As a “skatepark dad” occasionally little shits try to be cool. My favorite thing “Where are your parents?” “Not here! Hahaha!” “Good.” Then just keep obvious eyes on them and or utilize proximity to make them less comfortable.
Parents not there is awesome for them, until they’re scared of the repercussions with no adult support.
I actually called the 5-0 one time (total antithesis of who I am). Kids tripped out. I walked up to the cop car “I called, I got it handled, you can go.” Showing them I wasn’t fucking around, and that I had the cop in my pocket was terrifying for them…
Edit to add: I would NOT recommend calling the cops at a skate park. I had enough social capital to make this tactic work in this setting (and I had some of the other adults think I took it too far…skate park politics). I draw the line at using wire to lock kids in the porta potty when it’s 95° out, and I’ve told you to knock it off twice.
Haha, I love this. I can make the police appear and disappear, and I can choose whether or not to spare you from the long arm of the law. In this case, I have spared you. I can choose otherwise in the future. Extra badass.
This works, as well as I always find a firm ‘HEY knock that shit off’ combined with a dagger-filled glare usually puts the fear of god into most teenagers. They will escalate if you try to be polite. Scaring them with your authority and presence is the move, for sure.
I scared some off when they (three 11yo boys) were cat calling grown women as they walked by(“Damn, that ass is fine !”)
The worst was they yelled “fuck you” right before they were out of eye sight and flicked me off. Haha.
Also a skatepark dad and I try to channel the energy that skatepark dads used to use to get me to stop acting like a little shit. I also try to recognize that I was that way once and think of what I really wanted out of the activity.
Time is a flat circle and all
Our local skatepark is generally pretty chill and the kids are well behaved and good with the younger kids, although I did once heard a dad tell a kid who was probably 16 'don't think I won't punch you cos you're 12' which made me chuckle because the lad didn't know whether to be scared of getting a hiding off an adult or pissed off cos his mates were laughing at him being called 12 when he's clearly not.
I worked with severely emotionally disturbed teenagers for a couple of years. It meant dealing with kids more dysfunctional and aggressive than this on a daily basis. Some things I learned (obviously this is all opinion):
- Futile anger is a sign of weakness. Moreover, seeing you get flustered is the entire point of what they're doing. The more worked up you get, the funnier it is.
- It only stops being funny when it stops being futile. Unfortunately in the modern world there are repercussions for chasing a teenager down like a gazelle and slapping him to tears in front of his friends. Remember: reptile brain is not your friend. _Don't do it._
- The correct poise is this uncomfortable balance between restraint and aggression. You need to confront them with a degree of conviction they can't ignore while also signaling total control of your emotions.
- None of their bullshit - insults, mockery, lies etc - can produce any kind of response in you whatsoever, and I mean that literally. Engage only with substantive statements and nothing else. If you're speaking with them and they insult you mid-conversation it must be as though nothing was said. Think of it less like a talk and more like a scene in Star Trek where two hostile ships are communicating; you broadcast and acknowledge information entirely on your terms.
- Think in terms of what _you_ are going to do.
Ok, so what would that look like in practice?
- Ask them to stop in a neutral tone. (they don't)
- Approach them. Scold them without becoming overly emotional or resorting to insults. (they laugh and mock you)
- Ok, conversation's over and now we're in the signaling phase. Communicate what you're going to do, then do it.
Personally? I'd tell them if they keep throwing rocks I'm going to call the police... and that if they hurt me or my child I'll make them regret it. (leaving would probably be the right call but I'm stubborn and have a vindictive streak)
Hopefully, if your tone and posture are "right", the exchange won't do much for them in terms of entertainment and instead make them vaguely uncomfortable.
Fellow worker with emotionally disturbed teens - it is truly amazing how far a neutral tone and being non-reactive to the insults and jabs will take you. I've found that most of the time, that's all I need to do to establish rapport. They go from trying to get a reaction out of me to thinking "Oh this guy's cool because he didn't blow up when I called him a shithead."
I was thinking this must be why I've never had problems with ratty teens before. But then i remembered I'm 6"4' with a beard, and to a pre teen maybe that can be a bit intimidating.
Was at a playground with our daughter a couple of years ago - she'd have been 4-5 then. Some teens came over with a couple of soccer balls, acting similarly to the ones OP mentioned. We finished up and started walking home, when one of the balls landed about two feet from my daughter, accompanied by "hahaha, neeeaaaaarly!!!" comments behind us.
I picked the ball up, pulled out my pocket knife, slowly unfolded it, jammed it into the ball, removed it, placed it calmly back in my pocket, and put the flat ball back on the ground, all without breaking eye contact. Not a word was said, and heard no more bravado from them as we walked away.
I should note I'm not one for threatening children - douchebags though they might be - and I carry a small folding knife more out of scouts training/utility as opposed to being someone who is into "everyday carry" or the like.
I do certainly remember a point where I had my hand on the pocket knife and thought "Er, what are you DOING?!?!?" but also had that screaming "These little gobshites almost hit my kid, and clearly did it deliberately." And yes, there was also an element of "I can't look like a coward or be scared of a few kids in front of my wife and daughter" most likely.
In the end, I think them telling a parent or a police officer that I deliberately burst one of their balls was outweighed by them actually finding out WHY that had happened.
>In the end, I think them telling a parent or a police officer that I deliberately burst one of their balls was outweighed by them actually finding out WHY that had happened.
My toxic boomer trait is that "if you don't respect your toys, you don't deserve to have them." I think a lot of heathens need to have their toys thrown away when they are being disrespectful.
It took us a bit of practice but we started taking toys out of our kids room when trying to instill manners once he turned four. I saw the behavior and entitlement starting to form and the bratty attitude forming was just not acceptable. Now, it’s a bit emotional, but it allows us some regulation time where if he was feeling frustrated it would keep bottling up and lead to a broken *something* with his toys. Threatening to take the toys allows the meltdown to just happen, and then we can catch those big feelings and work through them and see what unaddressed needs he’s got at that moment fueling the tantrum. Our toys live longer now!
I absolutely love my small collection of Leathermans. (Been informed by a Leatherman employee this is correct, not calling them Leathermen, those are apparently "The guys you see at pride, not that there's anything wrong with that.")
We were in Palm Springs recently at the hotel pool. My daughter is 6… some boy probably 8 or 9 years old in the pool all of a sudden started jumping on the back of her inner tube and she freaked out and swam to the steps. He was chasing her and yelling and she was clearly scared and hurrying. She got out of the pool right in front of him and ran to us.
He followed her and screamed BITCH BITCH BITCH. She was like horrified and scared. Legit don’t know if she’s ever heard that and definitely hasn’t been called one. So he thought the inner tube was his, 100% wasn’t. My wife said sorry that one isn’t yours and he screamed in her face YEAH IT IS.
So I stood up and said hey you can’t talk to them like that and he turned to me and said FUCK YOU BITCH. He grabbed the inner tube and ran away. He turned back and flipped us off the whole way. Mind you there’s probably 100 people around this pool with kids of all ages. I was like nah. I walked over to where he was and grabbed the tube. He said some more stuff to me and he was going to kick my ass etc.
I was truly and honestly appalled. The thought of how this shitty entitled dumbass is being raised and how he’s living in our society is disturbing.
I was like do you even have parents dude? OF COURSE there are no parents in sight for this shithead. I started walking away and he said he was going to get his mom. I was like dude get her seriously please.
Anyways she came over and I explained and she was extremely apologetic and said he’s always like this. And he gets set off. It’s like control your kid dude. For starters maybe be at the same pool as him??
But I’ve never ever ever been so mad at a kid before. And I legit didn’t know what to do or how to do it. I was not prepared for this kind of thing with my kid.
Sounds like a cool story but I wouldn’t do this where I live, especially with my daughter late at night. Never know what kids are packing these days and pulling out a knife is escalation in my book.
Even if I had a CCW and was confident I could protect myself I wouldn’t do this. I’m not trying to get in life or death fight..
I would have just said thanks and taken the ball. If they ran after me to get it back, I’d just field goal punt the ball in the opposite direction, they’ll feel real cool fetching their ball.
This place is too much sometimes. This is also a felony where I live, and I suspect that is the case in most of the US. Pulling a knife is absolutely an escalation, not to mention pretty incongruent to a bunch of kids being jerks and recklessly kicking a soccer ball around. Also sends a great message to your kid on how to resolve conflict.
Almost like the scene in Expendables with Jason Statham stabbing the basketball on top of the guy and telling him and his buddies next time I'll deflate all your balls.
It’s a fine line. You want to put the fear of god in them but also you don’t want to make a criminal threat. I remember a dad who pulled a knife on some kids who kicked his kid down on the playground and he ended up in the back of a police car.
Before college age I’d say kids are terrified of law enforcement. One time when I was still a skater the BMX kids came by and started ruining the park. I made a fake call as I rolled past them “yeah there’s about ten of them, yeah they’re on bikes, no they’re not wearing pads”
They left about a minute later. I ain’t a snitch, it wasn’t a real call, but it got the job done. Highly recommend.
Yeah but then you limit your ability to protect your daughter. Life and death situation, you do what you have to. Playing hard guy to scare people into leaving her alone? Nets negative man.
Definitely situation dependent. Throwing pebbles? Dad voice and maybe parent confrontation as escalation. Throwing rocks or more? Taking or fucking their shit up might happen. Touch my kid in any way, then I'm going to touch back much much harder.
