Kids scootering in the road making a racket

[HushingDusk]

They are from a small block of new build flats nearby (flats are visible from our upstairs windows, I’ve seen the kids go in and out). I get it’s annoying not to have a garden but they’re using the road and pavements instead, no adults in sight!

Aged about 10 to 5, a group of 6 or 7 children. The youngest was riding his scooter up and down the middle of the road for an hour, wearing nothing but boxers, being chased by an older girl on a bike! Then 2 boys fighting and hitting each other over the head with branches.

They hang around on the pavement right next to our garden wall, screeching, shouting and bickering all day.

Should I suck it up or send a letter to the flats asking them to keep a closer eye on their children and reduce the noise?

It’s a quiet, peaceful rural area apart from these kids treating the road and pavement like a park.

There’s a proper park less than 10 minutes walk away.

I was tempted to go out and speak to them (especially when they were fighting with branches!)

The only time I’ve seen adults around is in the mornings, they stand in the car park by the flats in their dressing gowns chatting and smoking.

WWYD?

Can almost sense the outrage that these scummers with their dressing gowns and fags and hoards if kids are really bringing down the naice countryside hmm

You know what, I think it's fair to be outraged at that. If you buy a nice house in a nice area and then people bring down the area with scummy behaviour that is pretty unfair actually.

MN is full of joyless whingers this week.

I’ll add “kids playing in the street” to the long list of unapproved weekend activities along with:

Having a BBQ
Playing music
Mowing the lawn
Washing car
Kids on trampolines
Utilisation of any water (paddling pool, hot tub, swimming pool, sprinkler)

Wow, the judginess of your post.

Complaining about kids playing and parents smoking, whilst your own family is throwing live animals to a slow and painful death?

I think your priorities are extremely fucked up.

I mean, in the 90s I used to play out in the streets. We'd play kerby (where you'd throw a ball across the road towards the kerb) or race down the hill on our bikes. And this was in a naice, middle class area.
So it's hardly 'new' or 'wild' behaviour....

Also OP, there was absolutely no need to mention the parents in dressing gowns smoking. You could have just said that you occasionally see an adult around in the mornings but rarely supervising. Way less judgemental.

And finally, chucking snails? Vile.

@Homeontherangeuk

I don't think yabu... Our road is similar, from about 9 am on weekend mornings our doorbell is ringing for the dc to go out... They used play out but now I'm noticing some antisocial behaviour from other kids & I've stopped them going out much...

It's all right if they are going out somewhere, eg to the park, if they are old enough, but kids careering aimlessly around the street, unsupervised and noisy, is what some object to. I never allowed mine to do that, not that they ever suggested it because nobody did; my mother would certainly not have allowed me to play in the street. I went to my local park and played with friends in their gardens or ours. It's quite normal for children to be noisy when they are playing but why any child would choose to hang about the streets or why parents would allow it, I honestly can't imagine.

Why is everyone having a go at op for saying about the smoking in dressing gowns out in the street? I don’t understand. I read it that she was trying to paint a picture of this family given that the parents let a 5 year old play out in underwear on a road all day.
So how many of you stand in the street in your dressing gown smoking then? Suppose you go to the supermarket in it too? No? Why not if it’s fine to be out in the street in it?! Come on now, stop giving op a hard time. If this was a different thread on op being concerned a 5 year old was playing all day in their pants and not complaining about the kids noise and just concerned I bet 99% of the posts would be to report the scumbag neighbours.

I like the sounds of children playing but I guess these are naice middle class children who have manners not children from gasp flats.

Um what’s wrong with flats? We lived in a flat until last year!

Totally agree with the past few posters... Our road is extremely busy with cars, new houses are being built on the road which means that the traffic is much heavier as perspective buyers & new owners are coming to check the progress of their new builds... They are not used to the amount of kids & fly down the road... However the amount of kids playing out on the road is insane, also kids from neighbouring estates have started congregating on our road.... These kids coming are aged 7 up.... Also a tiny unsupervised 4 year old is chucked out after school & on weekends. The mum expects the older kids (not related) to mind her, dc said the child is a real hindrance & quite rightly the kids don't want & shouldn't have to take responsibility for her... My dc nó longer play out since the kids from the neighbouring estates have started visiting there has been lots of low level misbehaviour eg knock & run, playing chicken (dancing behind cars...) It's not the sort of childhood I want for my kids. We all have large gardens, my dc are happy to play /read in the garden, play with the dogs/each other..

