Parents standing on my front lawn

[Twizbe]

Trying to decide if I say something to the Head so thought I'd ask here first.

I live next to a 2 form entry junior school. Our house is the last of 3 down a single track private dead end road. The end of the road is a gate for the school. Our property boundaries the school.

When we moved in this gate was just emergency access / gardener access for the school. No kids used this entrance.

After covid the school use this gate for year 6. Since the schools went back after Xmas we have 60 kids using this gate morning and evening.

A few times now I've seen parents stood on our lawn or in sunny weather sat on it.

Today I came home and this bloke was stood almost at our front door playing with the leaves on a young tree in the lawn (it's about waist height)

He just gave me a dirty look at I turned my car into my drive.

AIBU to ask the school to remind parents that this is private property and not a place to sit / stand.

I don’t see why people get so annoyed about something that only happens at most for 5 minutes a day

I wonder if you'd be so blasé if it was your lawn they were standing on or your drive they were blocking twice a day? And it's never just 5 mins!

Surely it's possible to make an autonomous decision in a situation like this? Really!

You could say that about pretty much every thread on here. Why does it bother you that someone is asking for advice?

@SpringTides5

You absolutely have a choice. Park further away and use your legs. If parents/children are unable to walk any distance, then the school will arrange for you to use staff parking/disabled bay etc.

@2021mumma

I feel your pain - this could have been me writing this, we have had parents park on our drive because it was raining was their excuse! They sit on our front wall and stand on our drive. We have had to continually paint our front wall and now I’m tempted to cover it in chalk so they will think twice about sitting on it again!!

You can get never-drying paint that will come off on their clothes if they sit on it...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-climb_paint

Or those rubber spikes that are supposed to be a cat deterrent? They won't park their arses on that.

@SpringTides5

Tbh I sometimes wonder what people who buy houses right next to schools actually expect.

It’s not exactly a secret that lots of parents will gather at pick up and drop off. Some will need to park in a way that’s not ideal simply due to lack of space. Perhaps they’ll have to block a drive.

Others will stand in or black private property. Particularly at the moment when playgrounds are often closed to parents.

Tbh the two choices are accept that there will be activity at pick up and drop off or move house.

If you read the OP's first post, that clearly says that until the recent Covid situation the gate was used only for emergency or gardener access to the school. So when they bought the house there was no question of there being parents picking up children from that exit.

Your not being silly. Tell the school, they will send out emails to all parents. Our school has had complaints from houses in front of it during covid period where parents were standing in people's drive. School sent emails asking parents not to do that, not to stand infront of anyone's home or strike a conversation with anyone infront of residents home.

[quote jpm129]@AryaStarkWolf at least I didn't piss in my own bed! Surely it's possible to make an autonomous decision in a situation like this? Really![/quote]
Reading the AIBU section might not be good for your heart I fear!

How rude! I would never go on to someone's front garden! I would have told them to get off right there and then and put in a note to the school. Your front lawn isnt a bloody park. Cheek of it.

There's nothing new under the sun. Way back in the 1980s, when I was doing the school run, I witnessed a local resident politely asking a driver not to park across her driveway as she needed to get her car out.

The response was that in entitled mum's opinion, all those "little houses" should be razed to the ground to make a carpark for the school. Said little houses were very nice three bedroomed semis, but obviously not up to the standard of entitled mum's residence, a gruelling five minute walk up the road.

I want to see a diagram. Is it very obvious that the grass is your front garden?

It’s so rude standing on your lawn like that. I’d speak to the school or maybe put a keep off the grass sign up? I had an open plan garden in my last house, the neighbours lawn was parallel with mine. We had some awful people buy the house next to ours, they thought nothing of standing on our lawn (under our bedroom window) having a chat with a friend late at night. We ended up fencing our garden off (which offended them)

No excuses but I'm wondering if the parents think your house is part of the school like a caretakers house? Not that they have the right to stand on your garden. I feel so angry on your behalf.
We boundary a school aswell, but not the school entrance. Our house is side on to the staff car park and field. We thought it would be great to be so close for your kids and convenience but it's actually very annoying

@SpringTides5

Tbh I sometimes wonder what people who buy houses right next to schools actually expect.

It’s not exactly a secret that lots of parents will gather at pick up and drop off. Some will need to park in a way that’s not ideal simply due to lack of space. Perhaps they’ll have to block a drive.