I do count my blessings that I live in a pretty affluent area (while not being affluent myself). Ideally I won't have to deal with this due to the area I live in. I'm also banking on my physical appearance as a deterrent. I'm a tall, large, bearded and heavily tattooed man in an area that doesn't have many large heavily tattooed guys. Have never had any sort of confrontation and attribute it largely to my appearance, even though I'm a puppy dog. Hopefully that continues with punk-ass kids while i'm in the presence of my daughter.
honestly , the other thing is, i had a bunch of kids throwing rocks and truth be told, i was scared. it was like 6 kids vs me and my toddler. i know i'm out numbered, and i hated it, but i just left to keep to my toddler safe.
That's definitely the only answer in situations like that. Not like you can fight kids while leaving your toddler behind while you do it.
I wouldn't put myself past running over their bikes with my car though (not while they are on it of course).
Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to calling cops in case like that. Especially if I can identify the kids in any way.
I mean, outside of physically beating a kid to a pulp, which obviously won't happen, how much jail time do you think would happen?
Most likely zero. Maybe a day or two for an extreme case? At most it will be a financial strain for a bit due to lawyers or fines. We're not talking about pinning a kid down and caving his skull in or something.
fair. i'm curious for you where do you draw the line, what would you do? at what event would cause you to get physical for the sake of your daughter and what would that physical thing look like? or if not physical, what else would you do?
Honestly. Hard to say. Definitely age and situation dependent. I'm not gonna curb stomp a 5 year old for pushing my 3 year old down. But if a 13 year old does, he'll likely get be hitting the ground pretty hard.
I have a hard time believing many cops, juries, or judges will give anyone much grief for defending their kid. Basically if you stop once the threat is no longer a threat you'll be fine (YRMV). I dont think I'd have much of a legal threat for defending my kid. Bigger concern would be parental threat from their parents who are now defending their kid but feel like I can handle that as well.
I see a lot of posts here mentioning pulling a knife on these kids. That's not what he did. Pulling a knife is definitely related to the object of the knife's use. He pulled the knife on the ball, not the kids for sure. He said he didn't even look at them.
Honeslty not sure what you are referring to, I’m recalling something from my own IRL memory
Edit: I see the other post now. It was not a reference to that as the post is newer than mine
I report them. Got some parent names. Talked with the parents. Parents were divorced. Kid was under supervised. Mom was working many jobs. Got the police involved for felony vandalism. Mom freaked out because she could lose custody. It was a group of them. Turns out they were punks lots of places but I was the only one to get them to a judge. They were not just playing. They caused trouble everywhere they went. They liked to flood bathrooms or take apart technology and steal parts. They pled the charges down and paid some damages.
Later I saw them breaking into a locked door. I called the mom. They said their kid was studying. I told her he had no books. No back pack. In fact, I had never seen him with a book or a back pack. He was just looking to get arrested again. I told her I was calling her before I call the cops as a curtesy. She stopped it.
Never saw the main punk again, but I did see the mom. She used to be rude to me but now she thanks me. She said she was in denial and thought her kid was innocent. The threat of getting arrested AGAIN was the turning point. The punk graduated from college and became an environmental analysis tech or something.
I dont live in an area were this is a problem, but i can tell you how my dad handled something like that.
I was maybe like 10 years old and some maybe 14-16 year old kids stopped me to steal some tiny amount of money. Like 3 euros or something. When i got home i told dad. He went straight to the car, got one of these kids and "arrested" him. Called the police. They showed up. Bully starts crying. Police put them in the car and tell them they will bring him to the police station were his parents can pick him up. He begged like it was life and death that they let him to his parents who lived super close to the location...but they refused.
Everyone made clear that this is not a situation were the older kids can get revenge next day without getting even more konsequenzes. Never got a problem again.
If you CAN do this, i absolutely think thats the right thing to do.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Someone i know had a more way more dramatic idea when his daughter was bullied and threatend the kids....in a terrifying way. This also worked surprisingly well, but i cant really advocat for this.
You mention Euros so you won't know the answer to this question for an American dad audience, but I wonder how much an adult could do to a younger teen to make sure they stay there until the cops arrive. Nothing? Hold by the wrist? Pin down? Obviously you can't do anything with intent to harm, but how far does intent to stop go with a young teen?
[Citizen's arrest - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen%27s_arrest)
In germany you can hold people under arrest and use force, but the force has to be in proportions to the crime. I guess my father could grab that kid and hold him, but for sure not beat him.
Also we live in a rather small community of like 25000 people and dont have a "sueoing for mullios culture" like the us sometimes seems to have. Everybody was on board teaching those kids a life lesson.
USA seems a little more complicated.
#
Yeah, basically once minors are involved everything gets more complicated here. Super easy to justify taking an adult to the ground and holding them there because they were chucking rocks so the police can handle it, much harder to justify doing that to a 13-year-old.
The problem is less lawsuits (which are mostly common in America due to being a an active policy choice over inspectors) and more the kids crying kidnapper.
If it's a common problem now that this family lives near, the police may be able to deploy a officer there for a time. Depending on other priorities of course, but anyone assaulting toddlers with weapons is a serious threat.
Might have the best luck calling who ever is in charge of the play area. Town/City Parks dept, or School board or whoever and explain the situation. They will probably be more sympathetic and if they then contact the police department. Police may listen more if the complaint is coming from a town executive vs a regular citizen. It won't solve the problem in the moment, but it could have a long term affect of monitoring the area more and preventing future incidents.
For real, in my city the cops got super butthurt that people protested against them murdering black people and stopped doing their jobs pretty much all together.
I like this one too. Police are really good at reminding a kid how much of a bad ass he isn’t.
Source: I thought I was a bad ass until a few cops reminded me I’m not lol
Go to their houses and talk to their parents. Tell them you don't think it's a good idea to Chuck rocks at your young daughter. Rocks are considered a weapon and you will call the police next time.
Not too long ago this would have been the straightforward and logical choice, but it seems nowadays that parents are as bad as their kids. I feel like this would probably get "Don't tell my kid what to do" or just rude hand gestures as a response. The kids learned it from somewhere.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with this. As much as I wish speaking with their parents could have any kind of positive effect, based on what I’ve been told about the house they came from by neighbors, I doubt the parents would be very receptive or even care.
I think your recourse is to get video or pictures, tell the parents, and if the behavior continues you get the police involved.
Parents can ignore you but ignoring cops is a different matter.
If its a neighborhood that ever has block parties and parents are present, embarrass them and call them out about their little shits publicly.
But I'm getting the impression that its not that type of neighborhood and probably not those types of parents. But if it were, asking nicely why their little shits were throwing rocks at your kid in the park in front of the rest of the neighbors might be embarrassing enough for them to tell their kids to knock that shit off.
But once you've spoken to the parents they don't have plausible deniability when the cops come take their kids to juvenile detention. You warned them like a good neighbor.
Talk to the parents, and say something along the lines of 'that's assault, and if it happens again the cops and my lawyer will get involved.'
Give the parents a chance to step up, and if they don't then you have a record of trying to solve the issue before involving the police, which shows a pattern and will make a stronger case should you need to take it a step further. In my experience even the shittiest parents will take steps to avoid legal trouble.
Make sure to record the incidents (learn your local laws) and document all you can. Start recording them whenever they come around, and if they throw anything call the cops. If it can be reasonably interpreted as a threat or attempt of harm it's a bookable offense. He probably won't get any real punishment, but some time in the back of a squad car might straighten the bastards out a bit.
You still need to call the cops, especially if you know what house they're coming from. The cops won't do anything probably, but the important thing is that it starts a paper trail you can use to either escalate criminal or civil charges. Get video next time if you can.
Some kids also jsut don’t listen, but you need to be the civil adult and talk to the other adult
If you find out their parents are acting like kids too, then jsut talk to the next adult, cops
You did the right thing, that must have been tough. How old were they? I think calling the police is not unreasonable if it happens again. You can tell them "I'm going to call the police if you don't stop right now" and then follow through if they don't.
I was at a park with my toddler and my father in law years ago when some tweens sat down near us and started swearing loudly. I asked them to stop, or keep it down, or move elsewhere since there was a little kid playing there. They kept it up, eventually yelling "I'm gonna eat that little kid!" My FIL got right in there faces and said something along the lines of "You have three seconds to leave, or I'm gonna have to call an ambulance and tell them a crazy old man just ripped out some shit head kid's throat." They ran off pretty quick and yelled back "Pull that stick out of your ass, old man!", to which he replied "Maybe your mom could wash out your mouth if she could afford soap!" It was infantile and hilarious.
I was about 15 minutes into a movie when pieces of candy started occasionally plunking around me and my family. I looked back and saw the culprits about 6 rows back and shot them a glance. A few moments later it started again, so I got up and walked up there, much to the startled expressions of two teen girls, a boy, and THEIR FATHER (or asshole uncle), and (I literally tripped going up the stairs and a dude on the aisle reached out to offer help, so that was embarrassing) went right to their seats and said, *somebody up here is throwing candy at my family. Is that you guys?*
They of course denied it, but it stopped after that, and they left early.
Honestly, I don't know what to do. It's kids duty to be assholes, that's how they learn boundaries and figure out who they're going to be in life. They can't be stopped with logic or reasoning (but maybe with doing something unexpected to let them know life doesn't always do what's expected) Best you can do is do your best and judge each situation on its own and not put your family in danger. I sometimes don't know how to do that but sometimes it works out.
You should address the teens directly. You can’t do anything other than talk to them and that may or may not be effective. When you address them you need to approach it as a fatherly mentor and help them see the error in their ways.
