Ding dong ditching and cops brought home

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

I see the difference: a seven year old wouldn't do that. A 14 year old would. It's normal, age-appropriate behavior.

Sorry but trying to frighten strangers sleeping in their homes at nighttime with a gang of your friends isn’t normal age appropriate behavior.

They aren't going up to friends homes that might be ok with it. You need to be considerate to those with young kids, working, elderly, health issues. Its a pretty horrible thing to do. I'd call the police, no question. Its not normal for a well raised 14 year old to do that. You have poor parenting and judgment.

You don't allow it and if kids come home via police they get punished. Simple. They behave like wild animals due to your parenting. How about abotu trying to raise decent considerate teens?

You guys are frightened at your doorbell ringing?

Wow!

DP with teens that have admitted to doing this and yes, I would be if it rang at that time of night. We used to live in areas that weren’t safe. I’m not sure they would ring the doorbell if it was someone trying to rob or harm us but the extra sense of caution will always be there.

That said, I would have a conversation with my kid and notify the other parents that it happened only because police were involved. I wouldn’t be that upset at my own kid unless he did it a second time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

I see the difference: a seven year old wouldn't do that. A 14 year old would. It's normal, age-appropriate behavior.

Sorry but trying to frighten strangers sleeping in their homes at nighttime with a gang of your friends isn’t normal age appropriate behavior.

They aren't going up to friends homes that might be ok with it. You need to be considerate to those with young kids, working, elderly, health issues. Its a pretty horrible thing to do. I'd call the police, no question. Its not normal for a well raised 14 year old to do that. You have poor parenting and judgment.

You don't allow it and if kids come home via police they get punished. Simple. They behave like wild animals due to your parenting. How about abotu trying to raise decent considerate teens?

You guys are frightened at your doorbell ringing?

Wow!

Late at night yes and we’ve had it happen. Never anything good.

10pm is not late at night

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This had happened to us and I had to prevent my dh from opening the door: you don't know who the heck would be on the other side at 10pm. Kids? Or someone trying to rob you? Or a drunk guy? The kids are lucky no one came out with a gun.

Young teens should not be running around outside after 10pm at night, unless it is around their own house or they are supervised. Nothing good is going to happen to them and they are going to be up to nothing good as well.

Or a neighbor saying the inside light of your car is in.

You people are insane.

My neighbors would text/call me. I do the same when their garage door is up.

Every single neighbor that walks their dog past your house knows your number. Not!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

I see the difference: a seven year old wouldn't do that. A 14 year old would. It's normal, age-appropriate behavior.

Sorry but trying to frighten strangers sleeping in their homes at nighttime with a gang of your friends isn’t normal age appropriate behavior.

They were asleep at 10 pm? At 2 am I would be pissed, but come on, at 10 pm they were watching TV. No doubt they went to the door, saw no one was there, looked at their camera footage and thought, "We've been pranked." Not that big of a deal for a normal person.

My spouse goes to sleep at 9-10 PM. I have health issues and sleep all kind of weird hours. I'd be pissed. I wold not think its funny to be pranked. When we had young kids, I'd be more pissed if they were waken up. It is a huge deal. Have some consideration. I'd turn in the camera footage to the police.

Oh my God. I'm dying at the image of you presenting a USB with kids tplaying ring and run to the cops. Their laughing faces would warm me for years.

You are why kids are having so many issues. Lousy parenting.

Why do you have so many issues. At some point U need to stop blaming your parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^and I wouldn’t think anything of them going out at 10pm. It wouldn’t occur to me they would ding dong ditch.

The the PP. I would. What would they possibly be up to at 10 pm outside that isn’t trouble? I wouldn’t allow it. If they want to hang out outside at 10pm, they can stay on the patio and around the yard. Not roam around the neighborhood

OP here. I guess in my mind walking to the park (basically a small little pocket park) half a block a way at 10 pm is not roaming. Again, it is on me for thinking they would just do that and I should have kept a closer watch. I will be honest and say that I tend to approach things like this from a POV of letting kids feel some sense of freedom and fun rather than one of constant suspicion. These kids didn't warrant concern in that way. That is on me, yes. Honestly, I was just glad they were not cooped up in his room gaming. Now I know better.

