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”.

Anonymous wrote:How is this different than being boo’d?

Anonymous wrote:Op here again:

- it was definitely not a harmless prank. It scared people and put the kids in danger.

- this is probably the craziest/most dangerous thing that has happened in our HOA controlled and master planned community in the last few years where everyone has cameras all over their houses. I stand by the safety of letting them go down the street (these little pocket parks are basically lawns controlled by HOA in our walled in community in the suburbs) but I erred in trusting the kids’ judgment so that’s on me.

- I’m talking to the rest of the parents today. Some went home as a group.

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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?

Anonymous wrote:My 8th grader and his friends did this. My husband went out and caught them, not the police. We chewed the entire group out.

I also let them know how stupid they are since everybody in our neighborhood has a Ring doorbell and can see who it was.

On a side note, we loved doing this growing up in the 80s. Prank calls too were hilarious (long before caller ID). My brother and his friends also would take our remote and go in the back of homes with sliding glass doors and change the channels when people were watching. They never knew what was going on and why their TV was acting up.

But, police are right, people are on edge, crazy and packing these days.

Anonymous wrote:How is this different than being boo’d?

Anonymous wrote:How is this different than being boo’d?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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?

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?