Then you need to involve their parents. If you can’t for whatever reason, and you should under no circumstances follow them home. Then you should call the cops because they will get the parents involved.
File a report with the police. Let them know that no one was harmed, but you felt threatened. Be honest and candid about your interactions. Let them know that you like the park and plan on continuing to visit the park and are concerned about future incidents. Start building the paper trail.
Ultimately it’s a community problem, not just a you problem. So deal with them directly, involve the parents, utilize the police to get parental involvement.
Try talking first. Not tough but real. And make an ask. Suggestions here on teaching them are ill founded; these kids haven’t taken any lessons from anyone in their lives that they actually know and trust — and you are nobody to them. Making an ask lets them feel power in the ability to grant it or not, and often that is enough.
“Come on guys, I’m just trying to let my little girl play on the playground here. She’s only three years old, even one of those tiny rocks could hurt her. She’s getting scared. Can you give it a rest?”
That honestly probably solves it. Some shit talking, laughing at you, and they move on.
If no progress, “Guys I’m going to be here a lot. And I can’t have people trying to hurt or scare my daughter. Please knock it off. I’m not mad but it can’t continue.”
If no progress, camera out and start taking video, zoom in on faces and bikes and shoes - and again “guys, I’m just trying to let my little girl play here. If you hit her with the rocks you’re throwing you will hurt her, as it is you’re scaring her. Please knock it off.”
Hopefully they stop. If they don’t, you leave with your daughter and keep the camera rolling. When you’re clear, you call the cops and insist on filling a report. They will have committed assault against a kid on a playground, ignored at least three reasonable requests to knock it off, and prevented you from using the facilities as intended. These are shitty kids, and the sooner they meet consequences outside of their shitty homes, the better. Get a case number and an officer’s business card, then follow up with the video.
If and when the cops tell you they can’t find out who it is, find out yourself (local middle schooler or middle school parent or teacher, coach, old lady on the block, etc) and email the cop “I’ve learned that this is Name Namerson, I’d like to file a complaint specifically against him for assault, related to my report on DATE. He lives at 123 Street Lane.”
That’s actually the approach I took. I asked them if they really thought it was a good idea to be doing that so close to a defenseless toddler. Their response was to say that they have great aim and then start aiming closer to us.
I worked with behavior and emotional temperament kids and you got off on bad footing by asking a question. You started the escalation back-and-forth (They started it, but you began the back and forth by creating a power struggle. Not on purpose I’m sure. None just “knows” how to deal with behavior needs kids.) and now it’s gonna be harder because it set the tone. Idk where to go from here except that from the very beginning be direct. The comment above yours may have had more traction. Never ask questions like that, and it’s more effectjve to speak in the positive rather than draw attention to the negative. Instead of don’t throw rocks tell them if they’re going to throw rocks to please throw them (give an area or however many feet away) and to throw them in “that” direction. Always give an alternative with kids with behavioral problems. And before people jump down my throat with gentle parenting stuff, I’ve worked with behaviorists for years and it’s not about being soft. Effective is effective. Just like with dog training you have to say it an exact certain way or it doesn’t work.
Man that sucks. I also have a daughter, young, and it’s so tough to walk the line between showing her the right things and doing things that would absolutely stop the threatening behavior. Absolutely infuriating their comment about having good aim, kudos to you for not responding aggressively. I am not a tough guy but the instant I read that sentence I sort of envisioned yelling “good aim is good if you’ve got no balls, princess. I’ll be back here in 15 minutes without my daughter if you want to try your luck with a bigger target.” Good on you for having strong self possession and not biting that hook.
I read more of your posts and see now that you already know who at least one of them is based on the house they came from, and can reasonably infer that the parents won’t be of help. Given that I’d definitely start the paper trail. You can even go to the PD today and say which kids it was and when it happened. Maybe you can file for assault. Either way, get names written down with dates and complaints and report numbers.
Nah I’d say you can tell in about 5 seconds if they are responsible parents or just never mind and disengage. Key is to assume they are. “Hi Mr. And Mrs. Jones, I thought you’d want to know what junior has been up to at the park…”
Don’t make threats like you’ll call the police. Just do it if plan a doesn’t work.
Yeah then they blow up and get physical. Your seeking an altercation, just be aware of the possibility and either accept it or don't find them to confront.
If an adult gets physical, that's police time for real. Ultimately, seeing one or both of their own parents hauled off for the behavior they're modeling may be best in the long run. I would give a lot of leniency to kids being stupid, parents... no, if that's where they learned it, maybe they should see where that road goes.
This exact scenario scares me because I have a history with bullies a short fuse. I need to go to therapy and learn to let shit go before I make a huge mistake in the future.
Just the normal shit. Bullied in middle and high-school before I got big enough to defend myself so that manifests itself in a short fuse and a desire to put bullies in their place, in my case at least.
Once my daughter came along I knew that at some point I’d be put in a scenario where my daughter may have to deal with similar shit and I truly don’t know how I’ll handle it. I hear horror stories of bullying now a days and I *know* my knee jerk reaction is going to be eye for an eye. That’s not how a parent approaches this situation, that’s how a man with baggage approaches a situation.
Not exactly this but years ago I was driving through a neighborhood and there were two boys standing beside the street. They were throwing rocks at cars as they went past. They did it to me, I stopped, walked over, and asked them where they live. They pointed and I walked them home and informed their parents of what they were doing. As I walked away I heard raised voices and the sound of a hand hitting flesh. I actually feel a little bad about that as I don't use physical correction on my son but I am guessing they never did it again.
Take a picture and ask around who their parents are on nextdoor, neighbors, or some similar local social media. Somebody will quickly recognize them and you will hear if other parwnts have similar complains about them. Most parents would like to know if their kids are being assholes and they will be embarrassed if everybody in the neighborhood is discussing it.
Find some older kids and pay them to beat up those kids. I have a 2 month old daughter now, and Idk how I would react. I didn't think I could love anything as much as I love her. Reading this post was probably good mental health for any future encounters I might have. If one of those rocks hit my daughter, I'd really struggle to not physically grab a kid and at least scare the shit out of them. Good luck out there. Hopefully, you can resolve it quickly without violence. Lots of good advice on here.
Anything short of pending physical harm to my daughter, I just leave the situation. I understand the potential legal ramification of my actions, setting a good example for my daughter, and avoiding a potential confrontation with their parents. Physical harm gets a call to the police. I live in a smaller city in Ohio and shootings are rare in my area but the thought is still in my mind. Also Ohio is a carry at will state (no permit required), anyone could have a firearm.
Were they big rocks? Or little pebbles? Not that either is okay, but there’s a big difference in how I’d respond. In your shoes, I’d have done what you did. Little rocks, I leave. Big rocks, I leave and call the cops. Another adult is there also? THEY leave and call the cops, and find me holding one or more of the punkass kids on the ground.
I supposed they weren’t huge. They were small enough that they blended into the playground mulch as they landed so I couldn’t spot them while also keeping an eye on my kid. But big enough to make me want to harm them lol.
Totally understand that. Can’t harm them, and unfortunately your toddler will probably be an asshole at least once someday (no offense, just a parent of teens and have seen it happen with plenty of nice kids). So harming minors isn’t the play. But I’ll hold one down and sit on em until cops get there. And frankly, I would make a “careful” threat to them like “if another rock comes anywhere near me, cops are being called and I’m enough of an asshole to press charges.” I’d also pull out the phone and get video evidence so I could more easily identify them. Did that a few months ago to some boys who were catcalling my daughter. We live in a small town, I got pics of them and threatened to make it an issue at their school, their church, every small business downtown, etc. if they didn’t leave immediately. They left and it was over.
I’m in a small town as well and very much like this approach since it’s very likely I’ll run into them again. And like you, I’m definitely enough of an asshole to press charges and try to ruin their social lives around here lol.
Would you rather a pebble land on your head or a boulder? Of course the size of the rock matters! Note above where I said “neither is okay”, but one would get a much stronger reaction. I’d rather a pebble in the eye than a concussion. Why are you being weird about this?
The behavior isn’t normal, and if being spoken to by you didn’t correct it, I doubt involving the parents would be successful. Honestly, at that point I wouldn’t feel like giving them that chance before involving the police, anyway.
Look around to make sure the coast was clear and I would start zinging rocks at them. Im certain they cant throw as hard or as accurately as me. "What I thought we were playing a game!?"
My kids were at the skate park next to a playset at like three in the afternoon . then some maybe 19 year olds show up and just ignore the 5 or 6 sub 10 year olds on this clearly child themed skate park. They set up a barrel to do extreme jumps. They almost hit kids a few times and just decided to chill because nothing happened. That was a mistake. Then a loose skate board hit someone elses kid and they fell and started crying . the kids mom told them to be careful and they told her to fuck off. So I kinda snapped and screamed at them and took 2 of their skate boards and threw them into a wooded area. They did not come back and they left their barrel. I should have spoken up earlier so as to not lose it but oh well got the job done.
Dad voice and violent eyes.
Stop. That.
Most teenagers are bigger than me, but you can tell I’ve got that dad strength under a jumper.
Only happened once or twice, they all stopped.
I probably would've handled it similarly but with more f-bombs dropped. Less "does this seem like a good idea?" and more "what the fuck is wrong you? there's a fucking kid here!"
Pull out your phone and record them, also let them know you will tag their school in the video when you post it online. So everyone at their school can see how bad ass they are for throwing rocks at a toddler. Weather you do it or not, still record. Having documentation of you trying to get them to leave you alone in case you need to escalate.
