School kids walking on my front garden wall

[Randomo]

Why do parents think its okay to have their kids walk on my front garden wall (2 foot high)....

Whats worse are the kids that sit on the 'pillar' at the entrance to my drive. (A 3 foot high brick pillar with a flat top).

When I was a kid I was taught not to walk or sit on others property. I dont blame the kids so much as the parents. Its drives me nuts. I used to call them out on it, but given up now....too many different/new parents each year.

Or am I the one with a problem?

Are they doing any harm or damage? Does you wall look the same when they've had their fun?

If no and yes, then stop being such a misery.

I wouldn’t let my kids walk on a wall belonging to someone’s house, but walls elsewhere or in the park yes of course.

When I was little the drs surgery had a fab wall we all used to walk along I remember doing it as a very small child and kids still do it - the school is very close. Clinic is now a vets though.

Our house when young used to have a very old red stone wall which ran the length of our house - at the side, it was. My friends and I used to play on it all the time. We moved and the new people moved in and a year later the whole thing collapsed.

@kittie01

Some of the comments are hilarious, it’s a little wall, kids will walk on it. People have little to moan about 😂 it’s not disrespectful it’s called being a child, learning, balancing, pre maths etc.

Do your teachable moment in your own property or if outside on public property. Don’t be a CF and take advantage of someone’s private space

I’m totally shocked that there are so many entitled parents on here. Damaging someone’s property is not acceptable just to bring joy to your little cherub’s life

It's rude. Kids climbing on a wall (which oddly enough, aren't pavements) damage them over time. I knew a lady who got ranted at and threatened with legal action when a child got hurt on hers because various kids climbing it over time had caused the top slabs to come loose. One slab fell off and crushed the ankle of the kid who brought it down.

OP I would suggest planters fixed to the top of the wall. They'll stop kids climbing and look lovely as a bonus.

Are they doing any harm or damage?

Walls do get damaged over time though and can be dangerous to the children climbing on them if loose.

Whilst I agree that if you buy a house near a school you can't complain about increased traffic/people parking on your road (as long as not over driveways)/noise at either end of the school day, you are justified in complaining about people trespassing and potentially damaging your property. I love seeing and hearing children having fun but I don't agree they should be using other people's property as a playground. What if they fancied climbing a tree in your garden? Where do you draw the line?

But as I said upthread, there was always going to be two camps on this one.

Honestly some of the suggestions on here ( broken glass , wet paint ) are worse than those suggestions for cats shitting in gardens .

@1Morewineplease

Pyracantha shrubs are your friend here. Exceptionally thorny and provide bounteous food for wildlife.

Agree. I had a low and very old (Victorian) wall that small children walked on, and teenagers sat on smoking and screeching and littering. The litter in the garden was a PITA, and the noise was worse because I was trying to work six feet away, but I worried most about accidents.

So I planted a pyracantha hedge and within two years it spread on top of the wall and could be trimmed into a neat block, privet style. It’s very sharp and it did the job.

YANBU.

All it take is for a child to damage something or hurt themselves and you’ll either have their parents upset that their child is hurt or refusing to pay damages to the homeowner maybe both.

YANBU. I have 3 young children and frequently remind them not to walk on people's driveways, drag their hands through people's hedges etc. Basic respect for others I would have thought. Surprised so many others think it's ok. I suspect many would change their minds if it was their wall.

I've looked up the shrubs they're actually lovely.. all bright and flamey

Broken glass on walls to prevent a little child have a bit of fun?

I hope no one took my broken bottle comment seriously! We’ve never lived close enough to a school to walk in, living semi rurally we drive to most places so it’s not really something mine have done.

Reminds me of this very similar situation. Three doors down from my kids school is a number of houses with a sizeable green space. On the edge of this green is a giant conker tree with its branches overhanging the foot path. Each autumn for several months, all the little kids stop at this tree to collect conkers. Now the retired elderly lady who lives in one of these houses absolutely detests the kids hanging out under this tree, has on occasion come out to grumble at parents and children. The tree has been there for over hundred years at least, as has the school, so why would you buy a house in that location if you didn’t like school aged children. Utterly bonkers.

