TPing houses- with parents' knowledge?

[Perry]

I just learned that a bunch of my dd's friends are planning to TP houses tomorrow night, and these girls' parents are all in on it! The parents are buying the TP for them!

 

 

Am I just an old grouch? NO WAY would I let my kid wander around in the middle of the night vandalizing other people's property. I can't believe this is actually okay with them. Have you heard of this?

[OrganicAnn]

So the only houses that are being TPed are the girls parents or not? Not sure from your post. If the parents know that their houses are going to be TPed and they are okay with it, then that seems okay.

 

I say of all the teen stunts, TPing is rather mild compared to some of the things kids can do.

[KidsHappen]

Guilty as charged. Generally speaking it is resiprocal and all in good fun. Of course, the kids are expected to clean up afterwards. :001_smile:

[Perry]

So the only houses that are being TPed are the girls parents or not? Not sure from your post. If the parents know that their houses are going to be TPed and they are okay with it, then that seems okay.

 

I say of all the teen stunts, TPing is rather mild compared to some of the things kids can do.

 

No, they're tping the football players' houses, not their own.

[asta]

Kids still TP?

 

That's great!

 

I thought that had died out years ago...

 

 

a

[Perry]

Of course, the kids are expected to clean up afterwards. :001_smile:

 

That never happens here.

[Amy loves Bud]

I'm pretty sure I'll be in the minority on this one, in fact, my husband and I disagree on this topic. We agree 100% on everything else though ;).

 

While I wouldn't encourage it and I surely wouldn't buy the tp, this ranks pretty low on my freak-out-o-meter. Wrapping houses was a part of growing up for me. We wrapped houses, but only friends' houses. And we got wrapped. The kids who lived in the houses were the ones who had to clean it up, and generally we'd go help eachother out on that. My dad would grumble and shake his head when we got wrapped, and send me or a sibling (whoever was a teenager at the time) out to clean it up. That was about as much of an inconvenience as it got for my folks or my friends' folks.

 

Once we went to houses where we knew the people, told them we were on a scavenger hunt and needed toilet paper. Then we went wrapping. :D I can't believe we got a single roll, but we got a lot. They knew what we were up to.

 

Of all the things teenagers can be getting into, I would rate this as pretty clean fun.

[Jean in Newcastle]

It's much, much better than egging.

[RanchGirl]

Ditto.... Not a biggie in my opinion, and not really vandalism, just a silly prank. I had some good times TP'ing in the past! Just have the kids clean it up and call it a rite of passage.

[dirty ethel rackham]

No biggie here. It was a tradition in high school to TP the football players' houses on homecoming. Parents even came out and took pictures. One year, we faked the guys out and TP'd (decorated) their bedrooms and the parents were all in cahoots with us. Now, I did have acquaintances who were caught stealing toilet paper and that was not cool with the folks.

[Perry]

I'm impressed that the kids clean it up. I have never, ever seen that happen.

 

When exactly would they be doing this cleaning? It's planned for tomorrow night. They are on the bus at 7:30 Thursday morning, have the parade and PowderPuff game after school. It's dark by the time that's over. Friday, they go straight from school to the football game. It would be Saturday by the time they could do it. The chance that the kids are going to clean this up is ZERO.

 

And it's going to rain Thursday. Ever cleaned up wet toilet paper? It's more than just a prank, IMO.

[swellmomma]

I would not be okay with my kids doing this. It is an act of vandalism imo and I will not encourage that behaviour with my kids.

[Cammie]

Was tradition for me to growing up. Actually, it was an honor! The JV Field Hockey team was EXPECTED to go and TP and put banners and signs on the houses of the varisty team members before big games. It was all in good fun and all the parents knew what was going on.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Cammie
Incorrect use of apostrophe

[elegantlion]

Depends on the purpose. It seems like a rite of passage for certain athletics. Our neighbors have been tp'd twice (same one) in the last two weeks. We all have really tall pine trees, whoever did the second job did a much better job of getting the tp up higher in the trees.