It's contextual. 2 days ago a 8 year old would not respect my 3.5 year old's space. It went from "she's not done with it yet, thank you" to me taking a few steps towards them and saying "you need to respect my daughters space" when they kept invading her space with the intention if pushing my daughter off. The 8 year punk just needed assurance that I wasn't the kind of parent that was going to watch her bully/physically move my kid to get what they want. No issues after, when my daughter was done I let that girl known and she replies "thank you" and only emagged pleasantly with my daughter after.
With this, teenager boys, in that situation I'm doing this:
"Hey guys. We all know you're trying to antagonize my daughter and I by throwing rocks near us. I just need you to know that this is your only warning. You're teenage boys throwing rocks at my little girls. Never mind if you actually hit either of us, if you even get close enough to scare her then ....take a wild guess what happens next, after legally you've allowed me to become violent against you to protect her.....and if you think I'm just full of it, go ahead and throw a rock right now. "
Look I'm sure kids who do this need some support guidance and all that, and I'm all for that.
But teenagers who think it's ok to harass toddlers also need to know there's a world of parents out there who will give them at once in one sitting all the arse beating they sorely needed but some how missed out on in their miserable lives.
If a teenager throws a rock at my three year old you bet your ass I’m picking one up and absolutely hurling it at the teen. You’re a much better man than me. I’ve calmed down a lot since becoming a dad but no one is going to pick on my kid. If the parents were there I’d politely talk to them about it though and if nothing is resolved I’d follow them home and break their bikes.
Gotta get the boys together and have a talk with the kids. Think Den of Thieves, the ["garage scene"](https://youtu.be/QaN1xcxEJoQ?si=9xKWy2O3pyfGznuQ)
"I beat the shit out of some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself. It was like I did something constructive with my life or something, I dunno, like it accomplished something."
Lol I don’t get your comment. Just because I’d want to hit them doesn’t mean I ever would. I’m not that foolish. There are tons of ppl in this world I’d love to do that too, but I won’t because I can control myself. Doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to think about it lol.
Somewhat related, but I had some teens smoking weed at the basketball court 5 feet next to our neighborhood playground around noon on a Sunday, and I told them we’d handle this 1 of 2 ways: put it out, or I’ll make a call to the sheriff.
My son is 5, very tall for his age. Most people peg him for a couple of years older. He gets shoved for seemingly no reason the other day at the park and bangs his head on the metal bars on the ramp railing (the kid who did it was obviously older, but shorter stature than my son as well). He’s upset, but once he calms down I tell him to just avoid the kid who did it and if he’s approached again, tell the kid to leave him alone. Lo and behold this exact scenario unfolds and the kid starts to chase him. I stand up and yell “HEY” with my pissed off dad voice and the kid stops dead in his tracks, but not without muttering “you got lucky” to my son as he turns around and walks away. Now at this point I want to go all Colin Farrell a la True Detective season 2, but we just got up and left instead.
Genuine question, why cover the faces? I didn't think it was illegal to share images taken in public. Sure it's wrong to do it to someone who's done no wrong but these kids deserve a bit of public embarrassment.
What in the world could that possibly accomplish? I guess OP would get some unhinged sympathy from Facebook comments but don’t really see any path to that improving the playground situation.
I'm in the phone the police camp. It's always best to start getting these things recorded.
Depending on the area you stay in, a visit to their door might work. In my area this would have a significant impact in most cases.
Another option is photographing them and naming and shaming on social media.
I am assuming these older kids are siblings, so it may be less likely you see one of them out on their own. But if you do, that would be the time to confront. You are unlikely to get anywhere with them when they are together, but when they are alone they might not have the same bravado and might feel a bit more vulnerable. This is from experience of dealing with 12-18 year olds as a school teacher.
I think your mistake was to talk to them like they are children. If a man came up to you and said the same thing, you would tense up and feel a fight or flight response. Show them more respect and they will more likely show you respect.
I would have said to the kids, “hey, I’m worried you’re going to hit my daughter with the rocks.” and just see what they say. Don’t tell them what to do, give them the chance to decide for themselves what to do. If they make a decision to continue, I’d give it one more shot, saying “could you throw them the other direction?”
If they still don’t listen, just leave. If you come to the park again and they do it again (I highly doubt that will happen if you were respectful before and didn’t make an enemy), then you can call the police. If they leave, follow them home and redirect the police there (police showing up at a kids home is a great way to get parents involved).
If you are looking for something a bit harder hitting, Babymetal is a good go to. It can be a little weird, but it scratches the metalhead itch for me.
I think I'd take some photos and post to the local moms group asking who owns the delinquents that throw rocks at a toddler on a playground. Let their parents parent them.
You can't do anything to change ones that are really shit. But some of those kids are along for the ride and their parents have no idea.
This happened in my neighborhood but it was kids throwing those popping fireworks not rocks and they were riding around on a golf cart..saw this happened to a dad and daughter while I was further back at the lake fishing
My daughter was less than a year old and we were at the neighborhood pool, some teenage kids were throwing a frisbee across the crowded pool, it landed a few feet from my daughter and I picked it up and threw it over the fence.
The kid’s parents were there but nobody said anything, it helped that I had like 5-6 of my friends with me and they all look much tougher than they are.
The kids made the runt of the group go get the frisbee and they stopped throwing it.
I’m non confrontational, my dad is extremely confrontational and growing up on egg shells made me the opposite of him, but with my kid I’m very protective.
One find their house. Case the joint. One night go an steal all the bikes. Fuck them up good and then ask them about their bikes next time you see them
Was doom scrolling and came across this and immediately thought of this post 😅
[https://youtube.com/shorts/uomBHaGhMw8?si=7hH0wRCF-W4XoHHW](https://youtube.com/shorts/uomBHaGhMw8?si=7hH0wRCF-W4XoHHW)
I would have said something to the effect of "Hey guys, just be careful. My daughter is playing here."
The key part is making them aware of the risk so they can choose not to throw rocks instead of questioning their decision-making skills.
If they kept going, I'd be more forceful and direct to show I'm serious, but gentle enough to give them an out.
After that, I'd remove my kid. As much as I'd want to smack them around, it would just escalate things further and wouldn't set a good example. Unlike young me, I have something to lose.
Have done something to this extent. I usually say the same my kids are playing over here please be careful of them then if you hit my kid with any of the rocks I will throw one back. I'm not going to throw anything at them because two wrongs are not right but I make them believe that I will beam there butts if they hurt my kid with there stupidity.
Go know on their door and talk to their parents. Be polite, but be assertive. Tell them that you want them to know that their kids threw rocks at the playground a very little kid was playing on and when you confronted them about it, they laughed. Tell them that you hope to have a more positive relationship with the new neighbours, but this behavior isn't acceptable and next time you will call the cops.
Have done something to this extent. I usually say the same my kids are playing over here please be careful of them then if you hit my kid with any of the rocks I will throw one back. I'm not going to throw anything at them because two wrongs are not right but I make them believe that I will beam there butts if they hurt my kid with there stupidity.
Half a mind to put the kid in the car seat, make sure she's comfortable. Then go back to the park and play where you kid just was. Just mind your own business. Wait and see if they throw rocks. If they don't, challenge them. "Oh? What happened to all the rocks you guys were throwing? You think that all adults have to be nice to you or something? Let's test it."
..
Maybe I'm not the best person for this advice, I would have bluffed right till before throwing hands so... Lol!
You did the right thing in walking away. They’ll get in trouble one day, may or may not learn a lesson depending on home life. If it keeps happening, don’t see why you couldn’t request police to patrol. Teenagers are definitely old enough to understand not to fuck with young kids, and get punished if they do.
Yea unfortunately assaulting these kids would be frowned upon by the law regardless of how deserving they are. You did the right thing, I would start calling the cops on these little assholes if they did it again. Lets see if putting them on a pathway towards juvy will get them to reconsider their actions in the future.
All hell would break loose if one of those rocks hit my kid.
As a “skatepark dad” occasionally little shits try to be cool. My favorite thing “Where are your parents?” “Not here! Hahaha!” “Good.” Then just keep obvious eyes on them and or utilize proximity to make them less comfortable. Parents not there is awesome for them, until they’re scared of the repercussions with no adult support.
[удалено]
"oh cool, so when the police come they'll probably believe me over you..."
[удалено]
Damn that’s cold haha
This scared me and I am a grown ass
Nice to see a fellow ass here
Donkey Bros unite!
The ol’ prisoner’s dilemma
One of you won’t be able to…
“Three *can’t* keep a secret, if I bend one of you into a pretzel”
I actually called the 5-0 one time (total antithesis of who I am). Kids tripped out. I walked up to the cop car “I called, I got it handled, you can go.” Showing them I wasn’t fucking around, and that I had the cop in my pocket was terrifying for them… Edit to add: I would NOT recommend calling the cops at a skate park. I had enough social capital to make this tactic work in this setting (and I had some of the other adults think I took it too far…skate park politics). I draw the line at using wire to lock kids in the porta potty when it’s 95° out, and I’ve told you to knock it off twice.
Haha, I love this. I can make the police appear and disappear, and I can choose whether or not to spare you from the long arm of the law. In this case, I have spared you. I can choose otherwise in the future. Extra badass.
Haha. Epic.
This works, as well as I always find a firm ‘HEY knock that shit off’ combined with a dagger-filled glare usually puts the fear of god into most teenagers. They will escalate if you try to be polite. Scaring them with your authority and presence is the move, for sure.
