Children, and playing in the street

tiamai_d

I think there are just less areas where kids can sneak off to play loudly than when I was younger. Plus, nowerdays parents are too scared to let their kids disappear like we used too.

Although, in the summer we were in bed by 9pm, today there are still kids out playing at 11pm!

Its a combination of some inconsiderate people (ever notice the loudest children are the furthest from their own homes?) and a lack of tolerance towards children.

Although, when I was younger if someone yelled at us to shut up, we would have bolted and shut up. If you try that today you end up with a mouthful of abuse and a brick thrown at your window every time they pass by. We used to sneak past the miserable old gits house hopeing they didn't see us, now they swagger past throwing things and yelling abuse hoping they come out.

ontheroad_2

brighthair wrote: »

Ok, just a conversation I've had with my Mum recently
Are children louder now than they were years ago or is it just me?
The children playing in my street sound like they are being murdered sometimes, and screaming at the top of their lungs. I know if I had made that noise in the street I would have been dragged inside :rotfl:

On a more serious note, if I hear someone screaming, I don't even get up to look now. At my old house, someone was yelling, and I didn't look until it carried on for more than a few minutes, neither did anyone else. When I got up, there was a child hanging from a second floor window, and she fell out was I ran over, landed on the patio and broke her leg :eek:

I think what I am saying is, if (and it's not just children!) people make that level of noise, and screaming and shouting, if anything did happen and someone was shouting for help, they wouldn't even be noticed

Or is this whole post just me?!

I've only read your original post, I have to say, in my street we have half a dozen kids who regularly play together around our doors (my daughter is one of them) - and unless they are all in my back garden, I rarely hear them at all. If I heard someone screaming, and it was daylight, I'd go see if anything was wrong. If it was dark or getting dark, I'd go get another neighbour first, to come with me.

ontheroad_2

mikey72 wrote: »

I don't think kids are noisier.
I think adults are more territorial though, and more worried about their "space" than they used to be.
Probably as they have become more insular, and stay inside their house or garden, and expect the rest of the street to do the same.
From kids playing in the street near their car parked over the pavement, to the noise wafting in as they lie in the garden, it's all an invasion of their own little area, whereas before kids were in and out of evereyones house and garden, and the parents all knew each other, and trusted each other.
It should be possible to tell the difference between kids playing and kids falling from the upstairs window, so yes, I go out if it's the wrong noise.
And kids have always played football outside someone elses house, I think that must be an unwritten rule. I used to.

Exactly this - all the kids in our street who play together know they can come knocking for their friends to go out to play, and I know all the parents of the kids who come knocking for my daughter. I also know which houses she's likely to be playing at when she's not in ours.

bonty44

We have about 12 children in our street who play out the front, my older 2 included, they all go to completely different schools but I think it's great that they play with each other when they get back.

Personally I don't mind screaming / shrieking, it's the sound of bouncing balls that irritates me ...

Blackpool_Saver

Emmzi wrote: »

you are called Blackpool saver and your signature sys "I am from Blackpool". i think people can be forgiven for not knowing you now live in a village.

good point that, better change my siggy......

brighthair

fedupnow wrote: »

Actually I keep reading how kids are always sitting around playing on their pc or games console getting obese. There are supposedly less playing outside.

I hear kids playing and squealing and think it's quite nice. I can usually tell the difference between an excited 'chase me you're on it' squeal to a 'my god I'm getting murdered' scream.

Perhaps it the more recent trend to ignore screams and 'mind one's own business' that should concern us more.

I don't mind the playing at all, or the laughing etc that goes with it, but I'm talking full on screaming, if not from the children playing then from the older ones/teenagers that go to the shops near my house. It's not a "mind my own business" thing, it's more that I hear it all the time, so I just really switch off to it now. The girl that fell out the window was screeching help at the top of her voice, but her and her siblings did that all the time so nobody went to look

GobbledyGook

Kate78 wrote: »

^ True about new builds, some of the gardens simply aren't big enough for kids to play.

Although on our estate, there is a grassed area specifically for kids to have a kick about on. It is almost always deserted. Instead they choose to play in the built up area near the parked cars, where the noise reverberates... :mad:

If it's anything here then the main reason for that is that inconsiderate dog owners let their dogs do their business all over the grass so the kids can't play on it safely.


I think it's a mix of both parents not teaching their children respect/manners and people's tolerances being lower. There is a grassy area behind our flats that children have played football on or rode bikes on since I was a young child. One resident started a campaign to the council to have it fenced or ploughed up so the kids couldn't use it. Disgustingly without consultation with other residents the council ploughed it up. Funnily enough though when we were children and her son (same age as me) played there the same person campaigned to keep that area for the children.

People expect children to be rude and unruly these days. Adults also often show children very little respect or manners. My daughter held a door open in the shopping centre yesterday and 8 adults walked through without thanking her or even acknowledging her. The first to do so and take the door from her was a teenage Goth. We can't expect children to be well mannered if they don't get any examples from adults.

mikey72

GobbledyGook wrote: »

If it's anything here then the main reason for that is that inconsiderate dog owners let their dogs do their business all over the grass so the kids can't play on it safely.


I think it's a mix of both parents not teaching their children respect/manners and people's tolerances being lower. There is a grassy area behind our flats that children have played football on or rode bikes on since I was a young child. One resident started a campaign to the council to have it fenced or ploughed up so the kids couldn't use it. Disgustingly without consultation with other residents the council ploughed it up. Funnily enough though when we were children and her son (same age as me) played there the same person campaigned to keep that area for the children.

People expect children to be rude and unruly these days. Adults also often show children very little respect or manners. My daughter held a door open in the shopping centre yesterday and 8 adults walked through without thanking her or even acknowledging her. The first to do so and take the door from her was a teenage Goth. We can't expect children to be well mannered if they don't get any examples from adults.

I agree with you on the grass, some adults always see it as a dog toilet, and it only takes one to render it unuseable by kids.

Same with the doors, my children have had the same treatment, or even worse if we're walking through as a family, and if I go first and hold the door, I've had adults push the kids out of the way as if they weren't there and then walk past me.

LilacLouisa

GobbledyGook wrote: »

If it's anything here then the main reason for that is that inconsiderate dog owners let their dogs do their business all over the grass so the kids can't play on it safely.


I think it's a mix of both parents not teaching their children respect/manners and people's tolerances being lower. There is a grassy area behind our flats that children have played football on or rode bikes on since I was a young child. One resident started a campaign to the council to have it fenced or ploughed up so the kids couldn't use it. Disgustingly without consultation with other residents the council ploughed it up. Funnily enough though when we were children and her son (same age as me) played there the same person campaigned to keep that area for the children.

People expect children to be rude and unruly these days. Adults also often show children very little respect or manners. My daughter held a door open in the shopping centre yesterday and 8 adults walked through without thanking her or even acknowledging her. The first to do so and take the door from her was a teenage Goth. We can't expect children to be well mannered if they don't get any examples from adults.

Now that is just mean, why did they do that, Health and Safety or something?

If you find rude old people, they were probably rude young people first, best thing you can do is ask your children if they want to end up like that or remain the lovely considerate and kind people they are now.

GobbledyGook

LilacLouisa wrote: »

Now that is just mean, why did they do that, Health and Safety or something?

If you find rude old people, they were probably rude young people first, best thing you can do is ask your children if they want to end up like that or remain the lovely considerate and kind people they are now.

They did it because of the complaints about "excessive noise". Turns out all 256 complaints came from her though. Luckily the local councillor is on the case to get it put back right.

I think lots of old people just don't see the need to respect young people. They can't seem to see that respect is a two way street.