 

It seems pretty harmless and done in good fun. Around here it is done to recognize someones achievement or say I like you. If it were done as a malicious act intended as disrespect or hatred toward another person, then I'd consider it vandalism.

[krystal70]

Ahhh...the memories!:lol: Guilty as charged! It was a tradition to TP your friend's house on Halloween and before or after the big Auburn/Alabama game. (War Eagle!) What made it even better was you could get blue and orange or red TP for the game one! As for cleaning it up, sometimes it was the TPer and sometimes it was the TPed. I do not recall ever TPing someone that I did not know as it was never intended to be harmful in anyway.

 

I am sure that I would not have an issue with my kids TPing someone as long as it was a good friend and they volunteered to help or do the cleaning up. Depending on the family, I might just help to TP! :D

 

That all being said, I would not go for egging a home or anything that can cause permenant damage to any property in any form or anything that would cost the owner any money. Doing that has never made sense to me.:glare:

[keptwoman]

Now sticking hundreds of plastic forks in their lawn like someone I know did...... :lol:

Obviously TPing is a tradition that seems pretty harmless but I have to say the forks would make me see red. What dreadful waste for our planet! All made of petroleum products and all ending up in the landfill. See I dont see that as funny at all.

[LaxMom]

 

And it's going to rain Thursday. Ever cleaned up wet toilet paper? It's more than just a prank, IMO.

That was my first thought... does it not rain where people are gleefully tping their friends homes? I would be livid.

 

Obviously TPing is a tradition that seems pretty harmless but I have to say the forks would make me see red. What dreadful waste for our planet! All made of petroleum products and all ending up in the landfill. See I dont see that as funny at all.

I totally agree, though the tp has an environmental impact, as well.

[Twinmom]

Depends on the purpose. It seems like a rite of passage for certain athletics. Our neighbors have been tp'd twice (same one) in the last two weeks. We all have really tall pine trees, whoever did the second job did a much better job of getting the tp up higher in the trees.

 

It seems pretty harmless and done in good fun. Around here it is done to recognize someones achievement or say I like you. If it were done as a malicious act intended as disrespect or hatred toward another person, then I'd consider it vandalism.

 

:iagree:

 

In my high school growing up (private, Christian, in case you were wondering!), getting TP'd was a rite of passage for the football team, amongst others. The drill team/cheerleaders would TP the team prior to a game as a "motivator" and/or afterwards to celebrate an MVP or a victory, sometimes adding yard signs to state the reason. The boys usually felt honored by the attention (don't know how their parents felt! ;)) and would have wondered why they didn't get TP'd if we'd skipped 'em. Oh, and we never cleaned up. :o

 

Now, if it was tp be done randomly or maliciously, I don't think I'd go along with it...certainly not for malicious reasons. I might limit it to a friend's home with the caveat that you WILL be over there the next day to clean it up. And...you will check the weather forcast first! :D

[SquirrellyMama]

I don't like the idea of TP'ing either. We had it done at our house growing up along with egging and it was never in good fun. My dad would not have let me out of the house if I was doing that.

 

I spent the night at a friend's house in HS and the girls were going to go TP'ing. The mom actually drove them around to do it. I stayed at their house and waited for them to get back.

 

Kelly

[Frontier Mom]

In my hometown, we did this all the time. A few years after I graduated, a group of kids were doing this and a neighbor thought they were trying to steal her ATV. One of her other ATV's had been stolen a week before. She shot supposedly into the air but one of the kids was shot. She died instantly.

 

Though I thought it was a harmless prank too, I don't see it that way anymore. This was a real tragedy and the lady ended up serving time in prison as well. There was just no good angle on this story.

 

I have shared this story with my children and hope they will not engage in this activity. Though it really is a pretty harmless prank, this just shows how things can go wrong really quickly.

[outtamyshell]

Where I grew up TPing houses was a harmless prank. When we were caught by the police once, we had a choice of cleaning it up or waking our friend's parents. We cleaned it up. The whole fun is in trying not to get caught. But there was no need for him to take us home or call our parents.

