confronting other people's kids

[garmonbozia]

I was sitting out on my balcony this afternoon, trying to relax despite one of my wisdom teeth acting up and hurting like hell.  I have a view of two ponds and all the ducks that live around them.  Some of the neighborhood kids were out playing and suddenly decided to start harassing the wildlife.  They chased ducks around, at first just trying to make them run for the water.  But then they started picking up handfuls of gravel from the walking trails and throwing gravel at the ducks.  You'd see it splash down all around the ducks in the water.  Then, they started throwing it at ducks as they chased them around on land.  I could hear the pebbles bouncing off the ducks' wings.

I stood up and watched in disgust, trying to think of an appropriate phrase to yell down from the balcony.  I had my cellphone out and was just about to go in and get the number to call the cops when one of their mothers (a lady in a headscarf, obviously Muslim) caught them.  The mother gave them a good talking-to, in English so I was able to hear something about "the book of Judgement".  (I'm not religious, but at the moment the fear of god was as good as anything to get a bunch of crotchfruit to stop bothering the wildlife.)  Even then, there was one little brat out of the three who couldn't resist lunging at the ducks even with the mother watching.

I refrained from yelling off the balcony or calling the cops.  But my conscious was still nagging at me to do something about this shit, rather than be a pussy and do nothing.  I threw on my shoes and went downstairs, figuring I would politely but firmly tell the mother that I would call the cops if I ever see that shit again.  Didn't get to.  She was telling the kids "Come on.  Let's go." for them to follow her back to whatever building they live in.  So, the closest I ever got was maybe fifty feet.  But I'm sure she saw me, standing there in the grass, a 6'3" pissed-off looking white American dressed in all black, giving her and her kids an angry look.  She was definitely anxious to get the brats out of the area.

My question is this:  If I see the little fuckstains doing it again, should I yell down from the balcony and try to scare them out of it first, or just go ahead and call the cops?  I've seen these same kids playing out by the ponds many times before, so I'm sure it's a question of "if" not "when" they fuck with the ducks again.

[Peter]

Buy a chainsaw and hockey mask.

[McGiver]

you cannot confront other peoples children...it is none of your business.

but, if someone elses child is playing at my house with my kids i sometimes have to explain to them that we have rues at our house.

but in a public place, you cannot do a damn thing about someone elses problem.

[maldoror]

you cannot confront other peoples children...it is none of your business.

Sure you can. If they're unattended and screwing with the wildlife like that, it's within his rights to ask them to stop. Just don't freak out on them and you'll be fine. Remember that kids are easily intimidated by pretty much any adult.. Just be like, "Hey, how would you like it if someone did that to you?" or something like that... but try to be good humoured about it. That sure as hell worked on me when I was a kid.

[Scrapheap]

Do you own a wrist rocket??

[garmonbozia]

a question of "if" not "when" they fuck with the ducks again.

Whoops!  I meant, a question of "when" not "if".


I would prefer to avoid dealing directly with the kids.  That's why I didn't go downstairs until I saw an adult who was obviously responsible for them.  No telling how the kids might twist the story when they run home to their parents, so I'll just avoid that ugliness.

Looks like if I see it again, I should call the cops and let them sort it out.  But would the cops give a damn about a bunch of ducks?  I'll have to throw in a noise complaint with it.  Something like, "Those kids are too damn loud, and by the way, they were fucking with some ducks while they were being loud."

For what it's worth, I'll mention it to the management.  They take animal cruelty complaints seriously, even if only because neighborhood kids torturing animals makes their apartment complex look like a ghetto.  (This isn't the Soccermomland suburbs we're talking about here.  It's an apartment complex next door to a project.  This place can turn to shit real quick if not managed with an iron fist.)

Sorry, no wrist rocket.  Even if I had one, I still don't want to get myself arrested and have to share a cell with somebody named Bubba Ray.

[Tesla]

(I'm not religious, but at the moment the fear of god was as good as anything to get a bunch of crotchfruit to stop bothering the wildlife.)

Crotchfruit... 

I use the term Fuck-Trophy personally.

