To ask to stop your children ‘play’ screaming?

[JediKnightingale]

I live in a cul de sac where we have around six families with small children (weirdly, all girls - not relevant I know) that range from ages 2 - 7. They all walk to school together with parents and at home time they congregate in the middle of the close. Mums chatting and the entire gaggle of tiny noise machines run around screaming for absolutely no reason for about 30/45 mins depending on the weather. During the holidays or at weekends they can be out there for hours at a time.

I and quite a few others work from home in our road - my home office is in the front part of my house and I literally cannot take or make phone calls due to the racket. Normal play noise is absolutely fine but WHY do parents put up with this stupid screaming? When my 3 were small I would never have allowed it but it doesn’t seem to even register with these parents.

Do you let your children play scream and if so would you be put out if you were asked (nicely) if they could play WITHOUT THE SCREAMS?

@brunettemic

It’s half an hour, maybe even, hold onto your hats here, 45 minutes of the day that OP is talking about. Not 8 hours straight.

You are seriously suggesting that these badly behaved SCREECHY kids who are out of control, scream for just half hour of the day? All the LOLz. 😂 I don't think so!

I have heard kids screaming for HOURS. Different tones and volumes, from quite loud to very loud to super loud, and harsh screams to high pitched screams. On and on and on 'waaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.' Non-stop attention-seeking banshee screeching! FOR HOURS! AND HOURS!

Some days, I hear the kids over the road from me screaming for 20 minutes straight, stopping for 10 minutes, then screaming for 30 minutes, and stopping for 5 minutes, screaming for 35 minutes, stopping for 7 minutes, screaming for 45 minutes.... Rinse and repeat. For 5-6 hours some days. Other days it's longer.

'Just half an hour a day' my arse. 😆

Yeah - around a decade ago, we moved house after living next door to a horrific family like this (18 months we tolerated it... it was a private let between houses.) School holidays and weekends were a nightmare. 8-10 hours a day there were 5 to 8 kids outside screeching blue fucking murder, and the parents didn't give a shit.

Said property had SEVEN different tenants after we left... over 6 years. The nightmare family were evicted by the council for non-payment of rent, and anti social behaviour. Vile people. I pity ANY neighbour they have.

My just turned 3 year old girl & 8 year old boy keep play squealing it grates on me no end , I'm detached so fortunately it's only irritating me but if any one has any tips .. they are both definitely not ND if relivent just annoying 🤣

I get that kids can be annoying and shrieky, but this is what happens when they run around and play. It's a good thing kids are outside playing, not rotting their brains on social media. A cul-de-sac is a perfect place for them to do so. If you don't like that kind of atmosphere during your work hours, well, that is why people go to offices.

@DodoTired

You seem really excited to keep using the word 'curmudgeons', have you just learned it?

I don’t have kids and I work from home but I don’t mind at all when kids scream or kick balls around etc. I’m just glad they’re having fun - the innocence and exuberance etc of childhood lol

A cul-de-sac with six families with young children is not conducive to WFH at the front of the house!

Screaming is annoying and piercing - it gets right into your head. It does seem to be a girl thing with boys doing other things like kicking a thudding ball non-stop.

At my last place there were big gardens and teens/20s would have parties when their parents were away. Loud music no problem, that usually went off around midnight but then they'd stay out chatting loudly, again no problem, but oh lord the high-pitched squealing from the girls!

But I expect many of us were loud at that age

The subject of screaming. What age should children stop screaming when running about?

Saw some girls aged 12-14 running about in a local park screaming. I don't recall screaming at that age.

They should stop at whatever age they start!

I have the same problem. Lots of elderly neighbours on our street and the kids congregate on the grass outside our house and scream and scream. Not little kids either, probably about 11 or 12 . Drives me absolutely batshit. Yes I have asked them to keep the noise down but I just get told to f off. Have tried talking to their parents but they won't answer the door. Hmmm I wonder why 😁

This nails it for me.

This is an absolutely batshit response. Shrieking and screaming for nearly 2 hours outside peoples homes is not some necessary thing that needs to happen. However OP does need to work - that is pretty necessary. Your suggestion to re-schedule calls around them screaming is frankly ludicrious. Asking her clients and colleagues change meeting times to less ideal ones to work around some kids wanting to screech in the street for hours is not an liable option!

The only option here should be parents doing some parenting and asking their children to play without disturbing everyone around them

‘You are seriously suggesting that these badly behaved SCREECHY kids who are out of control, ‘

allegedly.

Many PPs obviously have never experienced what some of us have discussed. Shrieking and shouting starting at 8am and going on until it’s dark on non school days and from end of school until night time during the term. Outside my house, sitting in my parking, scraping bikes along my car, banging the communal gate attached to my house constantly. Screaming in the passageway next to my house and then congregating in next door’s back garden to scream on the trampoline. The teens whizzing up and down on e scooters at high speed on blind bends. It’s a never ending hell and wherever you sit in the house, you can’t hear yourself think. This is a so-called sought after street. The noisy kids are from the private rentals and the families pay an extortionate rent. One poor neighbour often works nights in a senior position in ICU and has to sleep elsewhere when on nights. Two neighbours have sold just because of the noise. We used to play out in the street as kids, but never did this high pitched screaming. It’s not curmudgeonly to want to enjoy your home without an assault on the ears. If you haven’t lived with this level of nuisance, don’t criticise those of us who do.

Still, I wouldn't allow screaming in my garden if it was for half an hour! Why should neighbours put up with it?

I've never allowed it. I talk to my kids about how some people sleep in the day because they do important jobs at night that we all benefit from. It's not hard to raise considerate kids.

Absolutely does my head in, soft play seems to be the worst. I have 2 children, they can play without screaming and they know it won't fly if they tried. They were taught this from a young age.

Sadly, it's become totally acceptable by a large number of mums nowadays and any attempt at raising the matter with them however gently is responded with defensiveness and aggression.

What I have noticed is that these children usually have very loud mums themselves so they are used to loudness which is their normality.

What annoys me is the emphasis on mental health nowadays yet a total disregard to how experiencing regular screaming from kids can test every aspect of your mental health.

It's just pure self-centred, me and my kids and more important than anyone else and I couldn't care less about you and your needs. A growing trend of people sadly!

The sound of children playing is lovely. The sound of constant screeching is not.

It is the job of parents to stop the latter.

I feel like my boys scream nonstop sometimes (yes boys most certainly do it too) Could you come around and ask them to stop? I do of course, but do they listen? Then I’m shouting and they are still screaming and I start restricting fun and then they are scream crying and I’m still shouting and I suspect you wouldn’t be doing any better concentrating on your work.

i am not sure its true kids didn’t used to do it. My sister had a friend and when she was over we would walk down the street to the shops and could still hear her, I swear she didn’t need to stop to breathe. She’s a very capable lawyer now I believe.

I can't bear it. My classroom backs straight onto a playground for the KS1 children.

There is a huge difference between normal play noise and children who just scream for no reason.

Normal play noise - fine. I can block it out and get on with work in a lunch hour.

Screaming goes straight through you. There really is no need. Most of the time, they've no idea what they're screaming for.

I'm with you OP. Have a word.
There definitely is a difference

As children we weren’t allowed to scream and told off if we did (70s) in fact most children didn’t scream. Yes in the playground, parks, countryside etc but even then too much was stopped.

Screaming non stop is annoying anyway.

This is so true. I live 3 mins from a school and normal play noise is fine and in fact nice. Screaming (which I rarely seem to hear isn’t nice).

I’m sure I screamed as a child out of frustration (my DB was an annoying nightmare!).