I'm in my 50s and was, as were all my friends, free range kids. My parents had no idea where I was during the day. Yet, the rule for us and all the kids I hung out with were that we had to be home by dark. In the summer time where I grew up, that was about 9PM. Just why do you think that was? Even in the 'good old days', our parents knew nothing good came of young teens being out after dark. I can't believe your naiveté and poor judgment.

80s kid. We always had to be home when the street lights came on.

This has zero to do with free range parenting.

How did you hunt for nightcrawlers before dark? How did you catch lightning bugs before dark?

Lightning bugs are best caught at dusk and worms in the morning after rain.

Not nightcrawlers.

How about flashlight tag?

These kids weren’t playing flashlight tag. And they’re almost in high school. If your teenage son and his friends say they’re heading out to play flashlight tag after the adults go to bed, I have a bridge to sell you.

Our kids play man hunt, capture the flag, hunt for night crawlers, flashlight tag, hide and seek… etc at night.

Y’all are insane helicopter parents.

And really if they are kissing at the park or ding dong ditching I’m not going to lose my sh!t because it’s age appropriate.

Yes they are almost in HS, next year they will be going to parties and football games and dinner after dark and I won’t be able to track their every move.

It’s not helicopter parenting to have basic respect for your neighbors, and all of those nighttime activities you described can be done on your own property. This “age appropriate” line of argument falls flat - it’s rude behavior and it’s not justified just because they are boys.

Yes, it's rude behavior. Kids try out rude behavior sometimes. Do you think with perfect parenting children behave perfectly until they're adults? The answer is NO. Growing up is a process. It's normal.

You and others don't seem to understand that there's a difference between "normal" or common and appropriate or acceptable. Just because pre-teen boys are generally idiots doesn't mean that behavior like this should be waved off with a "boys will be boys". It's okay to condemn the commonplace.

Nobody said it’s boys will be boys. It’s kids do stupid things. I’m sure girls ding dong ditch too when they are not playing spin the bottle.

DP. The behavior should be addressed by the parents, and not waved off with a “kids do stupid things” either. It’s rude, full stop, and like the police have said, can have dangerous consequences if you do it to the wrong person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

I see the difference: a seven year old wouldn't do that. A 14 year old would. It's normal, age-appropriate behavior.

Sorry but trying to frighten strangers sleeping in their homes at nighttime with a gang of your friends isn’t normal age appropriate behavior.

They were asleep at 10 pm? At 2 am I would be pissed, but come on, at 10 pm they were watching TV. No doubt they went to the door, saw no one was there, looked at their camera footage and thought, "We've been pranked." Not that big of a deal for a normal person.

My spouse goes to sleep at 9-10 PM. I have health issues and sleep all kind of weird hours. I'd be pissed. I wold not think its funny to be pranked. When we had young kids, I'd be more pissed if they were waken up. It is a huge deal. Have some consideration. I'd turn in the camera footage to the police.

Oh my God. I'm dying at the image of you presenting a USB with kids tplaying ring and run to the cops. Their laughing faces would warm me for years.

You are why kids are having so many issues. Lousy parenting.

Why do you have so many issues. At some point U need to stop blaming your parents.

The parent is to blame. She had a group of teens over and allowed them to free roam the neighborhood where they upset people who called the police. The kids were brought home by the police and this parent refused to tell the other parents or punish her child. I would be horrified if my kids behaved this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^and I wouldn’t think anything of them going out at 10pm. It wouldn’t occur to me they would ding dong ditch.

The the PP. I would. What would they possibly be up to at 10 pm outside that isn’t trouble? I wouldn’t allow it. If they want to hang out outside at 10pm, they can stay on the patio and around the yard. Not roam around the neighborhood

OP here. I guess in my mind walking to the park (basically a small little pocket park) half a block a way at 10 pm is not roaming. Again, it is on me for thinking they would just do that and I should have kept a closer watch. I will be honest and say that I tend to approach things like this from a POV of letting kids feel some sense of freedom and fun rather than one of constant suspicion. These kids didn't warrant concern in that way. That is on me, yes. Honestly, I was just glad they were not cooped up in his room gaming. Now I know better.

I'm in my 50s and was, as were all my friends, free range kids. My parents had no idea where I was during the day. Yet, the rule for us and all the kids I hung out with were that we had to be home by dark. In the summer time where I grew up, that was about 9PM. Just why do you think that was? Even in the 'good old days', our parents knew nothing good came of young teens being out after dark. I can't believe your naiveté and poor judgment.