You chose to mention the detail of them smoking outside wearing dressing gowns which had no relevance to your complaint, so it's really odd that you mentioned it at all

I think you’re reading too much into it. I mentioned the only time I’d seen adults was early morning when they came out to smoke. I guess I could approach them in my dressing gown too as that’s how I’m dressed at that hour.
Maybe they do pop out later but I’ve never seen them. I work shifts so could have missed them. But they’re definitely not outside when their kids are being noisy or scootering in the road.

Your mum sounds awful. You sound very smug that you’ve got your children to play quietly in the garden with no loud noises, but I think that sounds really sad. How stifling for them. I bet their on edge half the time.

I’ll advise her to gather the snails up instead. What do gardeners do with snails though?

My DC aren’t on edge in the garden, they have a lovely time playing. I taught them from a young age we are respectful to neighbours and don’t scream or shout. They still call to each other, sing, chatter away, normal sounds of playing. I don’t think a ‘no screeching’ rule is stifling, it means everyone can enjoy their gardens.

If they start shrieking or fighting they go indoors until they’ve calmed down.

They used play out but now I'm noticing some antisocial behaviour from other kids & I've stopped them going out much

Yes, I was worried when they were hitting each other with branches, it didn’t look like a play fight.

And worried for the little lad zooming down the road on his scooter in just his boxers.

When we first got married we lived in a very quiet street with very little traffic and all the children used to play in the street together. I did allow mine out from about 5 years old. But they were supervised - the parents were indoors but only a few metres away.

They weren't noisy or a nuisance. I worked from home at the front of the house so could see them, and they didn't affect my work.

Although it was quite a poor area, we (as in the residents of that area) were very lucky in that there was still council housing available back then, and the privately-owned houses were still fairly cheap to buy. So we were living right next to the place where the children played, rather than being up in a flat.

I think that's the problem here - children should be able to play in the street, but with some supervision for under 10s, and that's hard to give if you are physically apart from them. If our children had caused a nuisance we would have stopped it, but these parents won't know if their children are causing a nuisance.

Blame the housing policy that makes it hard for parents to afford suitable accommodation.

OP, I suppose you could approach the council or your MP and tell them that the younger children in the flats need somewhere safe to play near the flats, otherwise the parents would have to accompany them to the park every time they wanted to play.

And don't chuck snails, unless it's a few metres away into soft vegetation.

I did allow mine out from about 5 years old. But they were supervised

I think this is the thing that people don't understand. That as lovely as it is to allow the kids to play they're often unsupervised. Fine if they're about 10 upwards. Absolutely nerve-racking to the driver of a cement truck thundering down the road who has to see see a 5 yo career into the road just in time.
There is 2 parks 2 minutes walk away from my house on either side. They are never taken to where the space is and the parent never supervises.

How vile throwing snails you are cruel I hope the kids give you grief for a long time you deserve it. Did feel a bit sorry for you until that. Think you are the one who needs to grow up.

op I'd do nothing.
If you do do something don't dress it up as concern for the kids, that will just wind everyone up.
Just say the noise bothers you because that's the truth.

By the way "dropping them in a bucket of hot soapy water" or "drowing them" is what the BBC recommend re snails. www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/solve-problems/snails/.

And this is what the lovely soft Alan Titchmarsh recommends:
Biological control:
You can buy nematodes (microscopic creatures), which aggressively
search out and attack slugs. They enter the slug’s body through a hole behind their heads. Once inside they release a bacterium which stops the slug eating. The nematodes then start to reproduce inside and within 7-10 days the slug is dead. The nematodes continue to reproduce as the body breaks down. This new population enters the soil and searches out new slugs to attack. This is a natural, non-toxic control method that is safe for both users and wildlife."

So I think the OP's mum is pretty snail-friendly really.....