 

I taught my dd how to TP a house when she was about nine. We TP'd my coworker's house for a 'thank you' for an anonymous gift he gave us. We brought along sidewalk chalk and wrote all kinds of nice things on their driveway (Happy Spring, Two Cool Kids Live Here, his kid's names). The kids loved it, and the guys at work started TPing each others houses (with their kids). It was all fun, and these guys were pranksters anyway. But this was in the desert where it never rained and the TP never got wet. Now we live in the humid south where no one TPs houses and I had to explain to dd that we can't do that here. It's not the same, harmless prank here.

[Tiff in TX]

I vote harmless. I TP'd many houses growing up. It wasn't malicious at all. Especially if it is done every year to the football players. They and their parents come to expect it, and I would imagine that if a parent asked one of our coaches that their house be passed over for TP, I am sure they would have honored that. We would have simply put up the football players sign and wrote with chalk on the sidewalk.

 

It seems odd to me that something that was so harmless in the past can have such a stigma about it now. Teens and tweens are resourceful and I'm sure they could come up with something malicious if they wanted to, like forking a yard, using paintballs/paint, egging or a number of other things.

 

The act of TPing simply doesn't scream vandalism in my opinion... it doesn't even whisper it.

[Perry]

Teens and tweens are resourceful and I'm sure they could come up with something malicious if they wanted to, like forking a yard, using paintballs/paint, egging or a number of other things.

 

I've never heard of forking a yard. That's a new one.

 

Just wondering, how is that malicious? Seems like it would be easier to clean up forks than tp, but maybe I'm not understanding what's done.

[Tiff in TX]

I've never heard of forking a yard. That's a new one.

 

Just wondering, how is that malicious? Seems like it would be easier to clean up forks than tp, but maybe I'm not understanding what's done.

 

Yes, forking is newer... I worked with teens a few years ago at an old job, and they explained it to me as taking plastic forks and sticking them in the yard. I guess that why you try to pull them out the fork breaks and leaves a part sticking up in the yard. Broken forks are sharp and bad for a lawn mower. More malicious teens would break the forks before they left and the home owner would unknowingly run over them with the lawn mower.

 

*Please note that once I found out about 'forking' from this certain group of teens, I did my best to discourage them from doing it to someone's yard.

[st_claire]

I would never allow that. Vandelism is a terrible thing to encourage. If you tell your kid it's "just harmless fun" then what else might they assume is "just harmless fun"?

[I talk to the trees]

Alright call me a wet blanket (or a wet roll of tp!) but I think it's rude, mean-spirited, and plain old-fashioned wrong to do this sort of thing to someone else's property. Calling it a "rite of passage" may make the perpetrators feel better, but it doesn't make it any less wrong. And offering to clean it up afterword is, at least in a windy and rainy area like ours, pointless unless the kids are going to power wash all of the houses in the neighborhood.

 

Ooh. Golly. I do sound grumpy this morning. Really I'm not. I have just never understood why defacing property is funny.

 

-Robin

[chiguirre]

If the football team expects to be tped before homecoming, I'd let my teenager participate. It may be a dumb tradition, but it's pretty harmless and I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I wouldn't let my kids tp a house unless it was expected because it's a pain to clean up.

[MamaT]

We did a lot of TPing when I was in highschool. It was a sign that you were popular if your house was TPed. It was harmless IMO, and whoever got TPed was also responsible for cleaning it up.

 

Having said that, I think things are a bit different today. My second ds went with a group of guys to TP a house. They didn't know that the dad was a veteren who suffered from PTSD. They almost got shot. I would be very sure that the people who were getting TPed knew it was coming and was okay with it.

[Nestof3]

I've always considered it a stupid thing to do and such a waste of product.

[ciyates]

I vote that it is mean and would not allow anyone to do it.

 

That being said we used to "flock" peoples yard as a fund raiser.

 

We had a strip called scenic row of all these historic mansion on the beach. We would put hundreds of tacky pink flamingos in their yards and leave them a note that said "You've been flocked. We will have to remove them for 20 dollars or better yet get revenge for 30 dollars" People were horrified their homes had all of these plastic ornaments. There were too many for most of them to remove so they would call us and we would flock the person that flocked them for them. We also did this on spring break so that is all we did.