80s kid. We always had to be home when the street lights came on.

This has zero to do with free range parenting.

How did you hunt for nightcrawlers before dark? How did you catch lightning bugs before dark?

Lightning bugs are best caught at dusk and worms in the morning after rain.

Not nightcrawlers.

How about flashlight tag?

These kids weren’t playing flashlight tag. And they’re almost in high school. If your teenage son and his friends say they’re heading out to play flashlight tag after the adults go to bed, I have a bridge to sell you.

Our kids play man hunt, capture the flag, hunt for night crawlers, flashlight tag, hide and seek… etc at night.

Y’all are insane helicopter parents.

And really if they are kissing at the park or ding dong ditching I’m not going to lose my sh!t because it’s age appropriate.

Yes they are almost in HS, next year they will be going to parties and football games and dinner after dark and I won’t be able to track their every move.

It’s not helicopter parenting to have basic respect for your neighbors, and all of those nighttime activities you described can be done on your own property. This “age appropriate” line of argument falls flat - it’s rude behavior and it’s not justified just because they are boys.

Yes, it's rude behavior. Kids try out rude behavior sometimes. Do you think with perfect parenting children behave perfectly until they're adults? The answer is NO. Growing up is a process. It's normal.

You and others don't seem to understand that there's a difference between "normal" or common and appropriate or acceptable. Just because pre-teen boys are generally idiots doesn't mean that behavior like this should be waved off with a "boys will be boys". It's okay to condemn the commonplace.

Nobody said it’s boys will be boys. It’s kids do stupid things. I’m sure girls ding dong ditch too when they are not playing spin the bottle.

DP. The behavior should be addressed by the parents, and not waved off with a “kids do stupid things” either. It’s rude, full stop, and like the police have said, can have dangerous consequences if you do it to the wrong person.

Yes, it's rude. If it weren't rude, there would be no point in doing it. Were you born 45 years old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

In the spectrum between 1 (Is your refrigerator running") and 10 (How is your husband doing after that terrible accident), this is a 1.1.

A pack of unknown teen males knocking on my door at 10pm and then hiding in my yard waiting for me to open the door, if I were home alone, would not be a 1.1

The description above says more about you than about the kids.

Ok. That's fine. I lived for 15 years in Baltimore city and it has colored my perception of what teens are up to when they approach an adult, or someone's car, or someone's home, in a pack after dark. And I would not respond kindly to a bunch of teenagers doing it to my house after dark in my current neighborhood either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

I see the difference: a seven year old wouldn't do that. A 14 year old would. It's normal, age-appropriate behavior.

Sorry but trying to frighten strangers sleeping in their homes at nighttime with a gang of your friends isn’t normal age appropriate behavior.

They aren't going up to friends homes that might be ok with it. You need to be considerate to those with young kids, working, elderly, health issues. Its a pretty horrible thing to do. I'd call the police, no question. Its not normal for a well raised 14 year old to do that. You have poor parenting and judgment.

You don't allow it and if kids come home via police they get punished. Simple. They behave like wild animals due to your parenting. How about abotu trying to raise decent considerate teens?

You guys are frightened at your doorbell ringing?

Wow!

Late at night yes and we’ve had it happen. Never anything good.

10pm is not late at night

Beating a dead horse here, but it is to many people. Just like 5am is a normal wake up time for some whereas it feels like the middle of the night to others.

[Anonymous]

Omg I’m so glad I’m GenX! We did all sorts of crazy sh*t growing up like this. Adults who caught us doing crazy stuff made us do yard work for a weekend. Adults were so much better back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^and I wouldn’t think anything of them going out at 10pm. It wouldn’t occur to me they would ding dong ditch.

The the PP. I would. What would they possibly be up to at 10 pm outside that isn’t trouble? I wouldn’t allow it. If they want to hang out outside at 10pm, they can stay on the patio and around the yard. Not roam around the neighborhood

OP here. I guess in my mind walking to the park (basically a small little pocket park) half a block a way at 10 pm is not roaming. Again, it is on me for thinking they would just do that and I should have kept a closer watch. I will be honest and say that I tend to approach things like this from a POV of letting kids feel some sense of freedom and fun rather than one of constant suspicion. These kids didn't warrant concern in that way. That is on me, yes. Honestly, I was just glad they were not cooped up in his room gaming. Now I know better.

