Neighbours young kids playing football in front of house.

[jimjam2313w]

The kids are young. Like 8 years or less. They aren't really playing football, just bouncing the ball around. I heard them screaming and shouting and looked at CCTV to see the ball bouncing off our two cars. One is my classic and fragile 1977 classic.

I go out to tell the kids not to bounce the balls off the cars and (to my almost surprise) I find that neighbour mum and visiting mum are sitting there watching this. I explain that I'm concerned about my old car being damaged because it is fragile. Visiting mum reassures me that the children are being watched and that "we don't want any damage to happen either".

Anyway, I keep the cctv on as we are watching our movie and the ball once again hits out car. I go outside and both parents are gone. So I tell the children they should not be hitting my car with the ball.

What more do I do? Sometimes the responses here surprise me so I am reluctant to say that I would like to warn the neighbour one more time then speak to the community police officer. Neighbours new friends seem to smoke weed ALL THE TIME and community police officer will obviously smell this right away if they come along. I don't want that to happen. I just don't want to have football marks on my cars OR the mirrors broken off my classic.

I bought my neighbours kids a sponge football for this reason. They loved it! Never had any further issues.

Definitely don’t try and teach your kids to respect others people’s property. Let them grow into entitled shitbags. The world needs more of those.

But that's not all you said. You're attempting to derail the discussion into one about car ownership.

The car is a red herring. It represents any property that is in the range of the footballs. I have a vegetable garden with plants that won't do well being flattened by footballs. I am growing it to reduce our carbon footprint. Is that socially responsible enough to form the basis of the discussion so we can move on from the car?

@DemonicCaveMaggot i asked that particular poster the same question but I don’t think they have answered that

Bollocks. Children should not be playing in a road; they should find somewhere appropriate, like a park.

They should also be considerate - don't hit balls off cars or anything else that isn't theirs.

Would you be happy for kids to be bouncing balls off your car?? How strange.

Don't be so silly.

If you were growing your vegetables in a public space they may well be stood on or flattened by footballs.

This is one mad thread. I don’t have children (I know, I know, why am I here?) but if I did they wouldn’t be pissing about on a road - for their safety as well as out of consideration for neighbours.
I think some people replied in a certain way and now have to double down, despite realising they have a ridiculous argument. Or people are weirder just than I imagined.

@SliceOfCakeCupOfTea just beyond ridiculous comment

I wonder when a street/road becomes one where it is not considered a place where children have equal rights to play on it as cars to travel down it.

As an aside when DC was younger and went to play football in the park I always told him to put the ball in his rucksack so he wasn’t tempted to play with it on the way and then run into the path of the car when he automatically went to retrieve the ball if it got away from him. Balls and cars don’t mix

Which one? I've made several comments now.

@Sigmama It is the view of the law rather than your own on children vs inert metal which will ultimately matter.

As it happens I do not own a car.
Many, many people cannot easily live without one and I object on their behalf to your statement (I may be paraphrasing) that ‘the greenest car is one you don’t own’.

I’m very surprised at you parking a classic on the road. DH had a classic which is parked at the top of the drive and covered with a special weather proof thing, nothing is getting near that car! He would freak at leaving it on the main road where anyone could bump into it (buggies,lorries etc).

while I agree kids should be allowed to play they shouldn’t be bouncing the ball off the car. Once is an accident, anymore than that they should be moving up or on and the parents should be telling them so

Wouldn't it be easier to just get rid of property to stop people damaging them? Surely there is way we can somehow blame people who live in properties for them existing and are to blame for the damage that is caused?

Maybe give burglars a key to make it easier?

Your car is no more entitled to use the road than the children , it’s a public space . I’m amazed any schools allow people on their property at weekends etc due to liability. If you don’t want your car touched get it off the road , accidents happen

Best one yet ...🙄

You’re joking, right?
It’s unacceptable to just damage someone else’s property because it’s ‘kids being kids’ regardless of where it’s parked - if the ball can’t be contained then they need to play in somewhere like, I dunno, a park.

I can’t believe this needs to be explained to what I’m assuming is a grown adult…

Your car is on a public road and they can play balls games there.
move your car.

You think kids take precedence over traffic and cars? In the street? Are you mental?

On the contrary; its a reminder of the days before the world went mad. Where wrong was wrong and right was right. Now it's the other way round. You're living proof.

@Artycrafts , not at all , children are entitled to play outside the front of their houses , we may not like it but that’s life . If you have a particularly precious car it should be garaged or at least off road . Providing the children are not deliberately bouncing the ball on the car I can’t see they are doing anything wrong .

A certain type of parent allows their children to play on the road and damage other peoples property, unfortunately they choose not to teach their children to be decent members of society, which is why I’m having to replace the rear window wiper on my car for the third time this year. Oddly enough they manage to teach them not to kick footballs at their own cars, fence or windows.

I wouldn’t personally like my children playing on the road, my son is nearly 8 and I say if he wants to play he can go on the park/field at the back of our house (I can see him from my house so can keep an eye on him) or he plays in the back garden to play with footballs!

I think it’s a tricky situation because if I didn’t want balls bouncing off my car I certainly wouldn’t be parking it on a public part of the road.
I always park my car either on my drive or if necessary in the garage.

because i understand that I can advise my children where to play/what to do but I can’t do that with everyone! So I see other. Children playing on the road and I always think “ooo I best move my car”..

basically, you can’t say to someone else “your children shouldn’t be playing in the front of the house” because it’s not your place to do so.. however, you can move your car off the public part of the road and move it on to your own private property so then you can bring the matter to there attention and state you have cctv if need to take things further..

The OP said they're not in front of their own house.