If you do do something don't dress it up as concern for the kids, that will just wind everyone up. Just say the noise bothers you because that's the truth. By the way "dropping them in a bucket of hot soapy water" or "drowing them" is what the BBC recommend re snails.

I am concerned for the kids though. I have a child the same age so watching that 5 year old career down the centre of the road on his scooter, no helmet (or clothes) sent a feeling of dread through me. Not all the vehicles drive slowly and carefully, and when he sails past the T junction his parents can’t see him from indoors.

Yes the noise is annoying. But it’s more the attitude of ‘turn them loose in the road and hope for the best’ that frustrates me!

As for the older boys fighting with branches (aged about 9-10?) they were really going for it, yelling and screeching while bashing each other and wrestling. Maybe they were meant to supervise the younger kids.

I don’t think roads should ever be used for ‘playing out’. Plenty of parks, countryside, sports fields, skate parks for that.

Today they were kicking a ball in the road; what if it hit a passing car? Smashed someone’s kitchen window? Damaged a parked car? It’s not just the risk to the children (and playing in a road is a big risk however you dress it up) it’s the potential to damage property by playing in unsuitable places.

Interesting about the BBC recommendations re snails!

Killing snails like that is cruel.

I think it’s dangerous and irresponsible letting kids under 9 play outside on a busy road. In the past I was allowed to play in the fields at the back always in full sight of my mum but never anywhere near a road. These days there is a lot more traffic and electric cars can’t be heard easily so potentially more dangerous. I have never let my children play on or by a road. I used to make the effort to take them to the park no matter how tired I was. Also decades ago there was limited technology so harder for paedophile rings to contact each other or get from one place to another quickly then disappear.

@Zoorhik so do I. Apparently thinking it's not safe for unsupervised children to play on a busy road puts you in the minority though.

If it's a quiet road then YABU, they're clearly not old enough to walk 10 minutes to the park and kids have played in the street since there have been streets. Just be honest and say you don't like that kind of family and that's why you have an issue

If they're clearly not old enough to walk 10 minutes to the park on their own then they're certainly not old enough to play out in the middle of the road unsupervised.
As the parents were sat outside anyway there was nothing stopping them from taking them to said park.

Quiet roads aren't always quiet and it's not an excuse for not watching your own DCs adequately. The world has changed very much since we were DCs. What was safe then isn't safe now.

Totally agree Lilibet, so many distractions for drivers now compared to our day...

Thankyou @homeontherangeuk if I let my DCs do half of what we did when they were younger I'd have had SS knocking on my door in days. Without outing who I am. We live on a blind bend at the bottom of a long hill for my sins. Not one driver will know who is on that road until they have seconds to not squash a kid who's ran out in the road to get the ball for the 28th time and the guardians are too busy day drinking in their sex pond to be aware of the dangers posed to them.

The only time I’ve seen adults around is in the mornings, they stand in the car park by the flats in their dressing gowns chatting and smoking.

Not really sure why this is relevant?*

Did I read right that a 5 year old is playing out in the street on a road? That’s not on. Who here would dream of letting their kids do that?

In a group with older kids it's quite normal by me, I even, occasionally see a couple of girls with a toddler in a pushchair.

Have you spoken tot he children? Be all concerned that although the road is quiet there are cars and they need to keep a look out for the little one.

Maybe tell them your 5 year old had a near miss

I'm on a quiet cul-de-sac with a completely useless speed bump so it is ideal for scooting. The bungalow opposite has a wall that is perfect to sit on if you are 8 - 10 year olds and you give each other a boost or a pull up.

But I asked the kids not to because the lady who lives there is 90+ and not well, they not only get down but decided to go elsewhere.

It's because the OP mentioned they were making a racket and I've gleaned that if you dare to suggest any kids are making excessive noise then you're the wicked witch of the west and deserve to be pelted with rotten fruit for eternity. If the OP had said I'm concerned about the safety of very young unsupervised kids with no sense of road safety awareness zooming down the middle of a road in their boxers (and not mentioned the snails) - if they hit the tarmac they could end up with some very serious scrapes and grazes" as a pp has already said they'd have got a very different response.