I'm in my 50s and was, as were all my friends, free range kids. My parents had no idea where I was during the day. Yet, the rule for us and all the kids I hung out with were that we had to be home by dark. In the summer time where I grew up, that was about 9PM. Just why do you think that was? Even in the 'good old days', our parents knew nothing good came of young teens being out after dark. I can't believe your naiveté and poor judgment.

80s kid. We always had to be home when the street lights came on.

This has zero to do with free range parenting.

How did you hunt for nightcrawlers before dark? How did you catch lightning bugs before dark?

Lightning bugs are best caught at dusk and worms in the morning after rain.

Not nightcrawlers.

How about flashlight tag?

These kids weren’t playing flashlight tag. And they’re almost in high school. If your teenage son and his friends say they’re heading out to play flashlight tag after the adults go to bed, I have a bridge to sell you.

Our kids play man hunt, capture the flag, hunt for night crawlers, flashlight tag, hide and seek… etc at night.

Y’all are insane helicopter parents.

And really if they are kissing at the park or ding dong ditching I’m not going to lose my sh!t because it’s age appropriate.

Yes they are almost in HS, next year they will be going to parties and football games and dinner after dark and I won’t be able to track their every move.

It’s not helicopter parenting to have basic respect for your neighbors, and all of those nighttime activities you described can be done on your own property. This “age appropriate” line of argument falls flat - it’s rude behavior and it’s not justified just because they are boys.

Yes, it's rude behavior. Kids try out rude behavior sometimes. Do you think with perfect parenting children behave perfectly until they're adults? The answer is NO. Growing up is a process. It's normal.

You and others don't seem to understand that there's a difference between "normal" or common and appropriate or acceptable. Just because pre-teen boys are generally idiots doesn't mean that behavior like this should be waved off with a "boys will be boys". It's okay to condemn the commonplace.

Nobody said it’s boys will be boys. It’s kids do stupid things. I’m sure girls ding dong ditch too when they are not playing spin the bottle.

DP. The behavior should be addressed by the parents, and not waved off with a “kids do stupid things” either. It’s rude, full stop, and like the police have said, can have dangerous consequences if you do it to the wrong person.

Yes, it's rude. If it weren't rude, there would be no point in doing it. Were you born 45 years old?

NP but a good prank isn't rude. It's funny. If it's just being rude to someone, what is funny about that? Even as a teenager I didn't see the fun in just being rude to someone for no reason. Where is the punchline, it sounds like the teens don't even wait to see if the poor person opens their door or not. So they literally just run up and down the street bothering everyone at 10pm, just for the pleasure of the internal knowledge that they've scared/ woken up/ bothered their neighbors? Think of how upset someone must have been to have called the POLICE. Now think of how low key upset many , many other people were but not to the point of alerting the police. Did they call the cops because they wanted the kids to get in trouble for prankign them? Did they call the cops because they thought someone was trying to break into their home? Who knows. But most likely it was the latter, and just sit for a moment and think how NOT harmless it is to scare someone like that. It's beyond rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All this prank call stuff made me think back to my day. We totally prank called people. But it was during the day, and it was usually people we knew. And it was like, obviously a prank like “is your refrigerator running?” nonsense.

But once my mom got a call and it was a male voice asking how her husband was doing “after that terrible accident”. My mom was like what?? And the person laughed and hung up. My mom spent time calling my dads work, eventually pulling him out of a meeting (this is all pre cell phone) to make sure he was ok. She was in tears.

There are pranks and there are pranks. Seven year olds knocking on a door at 2pm and then giggling and running off, that you can see through your window, to someone they know like a friends mom, ok. Fine. Fourteen year olds to unknown houses , in a pack, in the middle of the night ? No. And don’t pretend you don’t see the difference between these two “pranks”.

I see the difference: a seven year old wouldn't do that. A 14 year old would. It's normal, age-appropriate behavior.

Sorry but trying to frighten strangers sleeping in their homes at nighttime with a gang of your friends isn’t normal age appropriate behavior.

They aren't going up to friends homes that might be ok with it. You need to be considerate to those with young kids, working, elderly, health issues. Its a pretty horrible thing to do. I'd call the police, no question. Its not normal for a well raised 14 year old to do that. You have poor parenting and judgment.

You don't allow it and if kids come home via police they get punished. Simple. They behave like wild animals due to your parenting. How about abotu trying to raise decent considerate teens?

