Family's young kids running wild in neighborhood, trespassing in yards

[TechWife]

Zombie thread.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Holy zombie thread, batman!  If you are new to an issue, then post a new thread to deal with it directly. 

[lauraw4321]

Research "attractive nuisance" in your state and maybe talk to your insurance agent for advice. This sounds like a horrible liability situation waiting to happen.

[Terabith]

I'm kinda wondering how this turned out, myself.

[Jean in Newcastle]

1 minute ago, Terabith said:

I'm kinda wondering how this turned out, myself.

The OP hasn’t been on this board since 2013

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

I actually really love zombie threads but then I’m always stuck wondering what happened. It’s like a book without the last chapter.

[AmandaVT]

9 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

I actually really love zombie threads but then I’m always stuck wondering what happened. It’s like a book without the last chapter.

Me too! At least the kids in the story are now old enough to be wandering the neighborhood. hopefully no one drowned.

[Terabith]

2 minutes ago, AmandaVT said:

Me too! At least the kids in the story are now old enough to be wandering the neighborhood. hopefully no one drowned.

I felt a lot better when I read the part that the fish pond was only 18 inches deep.  Which is absolutely deep enough to drown in, but less likely than if it was over the heads of children.  

[Condessa]

2 hours ago, AnotherCommenter said:

Look here, stumbled on this in 2022,

I'm new to this issue. My wife and I moved into a decent gated community neighborhood (hoa), next to us are all the schools. So, it's definitely a family oriented neighborhood. We don't have kids or pets and don't intend to, but there are kids and many pet owners. Probably about 20 law enforcement live in our neighborhood. So, it's normal that we experience kids riding bikes on our front sidewalks, see neighbors walking their dogs and neighbors dogs randomly barking at you or all night, you know, the pleasantries of mindless people and their unwitting impositions unto their immediate surroundings...

Anyways, there is a decent size lake behind us, and two houses over, there are about five houses that have waterfront but ours has about 50 feet of tropical tree coverage between our backyard and the water. Those houses with waterfront pay more in HOA to have that area clear to the waterfront. And, our area has signs that state it's a preserve and that trees cannot be cut. Our property line goes to 10 feet short of the preserve and the area in between is maintained by the HOA and I believe the HOA owns the area of the lake/preserve. 

After a year here, this small trail directly behind our house began to open up over time. And, at first I thought, "great, we have a small water view, that's nice" but I was also thinking about kids and how they love to explore hidden paths in the woods, I sure did when I was a kid. But, I honestly thought that there was no reason for any kids to ever walk behind our house. So, I doubted we'd see any but the trail wasn't a natural occurrence.

My wife and I cannot put up a fence around our backyard high enough to create privacy due to hoa guidelines but we love our privacy in our backyard because we have a pool. We work from home so we're home all day everyday. So, we enjoy the privacy our backyard was setup with while technically its open to the neighborhood. We planted privacy wall plants on both sides but left the back open since it's already just trees and brush.

Lately, we've noticed kids fishing in the backyard of the neighbors waterfront. Most of these neighbors are gone during the day at work and these kids are probably around middle school 7-13 yrs old. So, they get out of school at 1-2pm and sometimes go fishing.

And, more recently, we began to realize that this trail is a spot where all of the kids like to go to fish. They'll never catch anything, the fish don't hang out there, they hang out in the lake but there is something about the adventure of this trail that attracts the kids. And, from time to time Gators have been seen in this lake because it's FL.

Now, I'm torn because they are harmless, innocent kids and they're doing nothing "wrong", just enjoying their lives, their playing outside and experiencing a side of life that is important. And, I highly doubt that anything would happen to them. It almost seems to be cultivating a sense of independence and individual responsibility. 

But, at the same time, my wife and I enjoy our privacy. We enjoy our backyard without kids in it. And, we don't want to be responsible or keeping an eye out for these kids. If we wanted kids, we'd have our own. So, basically, the only problem here is our preference but it kinda sucks that folks have kids or pets and then they just let them wander or bark as if everyone else in the world is supposed to just be totally cool with them subjecting their responsibilities unto anyone in their environment.

I'm wondering if anyone has figured out an appropriate approach to keeping the kids out of our backyard without creating any drama. Maybe, someone has a creative approach? I mean, at least these kids are fishing and not getting into trouble. But, it's our backyard and there is a certain expectation of privacy in your own backyard. Nobody wants other people's kids in their backyard. It seems many parents are too busy with their lives to realize that their subjecting others to their personal environment, even if they aren't themselves around.

Idk what to do about this, so far I've left it alone but I'd prefer that they stop coming into our backyard area. You know, it's no different than setting up an 8 ft wall around your entire backyard so you can enjoy some privacy only to have someone hover their drone above it. I think it's fair that adults should have a certain expectation of privacy in their own backyards and parents need to be a bit more mindful and teach their children about boundaries.

Personally, I don't want to have to go and talk to these parents about their kids. I would never put someone else into that position. And, it's not like those types of parents are reading these types of forums, so idk, but I do know it's an unpleasant position to be put into by other parents.

So, are the kids on your property or not?  It sounded like they were in the HOA’s nature preserve area, but then at the end  of your post you say you want them to stop coming into your “backyard area”.  Does that mean they are on your property, or just near it?  Because if they are trespassing on your private property, that is an entirely different matter than if they are enjoying the hoa’s shared neighborhood property near you.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Condessa

[GracieJane]

2 hours ago, AnotherCommenter said:

Look here, stumbled on this in 2022,

I'm new to this issue. My wife and I moved into a decent gated community neighborhood (hoa), next to us are all the schools. So, it's definitely a family oriented neighborhood. We don't have kids or pets and don't intend to, but there are kids and many pet owners. Probably about 20 law enforcement live in our neighborhood. So, it's normal that we experience kids riding bikes on our front sidewalks, see neighbors walking their dogs and neighbors dogs randomly barking at you or all night, you know, the pleasantries of mindless people and their unwitting impositions unto their immediate surroundings...

