To let my DD walk on the wall?

[PrincessWatermelon]

Like any other children, my 2 DDs (2 and 4) love walking on garden walls. There are some especially good ones near the school. No one has told us off, but I do wonder what the 'done thing' is. Obviously I'm careful they only walk on a sturdy wall and don't touch/harm any plants/fences, etc. Do you think this is ok or AIBU?

It drives me mad actually.

I have walls lining my front path and also surrounding the front garden. Two parallel walls are like a magnet to kids, thinking they can leap from one to another and then walk the length of the garden one.
I've had to carry one young boy back home with a bloody nose and knee and also I have about 10 bricks loose and four missing.

I wish I had the money to have it all torn down and just pave over the lot and have a super huge driveway! I'm seriously considering remortgaging so I can do it.

I don't mind if children walk on my garden wall. I would care if they fell off though (or the wall collapsed ) and they injured themselves - that they might want to blame us for having a defective wall ?

Most small children who walk past like to close our front gate

It'd be cheaper to invest in a set of (very large) motion sensor sprinklers, Ferret. Remembering to use the back entrance yourself, of course.

And those who walk on public walls - do you think they don't get damaged? Or do they perhaps get damaged and then have to be paid for with public money?

What you could do, drastic though it is, is NOT walk on other people's property and only let your children walk on yours?

This stuff about people suing each other for innocuous shit seems to be something people say a lot, but I've never heard of it happening to anyone I know, ever. Is it just a thing people say, or is it just to do with certain circles people move in?

I can't imagine somebody suing me because their kid walked on my wall and fell off. Even if they did, I can't imagine being worried, because no judge in the country with an ounce of common sense would award anything to the parent.

And those who walk on public walls - do you think they don't get damaged? Or do they perhaps get damaged and then have to be paid for with public money?

But if they don't walk on the wall, then they'll have to walk on the pavement, which means more feet per day on the pavement, (it all adds up you know, on a school route that is a lot of kids walking on a stretch of pavement), which will then have to be repaired slightly sooner, costing public money.

Maybe there should be a law that all children under 5 should be carried by a parent so as not to wear down public pavements.

We used to do it as kids in the 70s and I really couldn't care if a small child walks across my wall. We occasionally get a couple of teenagers sitting on it for a few minutes late at night. It's just outside my bedroom window so I can hear them. They wait for their friend to catch up or whatever and then off they go. No harm done, doesn't bother me at all.

Ace You do know that walls aren't actually built to be walked on, unlike the pavement?

No, the pavements won't have to "be repaired sooner", as a direct consequence of less people walking on the walls instead. 😴
Pavements are designed to take the weight of being walked on, walls aren't

I suppose public walls are OK but I'd be furious if anyone walked on my garden wall and wouldn't hesitate to tell them to clear off.

I can't imagine being worried, because no judge in the country with an ounce of common sense would award anything to the parent
There's a problem with that sentence - it involves using the term "common sense" in the same sentence as "judge".

Pavements are designed to take the weight of being walked on, walls aren't

But they do still require periodic maintenance.

There's a problem with that sentence - it involves using the term "common sense" in the same sentence as "judge"

Maybe. Like I said, not me or anyone I know has ever been sued by anyone for anything, so it's not an area I'm particularly knowledgeable in.

What about walls like these? Every child in our infant school has walked on this wall at least once.

I can't imagine somebody suing me because their kid walked on my wall and fell off. Even if they did, I can't imagine being worried, because no judge in the country with an ounce of common sense would award anything to the parent.

The story about a child who climbed a tree to walk on quite a high wall who fell off and whose parents sued the council whose wall it was and whose private property the boy fell into is true. Yes they were awarded damages. The same council also had to pay out when another child got injured riding a bike on a bowling green and coming off when he hit the ditch at the side. It does happen, the onus is on the owner to ensure their property is safe irrespective of whether the injured person is trespassing or behaving in a reckless manner.

on garden walls YABU, walls in the park, round carparks etc fine. Same as I wouldn't let my kids play in someone else's garden or climb their trees

Six foot drop onto concrete off my garden wall, no way.
You should be teaching them to respect other people's property.
Lovely that you want to make walking to school more fun. But can you jump over cracks in the pavement instead ?
And go to the park or find a fitness trail, where there are logs or balance beams to walk along.

Yes. Because walking on something that is designed to be walked on is exactly the same as walking on something that ISN'T.

Although I realise you are being disingenuous - surely nobody is incapable of seeing the difference

My garden wall is a dry stone wall. I would be seriously pissed if anyone let their kids climb on it - not designed to be climbed on and not bloody safe, never mind the cost and ballache of trying to find someone still skilled in the art of dry stone walling to fix it

Public walls, yes. Private walls, no. Would you let them play in a stranger's front garden? I don't see how a stranger's garden wall is any different.

AceTenSuited, I used to work in insurance. Believe me, it happens. A LOT. You've no idea the ridiculous claims that people are putting in now that years ago would not have got past a solicitor. Nowadays insurance companies settle out of court, so it doesn't necessarily involve a judge's decision. And it's everybody's insurance costs that increase as a result, regardless!

People don't want to take responsibility for their own actions any more. They want cash payouts instead.

I recall some years ago a child being killed by a collapsing wall. Poor kid hadn't been walking on it - it wasn't her fault at all - just going past. The point is, we might think a wall is sound and stable, but unless you can make a professional assessment, you really can't be sure. Coping stones, often used to finish off the top of a wall, are especially prone to being loosened, you really wouldn't want your child be walking over them and one slips off, causing your child to fall off.

We had a front garden wall, which was old and the bricks were coming loose. One lady let her child walk on the wall, child jumped off and knocked a corner brick off. She then proceeded to knock on the door and complain that my wall was unsafe for her child to walk on and that I was lucky her child didn't hurt herself and that I should think about repairing the wall before another child injures themselves walking on it! I pointed out that the wall wasn't for walking on but she said try explaining to a child that walls are not made for fun and balancing on we've since replaced it with a fence but still get an obscene amount of children running up and down our drive, on our front grass and round the cars while parents watch them (joys of having a nestcam!)

Well the leap from "a child walking on my wall" to "dozens of children doing it every day, wrecking my property" is a pretty big one. Not on mumsnet though I guess.

Because if you do live on a route frequented by families, it does happen dozens of times a day. Unless yours is the only child in the village?

our garden wall was much beloved by the kids in our street, as our house was empty for ages. Despite the pocket park 1 min down the road, they all congregated on our wall. Our windows are just a few metres behind, so when we moved in I instigated 'our wall is not for sitting on/ playing on/ walking on/ playing wallie against'. It felt like being in a goldfish bowl and intruded on our privacy somewhat. So yeah, don't have kids walking on other people's garden walls. It would annoy me (and I'm often in at school run so you'd have to be prepared for me to lean out and ask you politely to stop!). You've got no idea how many kids have walked on that wall ;)