You guys are frightened at your doorbell ringing?

Wow!

Late at night yes and we’ve had it happen. Never anything good.

10pm is not late at night

Clearly, many of us do think 10PM is late. Growing up in the 70/80s, we weren't allowed to receive phone calls after 9PM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^and I wouldn’t think anything of them going out at 10pm. It wouldn’t occur to me they would ding dong ditch.

The the PP. I would. What would they possibly be up to at 10 pm outside that isn’t trouble? I wouldn’t allow it. If they want to hang out outside at 10pm, they can stay on the patio and around the yard. Not roam around the neighborhood

OP here. I guess in my mind walking to the park (basically a small little pocket park) half a block a way at 10 pm is not roaming. Again, it is on me for thinking they would just do that and I should have kept a closer watch. I will be honest and say that I tend to approach things like this from a POV of letting kids feel some sense of freedom and fun rather than one of constant suspicion. These kids didn't warrant concern in that way. That is on me, yes. Honestly, I was just glad they were not cooped up in his room gaming. Now I know better.

I'm in my 50s and was, as were all my friends, free range kids. My parents had no idea where I was during the day. Yet, the rule for us and all the kids I hung out with were that we had to be home by dark. In the summer time where I grew up, that was about 9PM. Just why do you think that was? Even in the 'good old days', our parents knew nothing good came of young teens being out after dark. I can't believe your naiveté and poor judgment.

80s kid. We always had to be home when the street lights came on.

This has zero to do with free range parenting.

How did you hunt for nightcrawlers before dark? How did you catch lightning bugs before dark?

Lightning bugs are best caught at dusk and worms in the morning after rain.

Not nightcrawlers.

How about flashlight tag?

These kids weren’t playing flashlight tag. And they’re almost in high school. If your teenage son and his friends say they’re heading out to play flashlight tag after the adults go to bed, I have a bridge to sell you.

Our kids play man hunt, capture the flag, hunt for night crawlers, flashlight tag, hide and seek… etc at night.

Y’all are insane helicopter parents.

And really if they are kissing at the park or ding dong ditching I’m not going to lose my sh!t because it’s age appropriate.

Yes they are almost in HS, next year they will be going to parties and football games and dinner after dark and I won’t be able to track their every move.

It’s not helicopter parenting to have basic respect for your neighbors, and all of those nighttime activities you described can be done on your own property. This “age appropriate” line of argument falls flat - it’s rude behavior and it’s not justified just because they are boys.

Yes, it's rude behavior. Kids try out rude behavior sometimes. Do you think with perfect parenting children behave perfectly until they're adults? The answer is NO. Growing up is a process. It's normal.

You and others don't seem to understand that there's a difference between "normal" or common and appropriate or acceptable. Just because pre-teen boys are generally idiots doesn't mean that behavior like this should be waved off with a "boys will be boys". It's okay to condemn the commonplace.

Nobody said it’s boys will be boys. It’s kids do stupid things. I’m sure girls ding dong ditch too when they are not playing spin the bottle.

DP. The behavior should be addressed by the parents, and not waved off with a “kids do stupid things” either. It’s rude, full stop, and like the police have said, can have dangerous consequences if you do it to the wrong person.

Yes, it's rude. If it weren't rude, there would be no point in doing it. Were you born 45 years old?

NP but a good prank isn't rude. It's funny. If it's just being rude to someone, what is funny about that? Even as a teenager I didn't see the fun in just being rude to someone for no reason. Where is the punchline, it sounds like the teens don't even wait to see if the poor person opens their door or not. So they literally just run up and down the street bothering everyone at 10pm, just for the pleasure of the internal knowledge that they've scared/ woken up/ bothered their neighbors? Think of how upset someone must have been to have called the POLICE. Now think of how low key upset many , many other people were but not to the point of alerting the police. Did they call the cops because they wanted the kids to get in trouble for prankign them? Did they call the cops because they thought someone was trying to break into their home? Who knows. But most likely it was the latter, and just sit for a moment and think how NOT harmless it is to scare someone like that. It's beyond rude.

It's funny to them because it's rude. Farting is also rude and isn't funny to adults but it is to young children. Lighten up.

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Farting is actually funny to adults but I hear you.

I think this is more thrillseeking behavior than anything.

