What are kids like in your neighborhood?

SGC29

The CPS thread below made me think about the kids in my neighborhood. 

My neighborhood has quite a bit of kids ranging anywhere from a few years old to pre teens. The bulk of the kids out playing seem to be between four and maybe eleven or so. No one ever seems to be watching the kids, typically most play in the street and when cars come do not move (we do a lot of kid dodging on our street in particular).

One little girl (about 6 or 7) constantly darts in front of passing cars on our street so we know to drive slow where she usually plays as she has jumped in front of our vehicle a number of times. The kids kind of just play wherever with what appears to be zero supervision. There was recently a full on football game going on in our backyard one evening and DH had to go out and ask the kids to please leave our property.

It makes me incredibly nervous the amount of kids running around and they seem to be completely unaware of their surroundings. I get worried they could be getting into trouble (the mouths on some of these kids would shock you) and I also worry about them being abducted as honestly, it would be pretty easy to snatch any one of these kids without someone noticing for awhile.

I also recently saw one (an older boy) hitting a younger girl with a belt in the street (the girl was our neighbor). Thankfully another neighbor was out and put a stop to it, and the police were called. 

Is this normal behavior? What are the kids in your area typically doing? Do they appear to be at least somewhat supervised? The kids in our neighborhood just seem like trouble. I can't help but wonder what the hell the parents are doing while all of these things are going on.

 

scoutkate

There aren't many kids in my neighborjood, just a lot of old people.  The few kids I do see are usually biking or strolling with their parents. 

mrebecca

Wow that's crazy!!
My neighbor has two little boys who play in the road, but the mama watched them like a hawk from the porch.
She's a good mom.

ETA: We don't get much traffic through here. 

SGC29

scoutkate:

There aren't many kids in my neighborjood, just a lot of old people.  The few kids I do see are usually biking or strolling with their parents. 

I would so much rather have elderly neighbors. We pretty much live like the elderly and I'd value the quiet. 

tarebear9891

I'm actually really happy with our neighborhood. There are a ton of kids and usually they play outside which I really like seeing. We also live in a really safe neighborhood because it's right next to the police station and all the cops live there. There are some kids that get kind of rowdy but usually just innocent stuff.

klondikebar

There aren't many here and I don't like other people's children so I stay away from them.

TunaTown

The only kids we really have in the neighborhood are these teenagers who sit in the garage or in the driveway smoking a hookah. LOSERS.

Oh - there is also the super sweet next door neighbor girl and her mom. I think she's 10. Her mom adpoted her from Aisa. She's sweet. It's kinda amusing when the two of them get into arguments when the window is open - typical mom-daughter stuff. (yeah...I know my day is coming!)

(I haven't read the post referred to in this thread)....

Libby1978

scoutkate:

There aren't many kids in my neighborjood, just a lot of old people.  The few kids I do see are usually biking or strolling with their parents. 

This is us.  I like it that way too.

LnR70707

I think there are only a handful of 5 and under kids in our development.  Most are in the 8-18 age bracket, with college kids home in the summer.  So our concerns are mostly just the kids that speed by the house(or their friends).  I think we are pretty lucky overall to have the majority be well behaved and well supervised.

SGC29

BostonKisses2:

There's one house with elementary age kids where the parents don't supervise them playing a lot, but it's gotten better since our HOA called the parents out on it (the kids were playing in the dumpster, FFS).  Mostly they're busy riding their bikes around and whatnot, and aren't destructive or anything.

There is a group of teens, however, that is very destructive, and they're starting to get the police involved in cracking down on them.  They have vandalized the little park in our neighborhood, they skateboard in the street and yell at drivers to "f?ck off" if they need to get into the cul-de-sac, and they walk around after curfew smoking and swearing.  Our HOA heads have talked to this group before as well because they're starting to damage the curbs with some of their skating tricks, and the police have been here quite a few times this spring/summer.  So far, it seems to be helping because they haven't been as bad as they were in the past. 

Okay, we have an HOA. I had NO idea you could contact them regarding issues like this? I wonder if I can email my contact person and bring up the issues we've had? Surely something can be done about this. It is getting to really be out of control at times. Just too many kids, out too late, no supervision and it is a danger to drivers and the children. Wondering if my HOA will have any authority over this? 

happymommy123

SGC29:

scoutkate:

There aren't many kids in my neighborjood, just a lot of old people.  The few kids I do see are usually biking or strolling with their parents. 

I would so much rather have elderly neighbors. We pretty much live like the elderly and I'd value the quiet. 