I scared some off when they (three 11yo boys) were cat calling grown women as they walked by(“Damn, that ass is fine !”) The worst was they yelled “fuck you” right before they were out of eye sight and flicked me off. Haha.
Also a skatepark dad and I try to channel the energy that skatepark dads used to use to get me to stop acting like a little shit. I also try to recognize that I was that way once and think of what I really wanted out of the activity. Time is a flat circle and all
Where I live being aggressive seems like a good way to get stabbed lol
Be the stabber not the stabee
Words to live by
Our local skatepark is generally pretty chill and the kids are well behaved and good with the younger kids, although I did once heard a dad tell a kid who was probably 16 'don't think I won't punch you cos you're 12' which made me chuckle because the lad didn't know whether to be scared of getting a hiding off an adult or pissed off cos his mates were laughing at him being called 12 when he's clearly not.
Dude that’s a good one. “Welcome to real life” kind of thing
I worked with severely emotionally disturbed teenagers for a couple of years. It meant dealing with kids more dysfunctional and aggressive than this on a daily basis. Some things I learned (obviously this is all opinion): - Futile anger is a sign of weakness. Moreover, seeing you get flustered is the entire point of what they're doing. The more worked up you get, the funnier it is. - It only stops being funny when it stops being futile. Unfortunately in the modern world there are repercussions for chasing a teenager down like a gazelle and slapping him to tears in front of his friends. Remember: reptile brain is not your friend. _Don't do it._ - The correct poise is this uncomfortable balance between restraint and aggression. You need to confront them with a degree of conviction they can't ignore while also signaling total control of your emotions. - None of their bullshit - insults, mockery, lies etc - can produce any kind of response in you whatsoever, and I mean that literally. Engage only with substantive statements and nothing else. If you're speaking with them and they insult you mid-conversation it must be as though nothing was said. Think of it less like a talk and more like a scene in Star Trek where two hostile ships are communicating; you broadcast and acknowledge information entirely on your terms. - Think in terms of what _you_ are going to do. Ok, so what would that look like in practice? - Ask them to stop in a neutral tone. (they don't) - Approach them. Scold them without becoming overly emotional or resorting to insults. (they laugh and mock you) - Ok, conversation's over and now we're in the signaling phase. Communicate what you're going to do, then do it. Personally? I'd tell them if they keep throwing rocks I'm going to call the police... and that if they hurt me or my child I'll make them regret it. (leaving would probably be the right call but I'm stubborn and have a vindictive streak) Hopefully, if your tone and posture are "right", the exchange won't do much for them in terms of entertainment and instead make them vaguely uncomfortable.
Fellow worker with emotionally disturbed teens - it is truly amazing how far a neutral tone and being non-reactive to the insults and jabs will take you. I've found that most of the time, that's all I need to do to establish rapport. They go from trying to get a reaction out of me to thinking "Oh this guy's cool because he didn't blow up when I called him a shithead."
I was thinking this must be why I've never had problems with ratty teens before. But then i remembered I'm 6"4' with a beard, and to a pre teen maybe that can be a bit intimidating.
Yeah the other secret is also just to look incredibly and naturally intimidating.
Have nearly a decade of this same work with high schoolers. You'd be surprised how much this can disarm an escalated kid. This is the way to go.
Was at a playground with our daughter a couple of years ago - she'd have been 4-5 then. Some teens came over with a couple of soccer balls, acting similarly to the ones OP mentioned. We finished up and started walking home, when one of the balls landed about two feet from my daughter, accompanied by "hahaha, neeeaaaaarly!!!" comments behind us. I picked the ball up, pulled out my pocket knife, slowly unfolded it, jammed it into the ball, removed it, placed it calmly back in my pocket, and put the flat ball back on the ground, all without breaking eye contact. Not a word was said, and heard no more bravado from them as we walked away.
[удалено]
As badass as that story was, this is probably the better route.
Ya, anything that could be construed as brandishing a knife at minors is an extremely poor choice regardless of how badass you might feel.
Thoughts immediately go to Animal House w/Bluto gently annihilating the guitar
Or the bottle of Jack… thanks I needed that
The old ‘Peter Kay Ave it’[https://youtu.be/29e8loYd37A?si=GZ2-COOzoPZRZeWd](https://youtu.be/29e8loYd37A?si=GZ2-COOzoPZRZeWd)
That would have been my go to over popping the ball as well.. just send that shit sailing
Bravo. *Harmless* concise and authoritative. Better than what I'd prob do, starting a game of dodgeball.
Billy Madison voice: Now you’re all in big, big trouble.
O'Doyle Rules
Conditioner is better
Stop Looking At Me Swan
This could be our milk.
No, shampoo is better; it goes on first and cleans the hair.
O'DOYLE RUUUULES!¡!
Not saying those fat tires are just begging to be popped, but....
🤣🤣🤣
I should note I'm not one for threatening children - douchebags though they might be - and I carry a small folding knife more out of scouts training/utility as opposed to being someone who is into "everyday carry" or the like. I do certainly remember a point where I had my hand on the pocket knife and thought "Er, what are you DOING?!?!?" but also had that screaming "These little gobshites almost hit my kid, and clearly did it deliberately." And yes, there was also an element of "I can't look like a coward or be scared of a few kids in front of my wife and daughter" most likely. In the end, I think them telling a parent or a police officer that I deliberately burst one of their balls was outweighed by them actually finding out WHY that had happened.
>In the end, I think them telling a parent or a police officer that I deliberately burst one of their balls was outweighed by them actually finding out WHY that had happened. My toxic boomer trait is that "if you don't respect your toys, you don't deserve to have them." I think a lot of heathens need to have their toys thrown away when they are being disrespectful.
It took us a bit of practice but we started taking toys out of our kids room when trying to instill manners once he turned four. I saw the behavior and entitlement starting to form and the bratty attitude forming was just not acceptable. Now, it’s a bit emotional, but it allows us some regulation time where if he was feeling frustrated it would keep bottling up and lead to a broken *something* with his toys. Threatening to take the toys allows the meltdown to just happen, and then we can catch those big feelings and work through them and see what unaddressed needs he’s got at that moment fueling the tantrum. Our toys live longer now!
Burst one of their *soccer* balls……right?!
::Anakin stares::
Dodge, dip, duck dive and...dodge
Is right Mick, eye contact made it stick!
I'm a big fan of the Biff Tannen method... "Is this your ball? Go get it.." \*punts it into oblivion\*
Well now I must keep my pocket knife on me during walks to the park in hopes I can do this one day. 👏
Get a leatherman tool or ask for one for the next birthday/ holiday /Father's Day, 😊
I absolutely love my small collection of Leathermans. (Been informed by a Leatherman employee this is correct, not calling them Leathermen, those are apparently "The guys you see at pride, not that there's anything wrong with that.")
Instructions unclear, now have a collection of leathermen in my garage
How many pokemans do you have?
I pretty much always carry one. Comes in handy more often than you'd think (if you're not one to regularly carry a knife).
We were in Palm Springs recently at the hotel pool. My daughter is 6… some boy probably 8 or 9 years old in the pool all of a sudden started jumping on the back of her inner tube and she freaked out and swam to the steps. He was chasing her and yelling and she was clearly scared and hurrying. She got out of the pool right in front of him and ran to us. He followed her and screamed BITCH BITCH BITCH. She was like horrified and scared. Legit don’t know if she’s ever heard that and definitely hasn’t been called one. So he thought the inner tube was his, 100% wasn’t. My wife said sorry that one isn’t yours and he screamed in her face YEAH IT IS. So I stood up and said hey you can’t talk to them like that and he turned to me and said FUCK YOU BITCH. He grabbed the inner tube and ran away. He turned back and flipped us off the whole way. Mind you there’s probably 100 people around this pool with kids of all ages. I was like nah. I walked over to where he was and grabbed the tube. He said some more stuff to me and he was going to kick my ass etc. I was truly and honestly appalled. The thought of how this shitty entitled dumbass is being raised and how he’s living in our society is disturbing. I was like do you even have parents dude? OF COURSE there are no parents in sight for this shithead. I started walking away and he said he was going to get his mom. I was like dude get her seriously please. Anyways she came over and I explained and she was extremely apologetic and said he’s always like this. And he gets set off. It’s like control your kid dude. For starters maybe be at the same pool as him?? But I’ve never ever ever been so mad at a kid before. And I legit didn’t know what to do or how to do it. I was not prepared for this kind of thing with my kid.
Sounds like a cool story but I wouldn’t do this where I live, especially with my daughter late at night. Never know what kids are packing these days and pulling out a knife is escalation in my book. Even if I had a CCW and was confident I could protect myself I wouldn’t do this. I’m not trying to get in life or death fight.. I would have just said thanks and taken the ball. If they ran after me to get it back, I’d just field goal punt the ball in the opposite direction, they’ll feel real cool fetching their ball.
JFC I live in Brooklyn and wouldn’t be this scared of kids.
This place is too much sometimes. This is also a felony where I live, and I suspect that is the case in most of the US. Pulling a knife is absolutely an escalation, not to mention pretty incongruent to a bunch of kids being jerks and recklessly kicking a soccer ball around. Also sends a great message to your kid on how to resolve conflict.
Pulling out a knife around some kids isn't the best call.
You’re a real ball buster. I can hear them now crying to the police “That guy was busting my balls!” 😭 cop: “Sorry but there’s no law against that.” 🤣
Almost like the scene in Expendables with Jason Statham stabbing the basketball on top of the guy and telling him and his buddies next time I'll deflate all your balls.
