Child has has broken my fence!!

[Snappymcsnappy]

I am absolutely furious!

Fed up with people young and old trampling the flowers at the very front of my garden, I used what little money I have to buy a cheap plastic fence to stop it.

Me and DH thrilled with how lovely it looks, I stand at my kitchen today to see a boy about the same age as my eldest forcefully kicking my fence

I am pretty sure I have seen this child and his friends and their mums before, stomping on my plants, running into people's gardens and generally being a nuisance.

Second I opened the door to confront the little shit child he runs down the street to mummy, on realising that I've followed him and am going to confront him much cuddling up to mummy, hiding behind her.

Mum was very apologetic, I set about trying to fix my fence.
Cannot. It's bent beyond repair.

Then she starts telling me how it couldn't have been her child because he never lies to her and was walking with her, must have been her friends child...

No apology from other mother of course assuming this is true.
In fact, when I explained that it was a cheap fence that won't take kicking and I don't want my property damaged she looked to be stifling a laugh.
No chastising naughty child of course either.
Don't want to damage their spirit and all that shit I imagine.

I am so annoyed, but really really upset as well.

The garden used to be hedge, nettle and bramble.
Me and DH worked hard for years to get it pretty with very very limited money.

I don't have the money to be constantly replacing broken fence, even if it is super cheap.
Any little bit of spare cash I have I spend on trying to make my garden pretty.

When did people get so fucking disrespectful?!

Never, as a child would I have damaged someone's things because I knew it was wrong and that I would get a bollocking.
Ditto for my children, I would have firstly died of embarrassment had they done something like that, then offered to pay for a new portion and come down VERY hard on my children.

Not sure where to go from here.
They pass my house everyday and I suspect it will happen again.
I can't afford a more sturdy fence, nor can I afford to keep replacing a few panels regularly.
I could put in a insanely prickly blood drawing hedge but money again and I hate hedges and it's already shady so nothing will grow!

Thats just words, its just rosy eyed nostalgia. There were large numbers of children with almost no parental oversight at all.

It's not just nostalgia. We had no parental supervision for the most part but we wouldn't have done it anyways as the consequences of being caught were dire. I am one of a large family brought up on a council estate as is DH. Our generations are all squished as a result so my older nephews and nieces are not that much younger than me and now have DC younger than my current teenagers. None of them would or have ever behaved like that. There were always a few my cousins who were never told off and were allowed to interrupt adults etc. There does seem to be more that go for that type of parenting than I've seen through all my years.

Thats just you. Thats not everyone else. You can't extrapolate your own experience to every other child for hundreds of years

..and neither can you. Lets agree to disagree I think.

Well actually I wasn't, so I think I'll just stick with you being wrong.

A little bit of me would love you to be able to afford a really heavy duty painted cast iron fence in exactly the same style as your cheap plastic one. Then sit back and hear the stubbed toe yelps after they try to kick that !!

But it isn't actually the child's fault if they have shitty parents so maybe not....

I was going to ask if you are always this disagreeable but a quick search answered that for me. It's of no concern to me if some randomer on a chat site thinks I am wrong but good luck with pushing those buttons.

I wouldn’t move the gooseberries; your fence-wrecker might like to help himself. I’d go with berberis, pyracantha or holly.

I tried to grow a hedge but the little bastards kept trampling and pulling up my little hedge saplings . Can you buy ready-made prickly hedges?

Maybe try an electric fence OP or run a current through a hedge, that'll sort 'em out.
Please note, I accept no legal responsibility for this suggestion.

What a shame Op. People should be glad to see people making an effort to make the neighbourhood look nicer with a well kept garden not smirking when their kids wreck it. We actually had our fence wrecked twice by teenagers. The police told us to get CCTV and if it happened again they'd act. We didn't want to go to the expense so never replaced the fence. Now and again I see little fuckers try to run through our garden after school but a quick glare usually scared them off! I'll happily confront a parent. We try to keep a nice garden because we care about the street we live in and I won't have people spoil that.

Well actually I wasn't, so I think I'll just stick with you being wrong.
She's not wrong though, is she?! When we were kids there was a lot more respect for people/people's property. Yes there were some right little oiks around I was probably one of them but in general children knew right from wrong. These days a lot of them haven't been told it's naughty to kick someone's fence/trample on flowers. Their parents back them up (and give you a mouthful of abuse) no matter what they have done - that is a recent phenomenon.

I must say that the police were very good about children throwing stones at my mother’s windows. They went round and gave them a stern taking to and left my mum their number and names for any follow up. They followed up themselves a few weeks later. You make assume it’s too small a matter to bother them with, but they said these things should be reported as intervening early can prevent escalation, as it may prevent the children getting into more serious trouble if they get a short sharp shock early on, before their behaviour has more serious consequences for them as well as for others.

Yukka is very sharp.
I am scared to approach mine. I would like to remove it but can't get near it. They grow very fast.

Yukka.
Is that the same plant they put in dog food?

I'll have a look thank you

I suppose anti climb paint might ruin their trainers if they tried to kick it?

www.google.co.th/search?hl=en&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1422&bih=686&ei=QdPyWuzyDcea8wWsi5noAg&q=yukka&oq=yukka&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i10k1l2j0l6.2567.3681.0.6833.5.5.0.0.0.0.173.595.0j4.4.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..1.4.593....0.JaxH6UeGpC0#imgrc=CDaPVcV88lKxTM:

Make sure you get the outdoor version, not a house plant.
The leaves are hard and sharp.

I think nettles are quite an attractive plant if they are shorts wearing children...

I agree that badly behaved spoilt brats were far rarer when I was a child.

Thistles can look attractive too.

What about a gorse bush? Pretty yellow flowers.

Belladonna?

Fire thorn bushes in front of fence?

When we had a for sale sign in front garden that was mysteriously leaning I was having a bad morning with my kids opened front door to find a child swinging off the for sale sign. I just bellowed oi - kids jumped down looked contrite and said immediately said sorry. I said well it could easily fall on you so don’t do it again.

We were about three houses from corner but his mother had let him run ahead when she came round corner had a fit me daring to tell her child off. Didn’t care it could easily fall over and hurt him – he was just playing and I had no right to tell him off .

Saw her around a fair bit after that she had no control over her two boys and was clearly at times upset by this.

The sign was found out outside our front window according to neighbour another family had let their child swing from it - with sign falling over and child getting nasty bump. As people were out and about the parents clearly thought they couldn't just leave sign so carried it up the drive and left under our front window for some reason.

The difference fifty years ago was that people were allowed to give an oik a clip round the ear.