Anyways, there is a decent size lake behind us, and two houses over, there are about five houses that have waterfront but ours has about 50 feet of tropical tree coverage between our backyard and the water. Those houses with waterfront pay more in HOA to have that area clear to the waterfront. And, our area has signs that state it's a preserve and that trees cannot be cut. Our property line goes to 10 feet short of the preserve and the area in between is maintained by the HOA and I believe the HOA owns the area of the lake/preserve. 

After a year here, this small trail directly behind our house began to open up over time. And, at first I thought, "great, we have a small water view, that's nice" but I was also thinking about kids and how they love to explore hidden paths in the woods, I sure did when I was a kid. But, I honestly thought that there was no reason for any kids to ever walk behind our house. So, I doubted we'd see any but the trail wasn't a natural occurrence.

My wife and I cannot put up a fence around our backyard high enough to create privacy due to hoa guidelines but we love our privacy in our backyard because we have a pool. We work from home so we're home all day everyday. So, we enjoy the privacy our backyard was setup with while technically its open to the neighborhood. We planted privacy wall plants on both sides but left the back open since it's already just trees and brush.

Lately, we've noticed kids fishing in the backyard of the neighbors waterfront. Most of these neighbors are gone during the day at work and these kids are probably around middle school 7-13 yrs old. So, they get out of school at 1-2pm and sometimes go fishing.

And, more recently, we began to realize that this trail is a spot where all of the kids like to go to fish. They'll never catch anything, the fish don't hang out there, they hang out in the lake but there is something about the adventure of this trail that attracts the kids. And, from time to time Gators have been seen in this lake because it's FL.

Now, I'm torn because they are harmless, innocent kids and they're doing nothing "wrong", just enjoying their lives, their playing outside and experiencing a side of life that is important. And, I highly doubt that anything would happen to them. It almost seems to be cultivating a sense of independence and individual responsibility. 

But, at the same time, my wife and I enjoy our privacy. We enjoy our backyard without kids in it. And, we don't want to be responsible or keeping an eye out for these kids. If we wanted kids, we'd have our own. So, basically, the only problem here is our preference but it kinda sucks that folks have kids or pets and then they just let them wander or bark as if everyone else in the world is supposed to just be totally cool with them subjecting their responsibilities unto anyone in their environment.

I'm wondering if anyone has figured out an appropriate approach to keeping the kids out of our backyard without creating any drama. Maybe, someone has a creative approach? I mean, at least these kids are fishing and not getting into trouble. But, it's our backyard and there is a certain expectation of privacy in your own backyard. Nobody wants other people's kids in their backyard. It seems many parents are too busy with their lives to realize that their subjecting others to their personal environment, even if they aren't themselves around.

Idk what to do about this, so far I've left it alone but I'd prefer that they stop coming into our backyard area. You know, it's no different than setting up an 8 ft wall around your entire backyard so you can enjoy some privacy only to have someone hover their drone above it. I think it's fair that adults should have a certain expectation of privacy in their own backyards and parents need to be a bit more mindful and teach their children about boundaries.

Personally, I don't want to have to go and talk to these parents about their kids. I would never put someone else into that position. And, it's not like those types of parents are reading these types of forums, so idk, but I do know it's an unpleasant position to be put into by other parents.

I‘m confused by the layout: your post says they are in the neighbor‘s backyard. They aren’t doing anything wrong if they aren’t actually in your backyard. If they are on your property you can tell them to knock it off or tell their parents. 

[Taylors mom]

On 5/17/2013 at 8:16 AM, Spy Car said:

 

Let me join you in dissent.

 

What the heck happened to "childhood" that kids can't explore their neighborhoods without people calling the police or CPS?

 

Personally, I'd love to see more kids out riding bikes, playing ball in vacant lots, climbing trees, without adults hovering all the time. That freedom I enjoyed as a child are lost to today's children. It is a big loss. And the reflexive response to call the police on children who are being children is at the crux of the problem.

 

If their is a pond safety issue, find a way to resolve it without going "nuclear."

 

Crikey!

 

Bill

I agree with Bill. Climbing trees and being a respectful child was the best childhood ever.   If it was me in the situation I would take the amusement or I don't know how to word it out of the fish pond. When you tell somebody no they automatically want to do it most of the time especially children cuz now it becomes a why not what's so great about it that I can't see that I can't touch that I can't play. Maybe get the kids to do some chores and let them know it's only okay to come and do their chores when you are with them let them feed the fish but let them know that if they come without you that they never get to see the fish again something along that line they're just kids they're trying to be sneaky . Put up a fake camera tell them that you'll be able to see them every time they come into your yard so they can't sneak and do it without you. Of course run it by their parents. I wouldn't call the police or CPS maybe the parents can't afford daycare or whatever. Maybe other neighbors have complained so much that they're tired of answering their door to hear what nuisance is their children are I'm a single parent myself. And I'm a firm believer and it takes a village I welcome the help when I can get it but when somebody is constantly telling me what's wrong with my child I get tired of hearing it and get a little offensive or I just shut people out completely kids are meant to explore you didn't know how to wash your hands until they got dirty just think of it like that