@SpaceRaiders

Just to check, are the kids on the pavement or do they sometimes venture or lean into her front garden?

If the former, then tough luck, but if the later then I understand where she is coming from.

How kind of you 😜

[quote Randomo]@TwoAndAnOnion

A thin brick wall can most certainly be damaged by kids walking on it. You have to remmber that its 1 or 2 kids, walking along it every day or 2, for a couple of years; on a wall that is older than me to begin with.

(The bricks themselves wont be damaged, but the top bricks will become loose and fall off; and need to be re-fixed on)[/quote]
Single brick walls are prone to damage, I would put up a sign saying keep off and keep shouting them off.

@Randomo Lady’s front garden is enclosed 40 meters set back from the road, well away from the conker tree. And yes kids would walk on this little patch of grass verge to collect conkers, 2 months each year.

Clearly I’m in the minority but these kind of scenarios wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. But then I’d also never live within walking distance to a school knowing full well the disruption they entail.

In our last house we regularly had a toddler from a few doors down stop at ours to play with our old gate on her way to the park. She’d come into our front garden shut her mum out whilst playing peekaboo, it was very sweet. I just wouldn’t pay it any significant thought.

@Panaesthesia

People are dicks. You can just see in this thread the sort of mother who thinks it's fine for their little poppets to trample on others' property. Yes, it can damage the wall. Our garden walls are old, Victorian and if any little local shite knocks stones off or worse, I'll be suing their selfish parents. Meanwhile, if it drops down on their dim little heads, said parents would probably try to sue me for having an old wall. Also, once they think they can get away with that, they start ripping your flowers up and throwing litter into the garden.

First step def might be some bushes or plants to make it a lot more awkward, and planters on top. But then consider a longer-term plan like short railings or making it higher.

"Local shite", "dim little heads". I honestly wonder what's gone wrong in your childhood and with how much disrespect you were treated by your parents as child to call children this. Utterly sad.

When I was in London, teens used to sit on my low wide wall late into the night being antisocial. I tipped a bottle on cheap vegetable oil on the top and voila problem solved.

No children did have more respect for adults 60 years ago, or at least they showed more respect. And the consequences for not following rules were harsher/. Bad behaviour wasn't constantly excused.

Oh the good old fucking days! Yeah kids had so much respect for adults then that they didn't mention when they were being abused by them! Because you know, they were adults and deserved the respect of not being shown up as abusers! You liked those days did you?

Cover it in spikes of broken glass!!
Get an aggressive dog

Nice!

@SadieCow

No children did have more respect for adults 60 years ago, or at least they showed more respect. And the consequences for not following rules were harsher/. Bad behaviour wasn't constantly excused.

Oh the good old fucking days! Yeah kids had so much respect for adults then that they didn't mention when they were being abused by them! Because you know, they were adults and deserved the respect of not being shown up as abusers! You liked those days did you?

My dad talks if these days, when neighbours would give children a clip round the ear for misdemeanors and then they'd get worse when they got home.

Shoot them with air pellets

Its not ok. Its your property and damn right rude.

It's always amazes me how some people struggle to share the universe with other human beings. It appears to be a source of daily irritation and stress. Must be very tiring.

@81Byerley

I'm retired and live a long way from my family. I love watching the children walking past my house on their way to and from school. No wall, but if I had one, I'd be happy to let them walk on it. I hope somewhere in two places there are Grandmas who enjoy watching my Grandchildren as they pass, doing the things children like to do, like walking along low walls.

Please do not forget the grandads!

OP, if you had spoken out and complained to me about my grandchild walking on your wall holding my hand, I would have been very pleased.

... It would have given me a chance to show the little one and explain something very important: we should always do our best to be polite and kind, even to somebody who is nasty and silly .

'Property' ! Urgh! I feel sorry for you, OP. And for all you others who show by your support for OP how spiritually impoverished you are. Property.

It’s rude of the parents to assume that this is ok. I would put up a politely worded sign and get planting a spiky hedge.