To despair of new neighbours' shrieking children?

[saraclara]

It's been a glorious afternoon, but I've had to spend it indoors, and even with my doors closed I can hear them. I don't know how they can shriek for this long without having really sore throats. It's not ordinary play shouting, it's just pointless daft shrieking as far as I can tell. They've been out there for at least four hours. There was a break for about 20 minutes, then it started up again. I'm guessing from the tone of the shrieks that they're about 7-9 years old?

There's nothing I can do about it, is there? This is it for the spring and summer.

I could weep.

If I was you, I’d poke my head over the fence and say very loudly but pleasantly, ‘hi what are you doing? It’s quite loud, can you be quiet I’m trying to read, thank you!’ Keep it pleasant but firm.

I assure it almost certainly is ordinary play shrieking. Children have higher pitched voices than adults and squeal etc with excitement, its totally normal.

Unless you choose to live in the middle of nowhere, hearing children play outside on a lovely summer afternoon is pretty standard. Or would you rather they be indoors glued to the tv? They should be out playing with siblings/friends.

It probably won't get better. The earlier you say something the better. Trust me.

They are children playing outdoors during reasonable hours.

One of my neighbours’ kids is like this. My 2 are not angels but they don’t scream for the sake of it like this kid does. I’m going to have to say something. I don’t know why the parents don’t tell them to shut up, if I hear mine start to shout or get too over excited I tell them straight away to be quiet.

I sympathize. My menopausal self can no longer stand shrieking kids. I don't think it's reasonable for their parents to take no notice of them and not consider other neighbours.

And honestly some kids are awful for it, there’s a difference between normal play (which may be loud and annoying but understandable) and actual shrieking (which is like torture) so I get it OP.

I would say something, I have told my neighbours to please let me know if my children are too loud, I am frequently reminding them to not shriek/squawk on the trampoline.

They do get overexcited and it gets too much but I also think consideration for others is something they should be aware of from a young age.

Get a Bluetooth speaker for your garden...

I dont like kids, I just about tolerate my own but I could not get worked up about kids playing in their own garden on a sunny day.

I hate parents who allow their children to carry on like this. Constant screaming and shrieking is totally unacceptable.

I'm sorry but kids shouldn't be allowed to shriek like that and make everyone miserable. My parents would send us inside if we did that. Kids need to be taught to respect others

I have 3 children who can be really loud when they play outside. They don't shriek but their voices can be very loud. I spend a lot of time going out, telling them to keep it down, ensuring they aren't out for too long & it doesn't start too early / go on too late.

A certain amount of noise is fine but YANBU OP.

It would be fine to do as a PP suggested & nicely ask them to keep the noise down, especially when it's prolonged.

If their parents are like me, they'll understand & take note. Sadly, I know that many people think ALL noise is OK & will react accordingly.

There's normal play and there's screaming/shrieking. I've told this one before but they really need to know not to do it. Next door had a child who shrieked all the time/shouted help/mum constantly. One day it went on for ages as usual and eventually I went out to tell her to shut up only to find her hanging from the window upstairs. She lost her grip and fell as I stepped out, landed on the concrete and broke her pelvis and both her legs
If she hadn't constantly shrieked, I would have gone to look earlier and could have shoved stuff on the floor or dragged her in
If they're constantly shrieking and then a bloke tries to drag them off, who's going to know?

I don't mind hearing the children playing but not gratuitous screeching for hours on end. If you have neighbours, you should be teaching children to be respectful of others needs.
Having said that, I don't mind a bit of happy screaming but I hate it when the parents join in and shout louder than the kids. We have neighbours who play crocodiles with their toddler for ages, long after the rest of us were fed up of it and went in

@Noodledoodledoo

I would say something, I have told my neighbours to please let me know if my children are too loud, I am frequently reminding them to not shriek/squawk on the trampoline.

They do get overexcited and it gets too much but I also think consideration for others is something they should be aware of from a young age.

Yes, agreed Noodle. I get a bit stressed about it. I have some very unpleasant neighbours who I am quite scared of, but I've also lovely neighbours, one family with very small toddlers / babies & I try really hard to take this into consideration while not stopping my kids being out.

I know I need to take them out somewhere for some chunk of the day to make sure they won't disturb the road.

YANBU.

I never let my children shriek in the garden for this very reason. It’s selfish and inconsiderate.

Everyone should be allowed to enjoy their gardens, not just those with children.

The children behind us are like this it’s just non stop screeching, shouting followed be inevitable tears and tantrums. There’s loads of children on our street and none of their play noise bothers me but these two drive me nuts.

Can’t wait to move once my youngest finish secondary school time to move on and let another family enjoy living on a suburban family estate!

My NDN's grandkids screech and scream all the time. It's ear splitting and there's no need for it. I don't mind hearing children play and laugh etc but these kids scream like they're being murdered. We've already had words about it which went down like a lead balloon. It ruins the quiet enjoyment of the garden.

I find these threads really sad tbh, dogs barking would piss me off,neighbours arguing would piss me off but kids playing?

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I assure it almost certainly is ordinary play shrieking. Children have higher pitched voices than adults and squeal etc with excitement, its totally normal.

Unless you choose to live in the middle of nowhere, hearing children play outside on a lovely summer afternoon is pretty standard. Or would you rather they be indoors glued to the tv? They should be out playing with siblings/friends.

I've had kids of my own. I was a teacher. I've had plenty of neighbours with children. I know normal play noise from pointless shrieking. I don't know how you can "assure" me of anything when you're not actually here to tell the difference.

The normal sound of children playing is absolutely fine. Shrieking so loud that it's even defeating my very good double glazing, is not normal play.

@Mellonsprite

If I was you, I’d poke my head over the fence and say very loudly but pleasantly, ‘hi what are you doing? It’s quite loud, can you be quiet I’m trying to read, thank you!’ Keep it pleasant but firm.

OK, just one thing, these are new neighbours so would you know if the children could have SN? My two do and my youngest is a terrible shrieker when excited, she is 5 and doesn't understand when I try and get her to stop. I try my best to calm her but it can take a while. I did tell my neighbours when we moved in as I was so sensitive about it.

They are probably excited with their new home. Maybe they have never had a garden before. Change your mindset and appreciate how lovely it is hearing kids enjoying themselves.

@Mellonsprite

If I was you, I’d poke my head over the fence and say very loudly but pleasantly, ‘hi what are you doing? It’s quite loud, can you be quiet I’m trying to read, thank you!’ Keep it pleasant but firm.

Unfortunately their garden is at a diagonal behind mine, so there's no fence that I can pop my head over to try to deal with it pleasantly. That would be the ideal, of course. The only option is to walk round to the house and mention it more formally, which I'm really not up for, as I can't imagine the parents taking it well (see some of the posts above for what they're likely to say).