AIBU kids with football in street

[Daisby]

My neighbours over the road have four "children", 20, 16, 16 and 15. They never appear during the day but at around 8.30pm without fail, at least two of them, usually three, come out and start kicking a football (big heavy ball not a soft ball) around. The constant "thump, thump, thump" of the ball during the evening is driving me to bloody distraction. It goes on until around 10pm give or take.

My DH is of the opinion this is antisocial behaviour. Anyone who has asked the parents to stop this is met with "they are nice children, who never bother anyone" (or similar) and refuse to stop it.

AIBU to think that a) they shouldn't be doing this during the evening when people want a bit of peace, and b) they're a bit bloody old to be kicking a footy in the street, and should go to the nearby field (1 minute walk away).

The amount they practice with the ball, they should be like Pele.

YABU
Having lived in a part of town where the kids never kicked a football around they were too busy being vandals, I am all in favour of street football.

Really I had my windows maliciously smashed several times a week for two years.

YABU.

I'd love the youth around me to kick a football around in the evenings, rather than graffiting the buildings, dealing drugs, and fighting.

Antisocial?? Do you live in a bubble?

OP is not saying that playing football is the same level of antisocial behaviour as dealing drugs and fighting or that noise from football is the worst imaginable horror in the world.

There are different levels of antisocial behaviour. Needlessly causing noise nuisance to neighbours with a thumping ball when there is a park nearby is definitely antisocial behaviour.

We put up with this for years - got home from work, and there they would be kicking a football in the road - on cars, at cars, in your garden, yelling and screaming. All those who seem to think its a good thing should put up with it night after night - and always after dark. Got so bad we used to pack a picnic tea and go out in the car for some peace and quiet. It's hateful. And we all have gardens, so OP It is antisocial - and if a man of 20 is out there "Playing footie" he needs to play it properly and join a team.

Have you talked to the kids directly, in a friendly way? From your OP it sounds like you have only spoken to the parents. I think it would be worth talking to the kids, but I would try to be as friendly as possible. They may not even be aware that you are bothered by their game.

We had this problem in a car park that backed into our house. They did do it slightly later but the local police did talk to them and tell them that they were disturbing the peace and that they should find somewhere else. They also were kicking it against a wall, which was really loud, somebody a few roads away called 999 thinking it was gunshots which may have helped our case!

If you live in an urban environment there is always noise... We live at the end of a Road that is effectively a culdasac. There is a small court yard area that kids use for football (and a wall to kick it against). It makes a noise ....I can hear it...shrugs..
It's background noise, unless of course you focus in on it, think about it all the time, get cross.. For me it's not so much the noise it's how you respond to it and hope you think about it that sounds hard...

For me it's the cars being hit by footballs and the scrambling about in my lovely garden breaking my plants that I find irritating. I don't actually mind the noise. I do mind when the ball repetitively comes on to my property.

I have 3 ds's around those ages.

I'd be telling mine to be in the back garden or find a field to have the kick around.

Playing on the street in a pain in the arse and inconsiderate to say the least.

YANBU in the slightest.

We had some kids kicking and bouncing a football about for 2 hours one night last week. It almost drove me mad. It's not a little noise, it's thud, thud, thud, thud, and it is constant. I was on pins incase it hit mine or DH's car, which are on the drive, but they were opposite it.

We too have somewhere else they can go within a 30 second walk, not just a field, but proper sports pitches. I would not let my kids do it.

I'm absolutely NOT saying that they can't play football in the street. They could play earlier, when there's more noise to drown it out. This is more than just background noise.

I'm absolutely NOT saying that they need to sit in front of a screen. They could take the ball to the field that's in view of their own house.

To come up with the argument that it's better than drug dealing and vandalism is just ridiculous. You could make that argument for almost anything - "oh officer I've been burgled" - "well it's better than your house being burnt down".

What I am saying is that, after 8.30 the constant thud of the heavy ball IS disturbing, especially when there is another, easily accessible, within view, place they can go to.

I don't think it's unreasonable to think that other neighbours want some peace after 8.30pm and that these kids adults could possibly move 100 metres onto a field instead of playing keepie up on the street in front of their house?

I have an 8 yr old DD and an 18 yr old DD. One needs to be asleep so she has the energy to function at school (although tbf it doesn't particularly disturb her sleep as she is usually fairly tired) and the other one has had to put up with it while revising for A levels (not so much of an issue now). There's no option for them to sleep/revise elsewhere, all our bedrooms are at the front of the house.

We've never asked the parents but other neighbours have. We have talked to the kids but they just slope off and ignore us.

I think it's about courtesy really. And the chance to watch Corrie in peace.

I'm all revved up to get out there and have a word this evening - especially with regards to breaking plants, slamming my gate and climbing on my wall staring into the house - all offshoots of their little kickabout. It's not the football I find annoying, it's the intrusion onto my property. I wouldn't just take a stroll into their parents gardens ten times an hour so they can bugger off out of mine!