 

Looking back it was not such a harmless think to do. We really trashed peoples yards. We just saw it as a way of raising money for student counsel. I think candy bars would have been better but that was our tradition.

[iluvmy4blessings]

Wow I must be in the minority. I would go so far as to say it's illegal. It is private property and you are vandalizing. I suppose if it's some sort of activity that all parties are agreeing to then it might be different. I can say, however, that if I caught anyone on my property doing anything to my yard I would call the police. I do not consider it to be ok to every go on someone else's property and do anything without their permission.

[Dawn in OH]

When I was in high school it was a tradition for the cheerleaders to TP the houses of the Senior boys the night before Homecoming. All the parents of the boys and the cheerleaders knew about it as well as the police department.

[Murphy101]

 

That being said we used to "flock" peoples yard as a fund raiser.

 

We had a strip called scenic row of all these historic mansion on the beach. We would put hundreds of tacky pink flamingos in their yards and leave them a note that said "You've been flocked. We will have to remove them for 20 dollars or better yet get revenge for 30 dollars" People were horrified their homes had all of these plastic ornaments. There were too many for most of them to remove so they would call us and we would flock the person that flocked them for them. We also did this on spring break so that is all we did.

 

Looking back it was not such a harmless think to do. We really trashed peoples yards. We just saw it as a way of raising money for student counsel. I think candy bars would have been better but that was our tradition.

 

LMAO! I want to flock my mil. She's very martha stewart-ish and I can just picture the horror on her face to see a bunch of tacky pink plastic flamingos all over her manicured yard and in her prize winning azaleas. :lol:

 

How did setting a plastic bird on the grass damage the yard?:confused:

 

Now, the only real issue I have with this is the extortion and blackmail factor. Personally if you flocked my yard, I'd put them all in my garage and then sell them on ebay or something before I'd willing let a bunch of punk teenagers blackmail me into paying them to clean up their own mess.:D:glare:

 

We've been TPd a lot over the years. Some malicious, some not. We just send the kids to clean it up. What's it matter if it rains? We just let it dry and then send the kids out. But then again, we aren't the type to care overly much about the yard. Mowing the yard is pretty much the start and end of our yard worries.

 

Now, egging and forking (which I'd never heard of) - oh that chaps and we'd calls the cops on that. It is purposely damaging, and in the case of the forking - downright dangerously hurtful.:mad:

[Irene Lynn]

I agree. I have never understood how it can be a fun thing to give someone else a bunch of work to do for no good reason. I know that we would not like to find that a day was suddenly planned for us by a bunch of kids, who were willing to go out of their way to waste a bunch of toilet paper just to make our house look like a mess and waste our time. Not funny to me. I DO NOT like the idea that kids could think that doing this activity justified them walking all over our private property in the middle of the night. I would LIKE to think that people would stay off our property in the middle of the night. I just don't get it.

 

We do have friends who would love to help their children TP someone's house. In fact they might even want their children to help THEM TP someone's house. They are close friends and they know not to do it to ours. :) But then they also like food fights and pies in faces and I don't like those either. All of those things create more work. I don't like more work! LOL

[Emmy]

When I was in high school people tp'd houses of kids that were well liked- it wasn't an insult at all. It's harmless fun as far as I'm concerned.

[Tammyla]

No one ever return and cleans up the tp in our neighborhood.

 

And just think of all the wasted paper! LoL..I'm surprised it isn't politically incorrect for the high school crowd.:D

[HRAAB]

I remember waking up one morning, raising the blind, and being greeted by TP all over the trees in our front yard. We have a lot of trees, by the way. It was all fun. Some of my dd's friends had done it. No big deal. We all went out as a family and cleaned it up. It was fall and little chilly so we had hot cocoa and cookies when we came in. There are so many things in the world that do upset me; toilet paper just isn't up there.

 

Janet

 

PS: Yeah, we got em back.