I hate children just as much as the next person, but I don't think there's anything you could do.  Of course, I try to avoid contact with strangers at all costs, regardless of their age.

[garmonbozia]

The word "crotchfruit" is not an original here.  A while back, it was popular in the weird news forums on Rotten.com  (They invent nasty words and phrases there.)

I don't hate kids.  I just don't like to see people fucking with animals when they've got no good reason for it.  Especially when I can't sit out on my balcony without having to see that shit.

[Callaway]

I would not call the police on the kids and I would not confront them.

You live in a neighborhood and in my opinion it is more important that you get along with your neighbors than it is for you to correct other people's kids, even if they are behaving like brats.  That mother already told them off.  If you call the police, they are unlikely to do much to the kids, and if you confront the kids yourself, you could be opening yourself up to more trouble than you could possibly imagine.

I know someone who yelled at some kids about destroying his fence, and he wound up getting arrested for Reckless Endangerment, because the kids ran away when he yelled; they ran out into the street, then they lied to their parents about what he actually did.  It cost him thousands of dollars to straighten out that mess.

[Kiriana]

you cannot confront other peoples children...it is none of your business.

Sure you can. If they're unattended and screwing with the wildlife like that, it's within his rights to ask them to stop. Just don't freak out on them and you'll be fine. Remember that kids are easily intimidated by pretty much any adult.. Just be like, "Hey, how would you like it if someone did that to you?" or something like that... but try to be good humoured about it. That sure as hell worked on me when I was a kid.

I think it really depends on what they're doing and whether or not they're unattended.  I generally won't correct obnoxious kids if their parents are around, unless they're hurting my kids or something.  Not my place.  Ditto if they're unattended, but just being annoying.  But when we've moved into unattended and hurting people or animals or destroying property, now I'm gonna speak up.  Maldorer is pretty much right on, just start out nice.  Depending on the age of the kids, they may not have thought through the implications of their actions and a quick reminder "hey, the ducks don't like that, please stop!" will suffice.   If that fails, I've found "Knock it off!" in a stern tone works wonders.  If that's still not working, well, you've reached the limit of what you can fairly say to them as a bystander, now you call the cops or management or whatever.

[DirtDawg]

I would not call the police on the kids and I would not confront them.

You live in a neighborhood and in my opinion it is more important that you get along with your neighbors than it is for you to correct other people's kids, even if they are behaving like brats.  That mother already told them off.  If you call the police, they are unlikely to do much to the kids, and if you confront the kids yourself, you could be opening yourself up to more trouble than you could possibly imagine.

I know someone who yelled at some kids about destroying his fence, and he wound up getting arrested for Reckless Endangerment, because the kids ran away when he yelled; they ran out into the street, then they lied to their parents about what he actually did.  It cost him thousands of dollars to straighten out that mess.

Another thing to be aware of is that kids these days are educated in the ways of the world at a very young age. They know how to get back at you and some will think nothing of it. Not much you can do to stop an investigation when a kid lies. The kid wins every time. What if the kid says that you really scared him when you said you would hurt him if he told anyone that you touched him in the bad way. You're fucked!

If you must confront anyone, it should be the parents.

[juliekitty]

Too bad it's against the law to kill people.

[Eclair]

I found some little fuckers hanging around my back door one night, so I went out to the door and said, as nice as pie "hey guys, what are you doing, are you OK?"...they asked for a drink of water, and I said sure no problem, there's a tap at the side of the house.  I was so nice to them, I never had any problems with them again. 

They were obviously checking my car out because I'd left the door open while I was unloading some groceries, I also think the drink of water was a plot to distract me.  If they'd have asked something like can I use your phone or something, I would have said, sure, you give me the number and I'll call your parents, are you OK?

I'm always nice to kids, they don't know how to cope if they are little brats, they are so used to being screamed at, that the niceness and the smiling throws them.

Except in your case, because you are a male, stay the fuck away from them.  Half the time these days it will be reversed and people will say, what the fuck were you doing hanging around the pond watching kids for    You can't win.

[richard]

Some of the neighborhood kids were out playing and suddenly decided to start harassing the wildlife. 

[richard]

Do you own a wrist rocket??

haha