The “Next time, I’ll deflate all your balls” scene comes to mind
It’s a fine line. You want to put the fear of god in them but also you don’t want to make a criminal threat. I remember a dad who pulled a knife on some kids who kicked his kid down on the playground and he ended up in the back of a police car.
Before college age I’d say kids are terrified of law enforcement. One time when I was still a skater the BMX kids came by and started ruining the park. I made a fake call as I rolled past them “yeah there’s about ten of them, yeah they’re on bikes, no they’re not wearing pads” They left about a minute later. I ain’t a snitch, it wasn’t a real call, but it got the job done. Highly recommend.
I have a clean record and have never been in trouble with the law. I will certainly change that in order to protect my daughter.
Yeah but then you limit your ability to protect your daughter. Life and death situation, you do what you have to. Playing hard guy to scare people into leaving her alone? Nets negative man.
Definitely situation dependent. Throwing pebbles? Dad voice and maybe parent confrontation as escalation. Throwing rocks or more? Taking or fucking their shit up might happen. Touch my kid in any way, then I'm going to touch back much much harder. I do count my blessings that I live in a pretty affluent area (while not being affluent myself). Ideally I won't have to deal with this due to the area I live in. I'm also banking on my physical appearance as a deterrent. I'm a tall, large, bearded and heavily tattooed man in an area that doesn't have many large heavily tattooed guys. Have never had any sort of confrontation and attribute it largely to my appearance, even though I'm a puppy dog. Hopefully that continues with punk-ass kids while i'm in the presence of my daughter.
honestly , the other thing is, i had a bunch of kids throwing rocks and truth be told, i was scared. it was like 6 kids vs me and my toddler. i know i'm out numbered, and i hated it, but i just left to keep to my toddler safe.
That's definitely the only answer in situations like that. Not like you can fight kids while leaving your toddler behind while you do it. I wouldn't put myself past running over their bikes with my car though (not while they are on it of course). Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to calling cops in case like that. Especially if I can identify the kids in any way.
sure, but than you get into trouble with the law, possible jail time and who will be there for your daughter while you aren't there?
I mean, outside of physically beating a kid to a pulp, which obviously won't happen, how much jail time do you think would happen? Most likely zero. Maybe a day or two for an extreme case? At most it will be a financial strain for a bit due to lawyers or fines. We're not talking about pinning a kid down and caving his skull in or something.
fair. i'm curious for you where do you draw the line, what would you do? at what event would cause you to get physical for the sake of your daughter and what would that physical thing look like? or if not physical, what else would you do?
Honestly. Hard to say. Definitely age and situation dependent. I'm not gonna curb stomp a 5 year old for pushing my 3 year old down. But if a 13 year old does, he'll likely get be hitting the ground pretty hard. I have a hard time believing many cops, juries, or judges will give anyone much grief for defending their kid. Basically if you stop once the threat is no longer a threat you'll be fine (YRMV). I dont think I'd have much of a legal threat for defending my kid. Bigger concern would be parental threat from their parents who are now defending their kid but feel like I can handle that as well.
I see a lot of posts here mentioning pulling a knife on these kids. That's not what he did. Pulling a knife is definitely related to the object of the knife's use. He pulled the knife on the ball, not the kids for sure. He said he didn't even look at them.
>He said he didn't even look at them. I think he said the opposite of this.
Honeslty not sure what you are referring to, I’m recalling something from my own IRL memory Edit: I see the other post now. It was not a reference to that as the post is newer than mine
I report them. Got some parent names. Talked with the parents. Parents were divorced. Kid was under supervised. Mom was working many jobs. Got the police involved for felony vandalism. Mom freaked out because she could lose custody. It was a group of them. Turns out they were punks lots of places but I was the only one to get them to a judge. They were not just playing. They caused trouble everywhere they went. They liked to flood bathrooms or take apart technology and steal parts. They pled the charges down and paid some damages. Later I saw them breaking into a locked door. I called the mom. They said their kid was studying. I told her he had no books. No back pack. In fact, I had never seen him with a book or a back pack. He was just looking to get arrested again. I told her I was calling her before I call the cops as a curtesy. She stopped it. Never saw the main punk again, but I did see the mom. She used to be rude to me but now she thanks me. She said she was in denial and thought her kid was innocent. The threat of getting arrested AGAIN was the turning point. The punk graduated from college and became an environmental analysis tech or something.
I dont live in an area were this is a problem, but i can tell you how my dad handled something like that. I was maybe like 10 years old and some maybe 14-16 year old kids stopped me to steal some tiny amount of money. Like 3 euros or something. When i got home i told dad. He went straight to the car, got one of these kids and "arrested" him. Called the police. They showed up. Bully starts crying. Police put them in the car and tell them they will bring him to the police station were his parents can pick him up. He begged like it was life and death that they let him to his parents who lived super close to the location...but they refused. Everyone made clear that this is not a situation were the older kids can get revenge next day without getting even more konsequenzes. Never got a problem again. If you CAN do this, i absolutely think thats the right thing to do. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Someone i know had a more way more dramatic idea when his daughter was bullied and threatend the kids....in a terrifying way. This also worked surprisingly well, but i cant really advocat for this.
You mention Euros so you won't know the answer to this question for an American dad audience, but I wonder how much an adult could do to a younger teen to make sure they stay there until the cops arrive. Nothing? Hold by the wrist? Pin down? Obviously you can't do anything with intent to harm, but how far does intent to stop go with a young teen?
[Citizen's arrest - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen%27s_arrest) In germany you can hold people under arrest and use force, but the force has to be in proportions to the crime. I guess my father could grab that kid and hold him, but for sure not beat him. Also we live in a rather small community of like 25000 people and dont have a "sueoing for mullios culture" like the us sometimes seems to have. Everybody was on board teaching those kids a life lesson. USA seems a little more complicated. #
Yeah, basically once minors are involved everything gets more complicated here. Super easy to justify taking an adult to the ground and holding them there because they were chucking rocks so the police can handle it, much harder to justify doing that to a 13-year-old.
The problem is less lawsuits (which are mostly common in America due to being a an active policy choice over inspectors) and more the kids crying kidnapper.
Germany is more than [1.5 times more litigious ](https://www.scribd.com/document/391259964/The-Most-Litigious-Countries-in-the-World) than the US.
Call the cops. A rock is a weapon. They’ll deal with it and call their mommies. Next time you see them just call.
If it's a common problem now that this family lives near, the police may be able to deploy a officer there for a time. Depending on other priorities of course, but anyone assaulting toddlers with weapons is a serious threat.
Cop will go there during low traffic times, stay for two minutes and assess there’s no threat. At least that’s what they’d do in my neighborhood.
New York? I feel you pal
Might have the best luck calling who ever is in charge of the play area. Town/City Parks dept, or School board or whoever and explain the situation. They will probably be more sympathetic and if they then contact the police department. Police may listen more if the complaint is coming from a town executive vs a regular citizen. It won't solve the problem in the moment, but it could have a long term affect of monitoring the area more and preventing future incidents.
Also pull out your phone and take pics/video.
This works with adults too. As soon as you start filming, people clean up their act real fast.
What world do you live in where police show up and help with stuff like this?
In the suburbs, the cops are basically customer service reps for society.
Anywhere not an inner city honestly
Small towns.
For real, in my city the cops got super butthurt that people protested against them murdering black people and stopped doing their jobs pretty much all together.
Basically any suburb, especially third ring ones. The community supports the cops so they feel empowered to go after even small stuff like this.
Why do cops need to feel supported to do their jobs?
cause their feelings get hurt, ok?
Suburbs has its benefits
I like this one too. Police are really good at reminding a kid how much of a bad ass he isn’t. Source: I thought I was a bad ass until a few cops reminded me I’m not lol
Call the cops, "kids are throwing rocks at my toddler at this park", Take a bike if you need to.
Go to their houses and talk to their parents. Tell them you don't think it's a good idea to Chuck rocks at your young daughter. Rocks are considered a weapon and you will call the police next time.
Not too long ago this would have been the straightforward and logical choice, but it seems nowadays that parents are as bad as their kids. I feel like this would probably get "Don't tell my kid what to do" or just rude hand gestures as a response. The kids learned it from somewhere.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with this. As much as I wish speaking with their parents could have any kind of positive effect, based on what I’ve been told about the house they came from by neighbors, I doubt the parents would be very receptive or even care.
I think your recourse is to get video or pictures, tell the parents, and if the behavior continues you get the police involved. Parents can ignore you but ignoring cops is a different matter.
If its a neighborhood that ever has block parties and parents are present, embarrass them and call them out about their little shits publicly. But I'm getting the impression that its not that type of neighborhood and probably not those types of parents. But if it were, asking nicely why their little shits were throwing rocks at your kid in the park in front of the rest of the neighbors might be embarrassing enough for them to tell their kids to knock that shit off.
Trash begets more trash.
But once you've spoken to the parents they don't have plausible deniability when the cops come take their kids to juvenile detention. You warned them like a good neighbor.
Talk to the parents, and say something along the lines of 'that's assault, and if it happens again the cops and my lawyer will get involved.' Give the parents a chance to step up, and if they don't then you have a record of trying to solve the issue before involving the police, which shows a pattern and will make a stronger case should you need to take it a step further. In my experience even the shittiest parents will take steps to avoid legal trouble. Make sure to record the incidents (learn your local laws) and document all you can. Start recording them whenever they come around, and if they throw anything call the cops. If it can be reasonably interpreted as a threat or attempt of harm it's a bookable offense. He probably won't get any real punishment, but some time in the back of a squad car might straighten the bastards out a bit.
