy days of my childhood in the seventies we were never allowed to kick balls around. Was the only thing we weren't allowed to do. I certainly don't remember weeping over the no ball games signs that were up.

Go to a park if you want to kick a ball, life's tough sometimes.

"Exercise and fresh air are more important than the occasional broken window which being old people in old peoples bungalows would be fixed by the council anyway."

But surely those aren't the only two choices - there are plenty ways of getting fresh air and exercise that don't involve breaking windows etc!

I really think there needs to be some compromise on both sides - people shouldn't be overly precious about a little bit of disturbance from children playing outside and just being children, but at the same time the parents/children need to have some consideration for their neighbours and make sure they aren't being anti-social and causing excessive amounts of noise and damage. And ball games in particular should definitely be done in a park or similar, not a residential street.

god this is all quite depressing - people are worried about being hit by a ball, so children should only play football in parks ...seriously - think about how much life has changed in 50 years.

Cars have taken over the streets, estates are built without green spaces - many children who aren't old enough to go to a park alone don't have a garden either.

We are building homes with no public space for children to play....its seriously sad and creates children with no sense of freedom or idea of how to play outside...

Children need space near their homes where there are no cars and where they can play - 50 years ago all kids would have been able to wander near home and play freely. PArks are 'closed spaces' and controlled - why have we created a world where every single inch of space is regimented and controlled

And yes, we all have to share public space - but children have as much right to share that space as adults...so, old people who are scared of kids can't just use that 'fear' (ie. unless it's actually based on something real that has happened) to stop children being free to play.

We can't allow fear to override all our freedom - and kids kick balls on walls because cars have encroached on our space.

All the estates near where I live, in London, have car parks instead of playgrounds - room for the cars, no room for the children. What a sad world we live in.

And, as I said - the walk to the park is simply too dangerous for young children on their own, in the middle of a busy city.

and 'if you want kids to play, move somewhere with a garden' eh?? I live in a part of London where to have a garden you need serious amounts of money - but many children live around here, in tower blocks or estates - seriously, we need to change the way we build cities, but also how we deal with young people.