Me and dh always joke about living in a old folks area because we like yards kept up, quiet and nice people or people who keep to themselves or wave when you drive by. We are the quiet type and I just want nice neighbors. I love old people  

lildevil968

Our neighborhood has a few kids. Alot of the kids are Junior high or High School. A few of them are elementary school age. They all play in the street, or in their driveways. Most of them seem to be respectful to vehicles. There are a few of them that do not move for passing cars, so I lay on the horn, and don't slow down, they eventually see that Iam not stopping, and get out of the way. The younger kids run out of the road as soon as they see you. I have never seen parents outside with their kids, which really bothers me because our neighborhood is not the safest, and we have had 1 attempted child abduction in the area already this summer.

RobinSparkles214

Most of the kids are unsupervised while they play outside. It's really annoying. There was even something in our news letter about people keeping a better eye on their children.

write2nicole

Kids aged 8+ will walk/bike/skateboard in groups to or from school.

There are some toddlers in our condo complex and we sometimes run into them at the park or playground areas.

There's a house with some kids ages 6-12 and they sometimes have friends over. They'll bike, skate, ride scooters or play ball in the street and they also have a trampoline and a pool in their backyard. There always seems to be an adult supervising and they move to the side of the street when a car is coming.

Generally, I'd say they seem to have enough manners not to enrage me. 

 

I'm guessing the parents in your neighborhood are hoping their kids will be abducted. But who would want to abduct those kids? That really sounds awful. What kind of area are you in? Suburbs of a big city? Inner city? Farm country?

mrebecca

Oh yeah, and we also have another neighbor who has custody of her granddaughter. The girl has special needs, and that's why the mom practically abandoned her. It's really sad.
My mom used to babysit the girl, and there were many days the mother would forget to pack diapers or whatever. One night she just didn't come to pick up the daughter, so my mom called the mother's place of employment, the grandparents, cps, and pretty much everybody she could think of.
It ended up being 10pm before anybody showed up for her.
It was really sad.

But anyway, she's about 10 now, and she lives across the road. She's really sweet and likes to ride her bike a lot. She also likes Justin Beiber, and I hear her singing a lot if my windows are open.
She's precious!

Venus04d

scoutkate:

There aren't many kids in my neighborjood, just a lot of old people.  The few kids I do see are usually biking or strolling with their parents. 

This exactly. 

NativeNyer

We have the entire range of infants to teenagers.  At one point the teens started vandalizing cars parked in the driveways. The cops put a stop to the quickly.  Thankfully the kids keep to themselves - dont' run in front of traffic, etc... We're pretty lucky.

SGC29

write2nicole:

I'm guessing the parents in your neighborhood are hoping their kids will be abducted. But who would want to abduct those kids? That really sounds awful. What kind of area are you in? Suburbs of a big city? Inner city? Farm country?

The parents in our neighborhood just generally seem to have a lack of caring for what is going on honestly. From what I've seen, no one really gives a crap what their kids are doing. I saw a little girl (about 5) riding her scooter in the street the other night at about 10pm right as a big storm was rolling in. I felt so sad for her, no idea which home she belonged to though. 

I live in the suburbs of a city (not terribly big, Charlotte). Our area has changed significantly over the last few years. The crime rate has pretty much doubled. We are moving next year because of this. 

gnomemom

amys325:

We don't have a ton of kids that live in the neighborhood, but two of the high schools are within a couple blocks of my house and seriously those kids are jerks.

I feel like a crotchety old woman telling them to pick up their trash and complaining about how the wear their pants around there knees.

 

Aw, you just reminded me of my grandma. One time, she saw a man with his pants hanging down really low and she totally pansed him. A complete stranger. She just said, "Well, you might as well just pull them down all the way!" lol. She was hilarious.

 To answer the OPs question, we have a ton of kids in my neighborhood, and they are sometimes supervised, but I see them out alone a lot, too. They are a big group of kids ranging from 3 to probably 12. They don't seem to cause any trouble and most of them are pretty sweet. They all know my dog and sometimes knock on my door and ask if Chloe can come out and play with them. They even taught her some commands in Spanish. They do have a tendency to dart out in front of cars, though. It's a mostly quiet neighborhood, but I worry about the younger ones especially when they are on their bikes.

write2nicole

So those of you with neighbor kids running in front of cars or stealing toys or using your basketball hoops: Have you ever considered talking to them or their parents about it?

 

We used to have a very traditional Muslim family that lived upstairs with seemingly a gazillion kids. The younger ones (ages 5-8?) would come and knock on our window to pester our dog. Once I was home and they did it a couple times and I opened the front door and let them have it. I not-so-nicely informed them that it was mean to bother the dog and they were not allowed to do it again. They were terrified. I felt bad afterward because I was a bit harsh - and I also suspect they may not have been used to a woman talking to them like that. But I felt worse for my dog. And it didn't happen again.

write2nicole

SGC29:

write2nicole:

I'm guessing the parents in your neighborhood are hoping their kids will be abducted. But who would want to abduct those kids? That really sounds awful. What kind of area are you in? Suburbs of a big city? Inner city? Farm country?

