Ding and Ditch

Anybody else having problems with kids pulling a ding and ditch? Really can't wait until school starts. These kids really seem to be bored. Had one incident at 9:40 Wednesday night and I caught three youths (probably the same ones) about to do it again at 9:00 PM tonight. At least they were polite when I confronted them.

 

I agree....It's time for these kids to get back to school....haven't had the problem you're stating...but neighbors had their cars and house egged.

 

I can one up you on that. How about this afternoon I witnessed four teenage boys rolling a couch on their skateboards down ridgeway and then claiborne parkway. Watch them grow up and invent the cure for cancer or be awarded the pulitzer prize.......oh the humanity, isn't karma a swift kick in the tukas?

 

Now the question is ... where did that couch wind up ?? Hopefully at someone's house, and not in a ditch !!

 

I saw 7 or 8 teenage boys tucked up under the Greenway overpass on Broadlands Blvd. I had just driven across the unpaved portion of road, past St. Theresa's, past Overland park, then crossed under the Greenway, then turned right into Safeway, instead of left onto Demott. You know where I'm talking about? There are a TON of rocks there and I was just WAITING for one of those boys to toss one my direction. Maybe they saw me looking at them, or maybe I misjudged their intentions, but it never happened, thankfully.

 

Oh my goodness ding dong ditch! I think the cops need to be called. My children would never do such a thing! Would yours?

 

And this is a BIG part of the problem. No one thinks their kid would ever do something like this (swimmfamily...this is not directed at you, just a statement in general).
Obviously, someone's kids are!!!

 

Maybe they are West Virginia fans and are saiving it for a couch burning after a big win!

 

ding dong ditch or ring and run is the stupidest prank ever- i'm glad i'm not on crutches anymore. it's harmless but inconsiderate, especially if you are a parent who has just gotten a cranky newborn to sleep...

i say we stick nasty wads of bubble gum under all of the teens skateboards, and change all of the settings on their x box and playstation controllers... one stupid prank deserves another! even better- coat the doorbell with castor oil- let their stinky finger rat them out to their parents on whose been ringing and running!

***I am just KIDDING and not advocating revenge on the children of this community. unless they REALLY deserve it... lol***

being a ring and run victim is the price we pay for living in the burbs. it's better than vanadlism or random bullets, right?

 

Go Mountaineers. When is the bonfire? I'll bring the Keg. I am a Virginia Tech fan and am happy the Mountianeers stomped those Wahoos.

 

swimfamily - ring and run is not a problem, except that it shows a lack of respect for other people. But kids will be kids and yeah, I'm sure we have all done something similar.

What concerns me is the lack of attention parents give to it (I don't know you so I won't point fingers). A simple prank that is ignored or laughed at by parents then has the potential to turn into a joy ride in a loaner car which leads to trying to outrun a police officer, flying through a neighborhood, barely missing a mother and her child and crashing into the woods after taking down a safety railing (which took many many many months to replace). Hey - funny prank! Too bad my wife and child were home with cops in our yard guns drawn.

Starting to understand the concern here - it is not the prank but lack of parents controlling children these days.

Sure I did pranks as a kid - better believe I paid dearly at home when word got back....and I learned my lesson.


Still beats a flaming bag of poo!!!!

 

I recently watched as a kid took something from another kid and wouldn't give it back right in front of his/her mother. The mother asked her child to return the item and the kid ignored her. The mother then continued a conversation with another mother while the other kid was pleading for his/her item to be returned. The mother ignored the situation for a full five minutes - I counted - before she finally took the item away from her child and returned it to the rightful owner.

Does anyone else see a problem with this? I saw this kid as the future neighborhood vandel. You don't have to preach disrespect to teach disrespect!

 

You've got to be kidding me! Over the summer we called the cops b/c 7 boys were walking around our property at 11:34PM on a Tuesday night (our dogs and other security devices alerted us to the kids on the property). We called the cops b/c one of the boys broke into our car (we watched from the second story bathroom). It turned out that these kids were drunk, had drugs and other various items. This is a nice neighborhood for goodness sake's and if you are going to do something that stupid, don't do it in the same neighborhood (a few streets away) where you live.

The cops told me he was 14 and your dang straight that we ARE pressing charges (we go to court next month).

But here is the kicker; his mom showed up at our front door a few days later (w/ her kid who broke into our car) @ 9:41PM (THE NERVE) with her car in OUR DRIVEWAY!

She was demanding that we drop the charges, the kid never apologized, she wouldn't leave so we called the cops AGAIN...what a great neighbor! You have no idea that your kid is our breaking and entering and then you show up to the house that he had such little respect for making demands. It took every ounce of strength (and my hubby holding me back) not to lay into her and her parenting skills.

So breaking into our car is the least of this kids problems. That night the MOM and the kid were given a do not tresspass order. Private property is private regardless if you are a kid or not.

 

Probably the same type of parent who will lay into the principal at the high school because the math teacher had the nerve to give "my little Johnny a D. Just because he didn't do any of his homework ! My Johnny doesn't deserve that, and I'll sue if he doesn't get a passing grade."

 

good for you pea- I'm glad you are holding that kid accountable since apparently his own mother won't. what a horrible message she is sending.

i have come to the realization that our job as parents isn't just raising good kids, it's raising good ADULTS. those incosiderate people who have no regard for the rules, exhibit anti-social behaviors, drive, walk and talk they they are the ONLY ones in the road/room/restaurant... I'd bet a million bucks they were parented the way Neil describes above.

all we can do is police ourselves and brainwash- um- train- er- TEACH our own children how to behave, and hope they get it right when we aren't looking.

 

What Joseph Maloney saw may be de rigueur parenting for this generation. What will raise eyebrows on the playground is the parent who disciplines his/her child. I've noticed many a time other parents giving the evil eye to a parent putting a child in time out.

Parents have a tremendous amount of pressure to turn out perfect children and there is so much competitive parenting going on. It's as if disciplining a child in public is an open admission that your child is not perfect. I also think parents in this generation view their children as much more fragile than previous generations.

Perhaps discipline has become a dirty word. I just know the parents who aren't setting limits for their children have an unenviable path to travel in the future.

 

The best metaphor I can come up with is that these parents are like a chess player who only thinks one move ahead. You will never win a game of chess without thinking many moves ahead, and you will likely have serious problems with your children if you do not hold them accountable for their actions in the short run.

Some parents can't see that letting Johnny receive that "D" and the consequences, may make him do better in the future. Similiarly, if your child is drinking and vandalizing property, his long term outcome will likely be better if he suffers the consequences of his actions.

When my kids are older, if they ever choose to do something so stupid, I hope neighbors will hold them accountable, both in the eyes of the authorities and in the eyes of the neighborhood parents.

Bear

 

Hopefully it will come up in court where these minors got the alcohol and drugs. Alcohol from a parents fridge maybe?

 

I have seen something in my area similar to what Jaxmanjoe mentioned. I wonder if it was the same child.

I have specifically told my neighbors to tell me if my children do something wrong. I have even told them that they are allowed to tell my children when the children do something wrong. Finally, I have even given my children timeouts in front of others if they mis-behave. Sometimes the embarassment of getting disciplined in public leaves a bigger message.

 

Diciplin has definately changed over the years. If I had pulled half the stuff my kids have (mostly mouthing off) to my parents I would be 10' under. Now a'days if you even look at you're kid the wrong way, you're *** is hauled off to Family Court.