I have had two footballs being kicked back and forth across the road for 2 hours now. The lads playing are well into their teens so they are old enough to go to the playing field 5 mins away. Yes did have a quiet word to ask them to play outside their own front, but their parents send them away as they don't want the noise. Had a word last month with a set of parents and was told to f off. Nice. So no I just have to put up with the continual thump. I can hear this with all doors and windows shut as it seems to vibrate through the house. So am now doing my rain dance.

Just call 101 OP

I don't think those ages warrant being classed as kids. Yanbu.

Ball games in the street are a nuisance. No objections to kids playing in the street but kids often congregate in gangs and despite their efforts its inevitable that the balls will land on cars and gardens, parents of the darlings seem to excuse this antisocial behaviour with polite assurances that they'll tell the kids to stop - but they don't, and angry assertions that they aren't breaking any laws and can play wherever they want. Whats annoying is there are parks and green areas very close by which they could easily get to. Lazy parenting leaving kids unsupervised to damage peoples cars and plants. Can't get upset with the kids - parents are obviously giving them the message that its ok to be a nuisance to neighbours.

I've just put up with that thud thud thudding of a casey football being pounded against the rubbish bins in the garden directly facing my house. Thankfully they (an 11 yr old and a 12 yr old) have moved up the road a little now but it's been at least 2 hours so far. In the past when the ball (a casey not a sponge) bounced off my front window while my 12 month old was sat in front of it playing, I have asked the children not to play there, then I asked them a few days later (after they ignored me) if they could maybe play with a sponge ball, a few days later (still playing with a casey) and having found damage on to my car (which I saved years for and is a well looked after 2nd hand Toyota) I spoke to the mother providing alternative places the children could play. Their house directly leads onto a field, behind that is a road across which is a large park, down the road is another field with football nets up in the football season, around the corner is a school with an all weather pitch. The caretaker of the school lives next door to them and he has the keys. My husband even offered to take them to play football once or twice a week if they stopped playing football outside our house. Two years on and they are still kicking a hard leather casey into the cars on the road outside my house. Just an hour ago one of the lads was booting the ball against his own front door. What else are we able to do? Neither the children or their parents care, they don't listen and other neighbours have tried to reason with them too. Sometimes it's easier to try and turn and blind eye but it makes me feel shaky and sick when I know they are there especially when they have friends around and there are about eight or more of them. I have 3 children 10, 7 and 2yrs. I find it hard to think straight or play with my kids because my brain gets distracted by these children outside. I'm at a loss of what to do I doubt I'd get the support of any neighbours as nobody wants to get in the firing line of this dysfunctional family in fact one neighbour who doesn't have a car, has a chip in his window and has caused problems for his own immediate neighbours told these boys that it was their right to play football outside their own house in the road which also happens to be outside my house. Any ideas?

Perhaps the younger ones like to complete their homework before they play?

Have you wondered why they don't use the field? You see I think they'd prefer the extra room so I suspect it's not possible for some reason.

I know why they don't prefer the field because it's easier to open their front door and kick the ball against the bins and cars. I know why they don't go to the park because their Mum says she doesn't like them to go on their own (as a conscientious mother myself I understand this) ... yet she never actually gets up and takes them herself despite the fact that these boys do go to the park or the field just to hang around with friends (unfortunately not football ) :( I take my children to the park at least twice a week (more in Summer) to let them blow off a bit of steam, ride their bikes, feed the ducks etc. I feel sorry for her children sometimes, then they give attitude and start showing off when they have friends around and I feel a bit intimidated. It'll only be a couple of years and they'll all be bigger than me and my children.

When you say there's 'a field' up the road, do you mean a proper football field/park/public land? Or a farmer's field?

How are they supposed to play on a field in the evening when it's dark at 4.30?
It is annoying but you don't own the street.You have to live and let live.

Thread was started in june - do would have been lighter in the evenings.

So even

Hi Kentish, closest field is on the other side of their back garden fence (on our side of the road we don't even have a back garden ours is a tiny yard), the other field is a 1min walk away and is both a big play field and a sports field (football & rugby, free and open), the school field is 1min the other direction and the park is 5min walk and we take our kids after school if the weather is fine (wet is a no no but cold just means dress up warm). In the winter we have torches for the kids when they play out front or go adventuring.

Itsaknockout, it's not like we haven't taken these kids across the road with us in the past (trying to get the Mum to see how close these other places to play are). But we have our own children to look after so we can't do this all the time. Now the children across the road are getting older they don't like to be asked to stop or move away from the cars, windows (and they do this even after 4:30 in the evening in winter usually up to about 8:30pm). As I've said previously it started with our window nearly going through when baby was playing in front room and we asked them to play with a sponge ball in the street which they didn't.

You can excuse them all you like but we have really tried without getting nasty so where do you go from here. I was putting a nappy in the bin last night and four of them were giving a guy loads of grief 'cos he'd asked them to stop using his garage door as a goal.