Others will stand in or black private property. Particularly at the moment when playgrounds are often closed to parents.

Tbh the two choices are accept that there will be activity at pick up and drop off or move house.

You realise that not every buys their house and/or has a choice of where they live??

I live in social housing. I live where I get put.

I would start by mentioning it to the school and they can put it in the newsletter. If it still keeps happening either a chain fence which you shouldn't have to put up or actually asking people to not come on your property. I hope you get this resolved.

Legally this has nothing to do with the school and I would not raise this with the school as is will cause further embarrassing to you and could cause anti social behaviour by some evil children who don't even use this exit. Either erect a fence or put up signs private property along the boundary. Taking photos really antagonises. a fence should stop it. I really advise you not to go public on anything as you can't turn the clock back and you could be as the enemy with kids throwing stuff in your garden. I'm so on your side but quite a few parents are simply pigs in charge of their little ''darlings" who could make trouble for you when older after hearing what their pig of a parent says.

The point is that parents often don’t have a choice about where they park or stand at drop off. The only option is often to park up where you can (perhaps over a drive) for a couple of minutes or even wait in a garden for collection. I don’t see why people get so annoyed about something that only happens at most for 5 minutes a day

And this in a nutshell is what is wrong with some parents today. "I am so special because I have kids (and the SUV I have to show off) and it's fine for me to stand in your garden/block your driveway/churn up your grass verges".

Heaven forbid that you park a bit further away in a safe spot that isn't obstructing anyone and walk. Or just walk, full stop.

It's not 5 minutes either, I said further upthread that people arrive 45 minutes before and sit there with their engines running. And then they stay longer while they have a chat with other parents. Can be an hour.

Tbh I sometimes wonder what people who buy houses right next to schools actually expect

I didn't realise people were such CFers. I don't have a problem with people parking in the road at all. But not in front of driveways, not leaving engines running and not on the grass verges. They put yellow lines down part of my road and I thought the neighbours were being really precious to ask the council to do it - I was a school governor at the time and opposed it. And then I started working part-time and realised what people were getting up to.

This coyld be a short term issue. The school are using the gate due to wanting to minimise footfall in one location due to covid social distancing. They will likely stop using the gate once social distancibg isnt needed. However, totally in your right to ask adults not to stand on your ground

@fairydustandpixies

Fence. Sign saying 'private land'. More signs saying 'beware the dog/bull/teenager' and also buy a motion sensor loudspeaker that says "get the fuck off my garden!"

I like these ideas!

The point is that parents often don’t have a choice about where they park or stand at drop off. The only option is often to park up where you can (perhaps over a drive) for a couple of minutes or even wait in a garden for collection. I don’t see why people get so annoyed about something that only happens at most for 5 minutes a day

It's not 5 mins though, it can be for ages.

I live on a cul de sac across the main road from a primary school. There's no parking allowed at the school for parents. Due to the location of the cul de sac (close to school, close to town) we are permit parking only, with just 5 visitor spaces. Terraced housing so no one has a drive. We have a tiny car park in the middle, to go with the marked spaces at the side of the road.

Parents still come along and take the spaces, sometimes for ages, including the permit only spaces, as the traffic wardens probably come round once or twice a day at most.

Even worse, sometimes parents park on the double yellow lines outside my house. These lines are there (outside mine and the two neighbours on the right) because there's no room to pull off the car park if cars are parked where the lines are.

It’s not exactly a secret that lots of parents will gather at pick up and drop off. Some will need to park in a way that’s not ideal simply due to lack of space. Perhaps they’ll have to block a drive.

Nobody has to block a drive. Sure, they might have to park a bit further away and walk; or even get public transport; but no-one is holding a gun to their head making them park across a driveway.

[quote SpringTides5]@Jennifer2021

The point is that parents often don’t have a choice about where they park or stand at drop off.

The only option is often to park up where you can (perhaps over a drive) for a couple of minutes or even wait in a garden for collection.

I don’t see why people get so annoyed about something that only happens at most for 5 minutes a day.[/quote]
Again, of course people have a choice. With a lane that ends in a dead end at the school gate, they have the entire lane to stand in, nothing forces them into people's front gardens. Likewise with parking over driveways, there's always a choice.

I always used to wonder who on earth could possibly think it's OK to block in someone's drive and how they could justify it to themselves. Now I know, it's people who think like @SpringTides5.