The parents in our neighborhood just generally seem to have a lack of caring for what is going on honestly. From what I've seen, no one really gives a crap what their kids are doing. I saw a little girl (about 5) riding her scooter in the street the other night at about 10pm right as a big storm was rolling in. I felt so sad for her, no idea which home she belonged to though. 

I live in the suburbs of a city (not terribly big, Charlotte). Our area has changed significantly over the last few years. The crime rate has pretty much doubled. We are moving next year because of this. 

Rhenna

We have a lot of school aged children in our neighborhood and while I never see parents supervising them they are all pretty good kids.  Well, except for one, he isn't a bad kid just annoying.  He is probably 12 and hangs out with all of the little kids and it's pretty obvious that he is unable to make friends his own age, he is just awkward.  But he plays with the younger kids and strokes his own ego about being faster/smarter/older than all of them.  DH and I had our boys at the playground and they were all playing tag and this older kid kept mocking my 5yo as he tried to catch him by saying..."oh look I have time to fix my watch while you try to catch me.."  That pissed of DH so he joined in the game of tag and gave that kid some of his own medicine, I was smiling big time on the inside.  But if that is the worst of it I'll take it.  And now all the kids in the neighborhood see DH as the fun dad that will play with all of them.

SGC29

write2nicole:

SGC29:

write2nicole:

I'm guessing the parents in your neighborhood are hoping their kids will be abducted. But who would want to abduct those kids? That really sounds awful. What kind of area are you in? Suburbs of a big city? Inner city? Farm country?

The parents in our neighborhood just generally seem to have a lack of caring for what is going on honestly. From what I've seen, no one really gives a crap what their kids are doing. I saw a little girl (about 5) riding her scooter in the street the other night at about 10pm right as a big storm was rolling in. I felt so sad for her, no idea which home she belonged to though. 

I live in the suburbs of a city (not terribly big, Charlotte). Our area has changed significantly over the last few years. The crime rate has pretty much doubled. We are moving next year because of this. 

It seriously broke my heart. I was about to go out and tell her it might be a good idea to head home, but when I went to go out (I spotted her from my kitchen window) she was already gone. I'm hoping she was headed home.

I wish I could talk to the parents in our neighborhood but sadly I don't think it would help and I'm not terribly comfortable doing so. One of my neighbors said something once to the dad of one of the children and he responded with some choice words and was extremely defensive. It got a bit heated. Because of this I am just not comfortable saying anything.

I like the idea of contacting my HOA though. I am going to email them this afternoon. 

Luckie519

We don't have too many.  Most of them are on the younger side (like younger than 9ish).  They don't give us any issues either.  I am happy we are moving here soon, because there is only one close to DS's age.

mom2pottamus

We have a whole range of them from infants to high schoolers and most of them are decent kids.  There is a family who homeschools across the street from me, and oddly enough two of her children are literally out crawling the streets at the later hours, never ever supervised.  The now 5 year old has almost been hit a dozen times, and the 9 year old is running in the street with him.  The 9 year old is aggressive towards all the other kids, I have watched him smack his brother in the face with a tree branch.  Sadly enough the brother goes home, gets a gauze pad and tape, and comes back out to play.  These kids were actually sledding into my house and I had to ask them to knock it off because they were going to hurt themselves.

 

I have a pretty big back porch that locks and I let my 3 1/2 yr old out there to play alone if I am cooking dinner or getting my daughter from naps.  I can see him from every angle of the downstairs and I know he is safe.  People do look out for each others kids too which is great.  My kid is always within eyeshot though...

synchrosally

I'm in a small townhouse complex and this is EXACTLY what our kids are like. They play in the street, don't move when a car comes, and even give you the finger if you don't kick their ball back because you're busy buckling your toddler into his carseat.  It drives me bananas! The condo board keeps reminding the condo owners that kids are not to be playing in the street, but the parents keep complaining that they don't have time to take their kids to the park or supervise them properly. I once saw a 3 year old playing in a puddle by a major road ALONE with no one anywhere to be found to watch him! I guess I just don't get it.

winomom22

We have a lot of kids playing outside (my oldest is one of them). They typically keep to the back yards and are never playing in the street. They seem to be good kids. DD1 is only allowed in the backyards where I can see her from the house at all times. I check on her frequently, but also feel there are safety in numbers and she sticks with her immediate playgroup (a 5 year old boy and 6 year old girl). I am cool with kids playing in our backyard. We have the biggest yard so kids tend to gravitate towards which I like because I can keep a better eye on DD1 if she is out there with them.