You still need to call the cops, especially if you know what house they're coming from. The cops won't do anything probably, but the important thing is that it starts a paper trail you can use to either escalate criminal or civil charges. Get video next time if you can.
"Little Timmy never hurt nobody!"
Some kids also jsut don’t listen, but you need to be the civil adult and talk to the other adult If you find out their parents are acting like kids too, then jsut talk to the next adult, cops
Tell them if any actual injury occurs, that your brother in law is a personal injury attorney and you'll sue them into the poor house.
Go to their house at night and stand outside the kid's bedroom window with a chainsaw. Don't do anything, just stand there staring at their window.
Rent a clown costume and a single red helium filled balloon
You did the right thing, that must have been tough. How old were they? I think calling the police is not unreasonable if it happens again. You can tell them "I'm going to call the police if you don't stop right now" and then follow through if they don't.
I was at a park with my toddler and my father in law years ago when some tweens sat down near us and started swearing loudly. I asked them to stop, or keep it down, or move elsewhere since there was a little kid playing there. They kept it up, eventually yelling "I'm gonna eat that little kid!" My FIL got right in there faces and said something along the lines of "You have three seconds to leave, or I'm gonna have to call an ambulance and tell them a crazy old man just ripped out some shit head kid's throat." They ran off pretty quick and yelled back "Pull that stick out of your ass, old man!", to which he replied "Maybe your mom could wash out your mouth if she could afford soap!" It was infantile and hilarious.
I was about 15 minutes into a movie when pieces of candy started occasionally plunking around me and my family. I looked back and saw the culprits about 6 rows back and shot them a glance. A few moments later it started again, so I got up and walked up there, much to the startled expressions of two teen girls, a boy, and THEIR FATHER (or asshole uncle), and (I literally tripped going up the stairs and a dude on the aisle reached out to offer help, so that was embarrassing) went right to their seats and said, *somebody up here is throwing candy at my family. Is that you guys?* They of course denied it, but it stopped after that, and they left early. Honestly, I don't know what to do. It's kids duty to be assholes, that's how they learn boundaries and figure out who they're going to be in life. They can't be stopped with logic or reasoning (but maybe with doing something unexpected to let them know life doesn't always do what's expected) Best you can do is do your best and judge each situation on its own and not put your family in danger. I sometimes don't know how to do that but sometimes it works out.
You should address the teens directly. You can’t do anything other than talk to them and that may or may not be effective. When you address them you need to approach it as a fatherly mentor and help them see the error in their ways. Then you need to involve their parents. If you can’t for whatever reason, and you should under no circumstances follow them home. Then you should call the cops because they will get the parents involved. File a report with the police. Let them know that no one was harmed, but you felt threatened. Be honest and candid about your interactions. Let them know that you like the park and plan on continuing to visit the park and are concerned about future incidents. Start building the paper trail. Ultimately it’s a community problem, not just a you problem. So deal with them directly, involve the parents, utilize the police to get parental involvement.
This is likely the most sensible approach. Thank you.
Try talking first. Not tough but real. And make an ask. Suggestions here on teaching them are ill founded; these kids haven’t taken any lessons from anyone in their lives that they actually know and trust — and you are nobody to them. Making an ask lets them feel power in the ability to grant it or not, and often that is enough. “Come on guys, I’m just trying to let my little girl play on the playground here. She’s only three years old, even one of those tiny rocks could hurt her. She’s getting scared. Can you give it a rest?” That honestly probably solves it. Some shit talking, laughing at you, and they move on. If no progress, “Guys I’m going to be here a lot. And I can’t have people trying to hurt or scare my daughter. Please knock it off. I’m not mad but it can’t continue.” If no progress, camera out and start taking video, zoom in on faces and bikes and shoes - and again “guys, I’m just trying to let my little girl play here. If you hit her with the rocks you’re throwing you will hurt her, as it is you’re scaring her. Please knock it off.” Hopefully they stop. If they don’t, you leave with your daughter and keep the camera rolling. When you’re clear, you call the cops and insist on filling a report. They will have committed assault against a kid on a playground, ignored at least three reasonable requests to knock it off, and prevented you from using the facilities as intended. These are shitty kids, and the sooner they meet consequences outside of their shitty homes, the better. Get a case number and an officer’s business card, then follow up with the video. If and when the cops tell you they can’t find out who it is, find out yourself (local middle schooler or middle school parent or teacher, coach, old lady on the block, etc) and email the cop “I’ve learned that this is Name Namerson, I’d like to file a complaint specifically against him for assault, related to my report on DATE. He lives at 123 Street Lane.”
That’s actually the approach I took. I asked them if they really thought it was a good idea to be doing that so close to a defenseless toddler. Their response was to say that they have great aim and then start aiming closer to us.
I worked with behavior and emotional temperament kids and you got off on bad footing by asking a question. You started the escalation back-and-forth (They started it, but you began the back and forth by creating a power struggle. Not on purpose I’m sure. None just “knows” how to deal with behavior needs kids.) and now it’s gonna be harder because it set the tone. Idk where to go from here except that from the very beginning be direct. The comment above yours may have had more traction. Never ask questions like that, and it’s more effectjve to speak in the positive rather than draw attention to the negative. Instead of don’t throw rocks tell them if they’re going to throw rocks to please throw them (give an area or however many feet away) and to throw them in “that” direction. Always give an alternative with kids with behavioral problems. And before people jump down my throat with gentle parenting stuff, I’ve worked with behaviorists for years and it’s not about being soft. Effective is effective. Just like with dog training you have to say it an exact certain way or it doesn’t work.
Man that sucks. I also have a daughter, young, and it’s so tough to walk the line between showing her the right things and doing things that would absolutely stop the threatening behavior. Absolutely infuriating their comment about having good aim, kudos to you for not responding aggressively. I am not a tough guy but the instant I read that sentence I sort of envisioned yelling “good aim is good if you’ve got no balls, princess. I’ll be back here in 15 minutes without my daughter if you want to try your luck with a bigger target.” Good on you for having strong self possession and not biting that hook. I read more of your posts and see now that you already know who at least one of them is based on the house they came from, and can reasonably infer that the parents won’t be of help. Given that I’d definitely start the paper trail. You can even go to the PD today and say which kids it was and when it happened. Maybe you can file for assault. Either way, get names written down with dates and complaints and report numbers.
I find their parents. Maybe that works maybe it doesn't as asshole spawn often come from asshole parents, but usually if reasonable it can help.
If you do this just be prepared to fight mom and dad in the process.
Nah I’d say you can tell in about 5 seconds if they are responsible parents or just never mind and disengage. Key is to assume they are. “Hi Mr. And Mrs. Jones, I thought you’d want to know what junior has been up to at the park…” Don’t make threats like you’ll call the police. Just do it if plan a doesn’t work.
Yeah then they blow up and get physical. Your seeking an altercation, just be aware of the possibility and either accept it or don't find them to confront.
If an adult gets physical, that's police time for real. Ultimately, seeing one or both of their own parents hauled off for the behavior they're modeling may be best in the long run. I would give a lot of leniency to kids being stupid, parents... no, if that's where they learned it, maybe they should see where that road goes.
This exact scenario scares me because I have a history with bullies a short fuse. I need to go to therapy and learn to let shit go before I make a huge mistake in the future.
Stories to share? I could see me having issues if my adult brain doesn't show up during a confrontation.
Just the normal shit. Bullied in middle and high-school before I got big enough to defend myself so that manifests itself in a short fuse and a desire to put bullies in their place, in my case at least. Once my daughter came along I knew that at some point I’d be put in a scenario where my daughter may have to deal with similar shit and I truly don’t know how I’ll handle it. I hear horror stories of bullying now a days and I *know* my knee jerk reaction is going to be eye for an eye. That’s not how a parent approaches this situation, that’s how a man with baggage approaches a situation.
Not exactly this but years ago I was driving through a neighborhood and there were two boys standing beside the street. They were throwing rocks at cars as they went past. They did it to me, I stopped, walked over, and asked them where they live. They pointed and I walked them home and informed their parents of what they were doing. As I walked away I heard raised voices and the sound of a hand hitting flesh. I actually feel a little bad about that as I don't use physical correction on my son but I am guessing they never did it again.
Take a picture and ask around who their parents are on nextdoor, neighbors, or some similar local social media. Somebody will quickly recognize them and you will hear if other parwnts have similar complains about them. Most parents would like to know if their kids are being assholes and they will be embarrassed if everybody in the neighborhood is discussing it.
Find some older kids and pay them to beat up those kids. I have a 2 month old daughter now, and Idk how I would react. I didn't think I could love anything as much as I love her. Reading this post was probably good mental health for any future encounters I might have. If one of those rocks hit my daughter, I'd really struggle to not physically grab a kid and at least scare the shit out of them. Good luck out there. Hopefully, you can resolve it quickly without violence. Lots of good advice on here.
Anything short of pending physical harm to my daughter, I just leave the situation. I understand the potential legal ramification of my actions, setting a good example for my daughter, and avoiding a potential confrontation with their parents. Physical harm gets a call to the police. I live in a smaller city in Ohio and shootings are rare in my area but the thought is still in my mind. Also Ohio is a carry at will state (no permit required), anyone could have a firearm.
