Children smoking in the park

[TheHeirOfSlytherin]

Dh and I took ds to the "naice" park this afternoon simply because the other nearby park has a skatepark attached and the surrounding area can be littered with glass and worse.

While we were there a group of 4 or 5 11-13 year olds turned up, monopolised the toddler swings and started smoking. Dh saw this and shouted over to them to "Clear off if you want to smoke, this is a kiddy's park." and one by one they slunk off.

The park was busy, lots of families with small children around but when the smokers turned up they all just moved away from them to the other end of the park.

It left me thinking, was dh bu? I don't think he was, had I seen the smokers before him then I would have said something too. The actions of the other parents makes me think we're in the minority.

If they had just been using up the toddler swings, would your DH just have asked them nicely to share?
If they had been adults smoking in the area, would your DH have shouted at them?

Or are you more concerned that they are children doing something they shouldn't?

In fact, I'm put out by it. I smoke, I don't deserve to be shouted at if I happen to be somewhere and children come along, thanks. Gosh. They're less rude than you.

well OK but you wouldn't be sitting having a puff on the babyswings would you now?

The other parents moved away when the children arrived and started smoking. Dh only shouted at them when he saw what they were doing, we were near another bit of equipment with ds so he had to shout to get them to hear him.

If they had just been using the toddler swings then yes he would have asked them nicely to share. And as I said earlier, parents smoking in the park is not an issue so long as they are considerate imo.

Smokers do not need to be punished obviously, but children smoking when it is illegal to do so need telling off as far as I am concerned, they shouldn't be doing it anywhere never mind in a busy park. Or do you all support children who chose to smoke underage?

I wouldn't be happy if people were smoking near the children's play equipment. Not sure if I would have said anything or not though.

Well, I don't think that people should smoke in children's play areas.And
I don't think anyone should monopolise the swings.

But I would handle both of the above by asking someone not to do it, if it bothered me. Not shouting at them and telling them to clear off.

There's been underage smokers in the park since time immemorial.
I was one.

Quirrel, if you were smoking in a children's park I would think you would expect children to happen to appear at some point wouldn't you?

LadyBeagleEyes, does that make it ok then?

Or do you all support children who chose to smoke underage?

Oh goodness, the moral police are out now.

No doubt, twooter, your life and those of your family is just perfect

I would only have spoken politely to them if we wanted to go on the swings. I have on several occasions asked teens to move off the equipment for toddlers when my child wanted to go on them. I wouldn't have shouted at them from another part of the park.

It was quite a rude thing to say to them

I ask adults smoking in play parks not to. It's just not an appropriate place to be waving a fag around. Most have no smoking signs on the gate.

I think you meant to address that to me suburbophobe, not poor twooter .

What does anyone being perfect have to do with it? They were doing something wrong, they got called on it. Dh chose to shout at them, others would simply tell them politely and that's ok but I think dh was right to shout. They're old enough to know what they're doing is wrong.

has anyone else found that there ccomes an age when your children are growing up that you move on from the stage of having perfect strangers gurning over the cuteness of your child, to them being shunned as tho they were poisonouse snakes, and that transition happens incredibly quickly, around the age of nine or so. And dads of little kids are so aggressively precious.

This is ridiculous. Had they not been smoking we wouldn't have battered an eyelid.

Maybe I should have changed the story and told you they were shooting up in the park. Maybe then we wouldn't have been called "precious".

yes well if you speak nicely to people they respond better than being yelled at from the other side of the park.

No, I don't think anyone supports any kind of smoking! I was getting all het up over the OP's idea that shouting was in order simply because they were smoking, that it made it all all right. I shouldn't smoke near toddler swings, but then the point is more that I should let toddlers near the swings instead of hogging them. Not that smoking makes it all 10x worse.

I was also thinking that maybe this reasoning would apply in any areas that children are likely to be in- i.e. in a park. The park's nice for me too. I don't want to be shouted at and don't deserve to be, for something like that....

Then why weren't they just asked 'would you mind putting your cigs out lads/girls, just while the children are here' instead of making them move :s

I'd rather at that age they were on a park rather than trawling the streets

I think really your DH was annoyed that teenagers were on the swings and he pushed the "smoking is bad" message to make it seem more reasonable, which wasn't even necessary.

true the park is just as nice for 11 to 13 year olds as little kids.
where should they go, the bus shelter?

It is not illegal in England for an under 18 to smoke.

Nothing wrong with asking them to bugger off from the kids playground though.

What, changed the story and exaggerated so you'd be told YANBU?

hahah the look on this one aggressive-precious dad's face as he wanted to put his little baby on the pedal go-karts at a naice farm park, which were being used by my 13 year old but looks older, with a hoody on, and his six year old cousin, was something to behold.

it was pure daggers!! and before anyone suggests it, they were not monopolising,just having fun on age appropriate equipment.