DSS is 15.
He enjoys playing football. He also enjoys kicking the football against the side of the house, as practice. He started being interested (played when he ws younger but has a renewed interest now) this past summer, and was kicking the ball loudly against the front door, the wall under toddler DD's window when she was sleeping, and around my beloved rosebush. I got fed up when he knocked a slate off the porch steps, and finally told him and (mostly) DH off about it. Since then he mostly plays in the back garden.
About a week after my telling off, DH was painting some shelves in the back garden; DSS hit a can of paint thinner with the football and it went all over DH's face and clothes. Luckily, he wasn't blinded! His clothes were ruined and he (DH!) had a lot of clean-up to do.
About a month ago, I was having lunch with DD(2), and he was in the garden kicking the ball around. It hit the kitchen window (opposite me and beside DD) with considerable force, but it did not break. I was angry, and let DH know it. When DH spoke to DSS about it, DSS denied having hit the window, and DH took his word for it. Then I pointed out to DH the perfect 'muddy football' impression smack in the middle of the window. DSS continues to deny that he ever hit the window, and (in a rather ugly row) insisted that he is too talented and has too much control over the ball to accidentally hit a window.
Today, he was outside again, playing ball. When he came in, he told DH (I'm not sure if he volunteered this info, or if DH asked) that he had been careful not to hit any windows. However, when I went to do the laundry, there it was - another football impression, on the window of the utility room this time. DH spoke to him - he said he meant that he'd been careful not to hit the kitchen window. DH told him to clean the mark off the window. He griped about that - he was going to be late to meet his friends, the rain would wash it off anyway (it doesn't).
So. It is my position that ball privileges should be revoked. A small child kicking a ball against a house might be one thing, but a 6' tall, strong, teenager kicking it with force is another. We rent the house, and the various chips, loose slates, etc, are not improving the look of the place, and I feel we are not taking proper care of the property. No windows have broken yet, it is true, but if one did - as when I was eating lunch right in front of it with DD - someone could be hurt. DH could already have been seriously injured through DSS's carelessness with the ball. And DSS has lied - repeatedly - about hitting the windows. These are also only the incidents we know about. Just getting him to clean up the windows every time he hits one and it leaves evidence is not good enough, in my opinion.
We do live near both playing fields and park lands, so it would be possible for DSS to practice his ball skills nearby.
I wonder if other parents would let their son carry on, or would have put an end to it long ago. I've told DH I am going to ask on here.