[Heather in WI]

It was a huge tradition in our high school as well. It was never done maliciously to a person unliked by others -- on the contrary, it was done to the most popular kids --varsity football & basketball players, etc. Usually before a big game or meet. Also, people would write on car windows with soap, "Go Raiders", "Go Tosa East", etc. It was all in good fun.

[Kari C in SC]

I think it is good, clean fun. Several years back, our teenage son and his friends did this to a few neighbors. When they were at the neighbor's across the street, my dh went out and gave them more tp and even helped! A few nights later, our ADULT neighbor repaid us! We still all laugh about it. Kids could be doing way worse!

[Perry]

I'm curious about something.

Some of these kids are going to be doing this with their parents' knowledge. Others are planning to sneak out after midnight.

 

If you had no idea that there were plans to go TPing, what would you do if you awoke at 1:00 a.m. and discovered your 15 year old daughter was not in the house? Would you assume she snuck out to TP houses? Was abducted? Was sleepwalking outside? Was out meeting a boyfriend?

 

Even if you didn't have a problem with the TPing, how would you handle the sneaking out?

 

BTW, this is theoretical. My dd hasn't snuck out and isn't planning to. Just wondering.

[Murphy101]

there'd be heck to pay for sneaking/lying in my house.

and no, my first thought wouldn't be tp-ing.

and no, tp-ing wouldn't make a big difference in how ticked I'd be at the sneaking/lying out of the house.

 

I'm a pretty straight forward person.

 

If they were over 15, they wouldn't have to sneak out.

All they'd have to do is say they were going out and would be back no later than __.

 

Also, it isn't always at 2am. We did a lot of tp-ing on the way to catch the school bus when I was a kid. 6am worked surprisingly well for us.

 

also dark is all that is usually needed, which doesn't have to wait until 2 am either pending where the house is.

 

Of course, I retain the right to change my opinion in 2 years.:D

[Mrs Mungo]

The young adults (err...and adults) from my family's church frequently play pranks on other people in their group. Not TPing but for example-my mom filled my uncle's yard with little, plastic dinosaurs when he turned 50, my sister's Sunday school class got some furniture that was being tossed and set up a living room in the youth pastor's yard (he's their age and friends with them). Pranks would not be a big deal to me. Sneaking out would be HUGE and there would be consequences of all kinds.

[ConnieB]

It's much, much better than egging.

:iagree:

 

 

I don't know that I'd be doing the TP buying, or driving them around or anything, but if my kids came and asked if they could go with another group of kids and a parent (i.e. not on their own and with someone that was semi-responsible to be looking out for their safety), I'd probably let them. If, however, they snuck out without my knowledge....the punishment would be extremely severe. I've made it clear to my kids over the years that lying, or deceiving (and I consider sneaking to be deceitful) are going to rate a worse punishment than whatever it was they were too afraid to tell me the truth about in the first place. Better to come clean and face the punishment for your dirty deeds, because I am very good at catching the lies (even the kids agree that I seem to know things I shouldn't....bwahhhhh...it's those eyes in the back of my head, right next to the extra ear).

 

 

All that said, though, if OP feels strongly (or Dad does) that this type of prank is wrong, then I'd tell my kids my reasons and say no. I personally see it as harmless fun, especially since it's the football team (I'd not see it the same if it wasn't someone who would not likely appreciate the humor of it). But I know many families may view it in a less than harmless fun way. Do what you feel is right, explain your reasons to your kids. THey may be unhappy with you at the moment, but someday they'll have to deal with their kids in the same kind of situation.....and they'll look back and realize you weren't as mean or dumb as they thought. I'm learning my parents' weren't.

Edited October 7, 2009 by ConnieB

[HRAAB]

I'm curious about something.

Some of these kids are going to be doing this with their parents' knowledge. Others are planning to sneak out after midnight.

 

If you had no idea that there were plans to go TPing, what would you do if you awoke at 1:00 a.m. and discovered your 15 year old daughter was not in the house? Would you assume she snuck out to TP houses? Was abducted? Was sleepwalking outside? Was out meeting a boyfriend?