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Anonymous wrote:^and I wouldn’t think anything of them going out at 10pm. It wouldn’t occur to me they would ding dong ditch.

The the PP. I would. What would they possibly be up to at 10 pm outside that isn’t trouble? I wouldn’t allow it. If they want to hang out outside at 10pm, they can stay on the patio and around the yard. Not roam around the neighborhood

OP here. I guess in my mind walking to the park (basically a small little pocket park) half a block a way at 10 pm is not roaming. Again, it is on me for thinking they would just do that and I should have kept a closer watch. I will be honest and say that I tend to approach things like this from a POV of letting kids feel some sense of freedom and fun rather than one of constant suspicion. These kids didn't warrant concern in that way. That is on me, yes. Honestly, I was just glad they were not cooped up in his room gaming. Now I know better.

I'm in my 50s and was, as were all my friends, free range kids. My parents had no idea where I was during the day. Yet, the rule for us and all the kids I hung out with were that we had to be home by dark. In the summer time where I grew up, that was about 9PM. Just why do you think that was? Even in the 'good old days', our parents knew nothing good came of young teens being out after dark. I can't believe your naiveté and poor judgment.

80s kid. We always had to be home when the street lights came on.

This has zero to do with free range parenting.

How did you hunt for nightcrawlers before dark? How did you catch lightning bugs before dark?

Lightning bugs are best caught at dusk and worms in the morning after rain.

Not nightcrawlers.

How about flashlight tag?

These kids weren’t playing flashlight tag. And they’re almost in high school. If your teenage son and his friends say they’re heading out to play flashlight tag after the adults go to bed, I have a bridge to sell you.

Our kids play man hunt, capture the flag, hunt for night crawlers, flashlight tag, hide and seek… etc at night.

Y’all are insane helicopter parents.

And really if they are kissing at the park or ding dong ditching I’m not going to lose my sh!t because it’s age appropriate.

Yes they are almost in HS, next year they will be going to parties and football games and dinner after dark and I won’t be able to track their every move.

It’s not helicopter parenting to have basic respect for your neighbors, and all of those nighttime activities you described can be done on your own property. This “age appropriate” line of argument falls flat - it’s rude behavior and it’s not justified just because they are boys.

Yes, it's rude behavior. Kids try out rude behavior sometimes. Do you think with perfect parenting children behave perfectly until they're adults? The answer is NO. Growing up is a process. It's normal.

You and others don't seem to understand that there's a difference between "normal" or common and appropriate or acceptable. Just because pre-teen boys are generally idiots doesn't mean that behavior like this should be waved off with a "boys will be boys". It's okay to condemn the commonplace.

Nobody said it’s boys will be boys. It’s kids do stupid things. I’m sure girls ding dong ditch too when they are not playing spin the bottle.

DP. The behavior should be addressed by the parents, and not waved off with a “kids do stupid things” either. It’s rude, full stop, and like the police have said, can have dangerous consequences if you do it to the wrong person.

Yes, it's rude. If it weren't rude, there would be no point in doing it. Were you born 45 years old?

NP but a good prank isn't rude. It's funny. If it's just being rude to someone, what is funny about that? Even as a teenager I didn't see the fun in just being rude to someone for no reason. Where is the punchline, it sounds like the teens don't even wait to see if the poor person opens their door or not. So they literally just run up and down the street bothering everyone at 10pm, just for the pleasure of the internal knowledge that they've scared/ woken up/ bothered their neighbors? Think of how upset someone must have been to have called the POLICE. Now think of how low key upset many , many other people were but not to the point of alerting the police. Did they call the cops because they wanted the kids to get in trouble for prankign them? Did they call the cops because they thought someone was trying to break into their home? Who knows. But most likely it was the latter, and just sit for a moment and think how NOT harmless it is to scare someone like that. It's beyond rude.

It's funny to them because it's rude. Farting is also rude and isn't funny to adults but it is to young children. Lighten up.

If a teenager farted near me and ran away, I'd think they were immature but harmless. Not the same for a teenager approaching my home at 10pm and knocking on my door with a group of other teenage male friends. In many, many areas of our country that sort of thing sets of massive alarm bells for a gang of young men luring people out of their homes to assault or rob them, or casing the home for a break in, etc etc. And if your "kids" are too privileged to realize that, then they need a wakeup call before they pretend to break into the wrong person's home at 10pm as a "harmless prank"