 

I would go ballistic and probably call the police. I wouldn't even think of TPing. She wouldn't have to sneak out to TP a house. I probably wouldn't think she was abducted. None of mine sleepwalk. If she had a boyfriend, I would consider it.

 

Even if you didn't have a problem with the TPing, how would you handle the sneaking out?

 

I've never had to deal with it. I have two grown children and they never did that. We're pretty open in our family. All I can say is there would be h*ll to pay - just how, I'm not sure. I don't think my older girls ever considered sneaking out, but I will ask them when I see them next.

 

BTW, this is theoretical. My dd hasn't snuck out and isn't planning to. Just wondering.

 

Janet

[Heather in WI]

Others are planning to sneak out after midnight.

 

If you had no idea that there were plans to go TPing, what would you do if you awoke at 1:00 a.m. and discovered your 15 year old daughter was not in the house? Would you assume she snuck out to TP houses? Was abducted? Was sleepwalking outside? Was out meeting a boyfriend?

 

Even if you didn't have a problem with the TPing, how would you handle the sneaking out?

 

BTW, this is theoretical. My dd hasn't snuck out and isn't planning to. Just wondering.

 

I'd freak out if I woke up and discovered my child not in bed! We never tp'd houses that late. From what I remember, and it's been 20 years(!), it was between 10 and 12.

 

Huge theoretical if here because my kids are still so young, but if they were going to do something like this, I'd want to know. I wouldn't want to be involved, but I'd want to be dozing on the couch to make sure they got back in safe and sound.

[Mrs Mungo]

For those who say their children have never sneaked out and would never sneak out, how can you be totally sure? I did it and I am pretty sure that to this day my parents don't know about it. I never got in trouble. I was very close to my parents and I was generally very open about stuff with them. I wasn't a hellion by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I was a pretty dull teenager.

 

My teen is only 13. She's a little young for that, yet. She doesn't have many friends in the neighborhood (most of her friends are from church or our homeschooling group) and none of her friends can drive yet. She's also asleep before I go to bed. I'm a nightowl, she takes after her dad and sleeps like the dead.

[Mabelen]

what TP was! I never heard of such thing, but then again I was not raised in the US, so... I find it odd and a waste of TP, although if it is a tradition I guess it could be fun. I am on the fence about that one!

[MamaT]

I would be okay with the TPing, and my kids know it. I have been generous enough with letting them stay out for special occasions and activities that ended late that I feel like my teenagers never felt the need to sneak out. If they did sneak out and we woke and found them missing, there would be h*ll to pay. They have heard "trust is earned" over and over and never wanted to risk their activities being shut down because of lying to us. They know that and I don't think any of ours ever did sneak out, but now I'll have to ask my sons that are grown. :001_smile:

 

BTW, we live on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere and we would definitely hear a car in the middle of the night if it was in our driveway, coming or going.

[jonesloonybin]

No on the TP, Egging, and Forking!

 

My kids know better than to do those things.

[ConnieB]

For those who say their children have never sneaked out and would never sneak out, how can you be totally sure? I did it and I am pretty sure that to this day my parents don't know about it. I never got in trouble. I was very close to my parents and I was generally very open about stuff with them. I wasn't a hellion by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I was a pretty dull teenager.

 

Well, since the front door makes a horrible screech sound (from the insulation around the door) and it's near our bedroom, I know I wake from when my DH comes home later from work. None of the windows in the house open without removing the insulation insert (old house, leaky windows and doors), so they aren't getting out that way. That leaves maybe the chimney since the flue is quiet....but it sure would be messy, lol.

 

I was also a naughty teen who snuck out but only a few times....even took the family car one night. I always thought my parents never had a clue about it.....but several years ago I learned that they knew about it, and apparently Dad had even followed me once! So much for thinking they don't know, lol. They knew I was someplace they'd approve of (female friend's house) and were concerned that if they punished me they'd drive me further away. Smart parents!

 

Do I know for certain that someday my just-turned-teen won't figure out some way to get out without my knowing....no of course not. But they also aren't the type....at least not yet. Their defiance is such minor things, so far I'm not seeing the personality for them do do something like that. Guess it'll be a few years before I can say for sure, though.