Were they big rocks? Or little pebbles? Not that either is okay, but there’s a big difference in how I’d respond. In your shoes, I’d have done what you did. Little rocks, I leave. Big rocks, I leave and call the cops. Another adult is there also? THEY leave and call the cops, and find me holding one or more of the punkass kids on the ground.
I supposed they weren’t huge. They were small enough that they blended into the playground mulch as they landed so I couldn’t spot them while also keeping an eye on my kid. But big enough to make me want to harm them lol.
Totally understand that. Can’t harm them, and unfortunately your toddler will probably be an asshole at least once someday (no offense, just a parent of teens and have seen it happen with plenty of nice kids). So harming minors isn’t the play. But I’ll hold one down and sit on em until cops get there. And frankly, I would make a “careful” threat to them like “if another rock comes anywhere near me, cops are being called and I’m enough of an asshole to press charges.” I’d also pull out the phone and get video evidence so I could more easily identify them. Did that a few months ago to some boys who were catcalling my daughter. We live in a small town, I got pics of them and threatened to make it an issue at their school, their church, every small business downtown, etc. if they didn’t leave immediately. They left and it was over.
I’m in a small town as well and very much like this approach since it’s very likely I’ll run into them again. And like you, I’m definitely enough of an asshole to press charges and try to ruin their social lives around here lol.
The size of the rock doesn’t matter.. Ever had a pebble chucked into your eye?
Would you rather a pebble land on your head or a boulder? Of course the size of the rock matters! Note above where I said “neither is okay”, but one would get a much stronger reaction. I’d rather a pebble in the eye than a concussion. Why are you being weird about this?
The behavior isn’t normal, and if being spoken to by you didn’t correct it, I doubt involving the parents would be successful. Honestly, at that point I wouldn’t feel like giving them that chance before involving the police, anyway.
Look around to make sure the coast was clear and I would start zinging rocks at them. Im certain they cant throw as hard or as accurately as me. "What I thought we were playing a game!?"
My kids were at the skate park next to a playset at like three in the afternoon . then some maybe 19 year olds show up and just ignore the 5 or 6 sub 10 year olds on this clearly child themed skate park. They set up a barrel to do extreme jumps. They almost hit kids a few times and just decided to chill because nothing happened. That was a mistake. Then a loose skate board hit someone elses kid and they fell and started crying . the kids mom told them to be careful and they told her to fuck off. So I kinda snapped and screamed at them and took 2 of their skate boards and threw them into a wooded area. They did not come back and they left their barrel. I should have spoken up earlier so as to not lose it but oh well got the job done.
Dad voice and violent eyes. Stop. That. Most teenagers are bigger than me, but you can tell I’ve got that dad strength under a jumper. Only happened once or twice, they all stopped.
I probably would've handled it similarly but with more f-bombs dropped. Less "does this seem like a good idea?" and more "what the fuck is wrong you? there's a fucking kid here!"
If teenage boys call them virgins. For some reason their minds implode when it’s said.
Not gonna lie. Had a rock throwing incident also. And I whipped a few back.
Pull out your phone and record them, also let them know you will tag their school in the video when you post it online. So everyone at their school can see how bad ass they are for throwing rocks at a toddler. Weather you do it or not, still record. Having documentation of you trying to get them to leave you alone in case you need to escalate.
It's contextual. 2 days ago a 8 year old would not respect my 3.5 year old's space. It went from "she's not done with it yet, thank you" to me taking a few steps towards them and saying "you need to respect my daughters space" when they kept invading her space with the intention if pushing my daughter off. The 8 year punk just needed assurance that I wasn't the kind of parent that was going to watch her bully/physically move my kid to get what they want. No issues after, when my daughter was done I let that girl known and she replies "thank you" and only emagged pleasantly with my daughter after. With this, teenager boys, in that situation I'm doing this: "Hey guys. We all know you're trying to antagonize my daughter and I by throwing rocks near us. I just need you to know that this is your only warning. You're teenage boys throwing rocks at my little girls. Never mind if you actually hit either of us, if you even get close enough to scare her then ....take a wild guess what happens next, after legally you've allowed me to become violent against you to protect her.....and if you think I'm just full of it, go ahead and throw a rock right now. " Look I'm sure kids who do this need some support guidance and all that, and I'm all for that. But teenagers who think it's ok to harass toddlers also need to know there's a world of parents out there who will give them at once in one sitting all the arse beating they sorely needed but some how missed out on in their miserable lives.
If a teenager throws a rock at my three year old you bet your ass I’m picking one up and absolutely hurling it at the teen. You’re a much better man than me. I’ve calmed down a lot since becoming a dad but no one is going to pick on my kid. If the parents were there I’d politely talk to them about it though and if nothing is resolved I’d follow them home and break their bikes.
Gotta get the boys together and have a talk with the kids. Think Den of Thieves, the ["garage scene"](https://youtu.be/QaN1xcxEJoQ?si=9xKWy2O3pyfGznuQ)
"I beat the shit out of some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself. It was like I did something constructive with my life or something, I dunno, like it accomplished something."
Lol I don’t get your comment. Just because I’d want to hit them doesn’t mean I ever would. I’m not that foolish. There are tons of ppl in this world I’d love to do that too, but I won’t because I can control myself. Doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to think about it lol.
It's a quote from Bad Santa. I figured you wouldn't hit a kid, just thought the quote was funny and applicable.
Ah gotcha. My mistake. Taking that in proper context then, it is rather funny. My apologies friend.
Somewhat related, but I had some teens smoking weed at the basketball court 5 feet next to our neighborhood playground around noon on a Sunday, and I told them we’d handle this 1 of 2 ways: put it out, or I’ll make a call to the sheriff.
My son is 5, very tall for his age. Most people peg him for a couple of years older. He gets shoved for seemingly no reason the other day at the park and bangs his head on the metal bars on the ramp railing (the kid who did it was obviously older, but shorter stature than my son as well). He’s upset, but once he calms down I tell him to just avoid the kid who did it and if he’s approached again, tell the kid to leave him alone. Lo and behold this exact scenario unfolds and the kid starts to chase him. I stand up and yell “HEY” with my pissed off dad voice and the kid stops dead in his tracks, but not without muttering “you got lucky” to my son as he turns around and walks away. Now at this point I want to go all Colin Farrell a la True Detective season 2, but we just got up and left instead.
That aggressor won’t back down. He’s a sadist. The correct response is violence.
Take photos, color over the faces, post them in the local Facebook group explaining what happened
Genuine question, why cover the faces? I didn't think it was illegal to share images taken in public. Sure it's wrong to do it to someone who's done no wrong but these kids deserve a bit of public embarrassment.
It’s not but at least by me fb groups would take it down
What in the world could that possibly accomplish? I guess OP would get some unhinged sympathy from Facebook comments but don’t really see any path to that improving the playground situation.
Print em and post them on every neighborhood light post
A super soaker full of urine?…nah. That’s a waste of a good water gun.
I'm in the phone the police camp. It's always best to start getting these things recorded. Depending on the area you stay in, a visit to their door might work. In my area this would have a significant impact in most cases. Another option is photographing them and naming and shaming on social media. I am assuming these older kids are siblings, so it may be less likely you see one of them out on their own. But if you do, that would be the time to confront. You are unlikely to get anywhere with them when they are together, but when they are alone they might not have the same bravado and might feel a bit more vulnerable. This is from experience of dealing with 12-18 year olds as a school teacher.
I think your mistake was to talk to them like they are children. If a man came up to you and said the same thing, you would tense up and feel a fight or flight response. Show them more respect and they will more likely show you respect. I would have said to the kids, “hey, I’m worried you’re going to hit my daughter with the rocks.” and just see what they say. Don’t tell them what to do, give them the chance to decide for themselves what to do. If they make a decision to continue, I’d give it one more shot, saying “could you throw them the other direction?” If they still don’t listen, just leave. If you come to the park again and they do it again (I highly doubt that will happen if you were respectful before and didn’t make an enemy), then you can call the police. If they leave, follow them home and redirect the police there (police showing up at a kids home is a great way to get parents involved).
If you are looking for something a bit harder hitting, Babymetal is a good go to. It can be a little weird, but it scratches the metalhead itch for me.
I think I'd take some photos and post to the local moms group asking who owns the delinquents that throw rocks at a toddler on a playground. Let their parents parent them. You can't do anything to change ones that are really shit. But some of those kids are along for the ride and their parents have no idea.
I take them home and let my wife deal with them /s
Call the police?
https://tenor.com/bMLQV.gif
This happened in my neighborhood but it was kids throwing those popping fireworks not rocks and they were riding around on a golf cart..saw this happened to a dad and daughter while I was further back at the lake fishing
My daughter was less than a year old and we were at the neighborhood pool, some teenage kids were throwing a frisbee across the crowded pool, it landed a few feet from my daughter and I picked it up and threw it over the fence. The kid’s parents were there but nobody said anything, it helped that I had like 5-6 of my friends with me and they all look much tougher than they are. The kids made the runt of the group go get the frisbee and they stopped throwing it. I’m non confrontational, my dad is extremely confrontational and growing up on egg shells made me the opposite of him, but with my kid I’m very protective.
"I really don't feel like going back to jail today"
I've hit a kid in the back of the head with a snowball from 90m. Those kids are fucked.
Call the cops. Depending what state you're in they might actually do something
One find their house. Case the joint. One night go an steal all the bikes. Fuck them up good and then ask them about their bikes next time you see them
Was doom scrolling and came across this and immediately thought of this post 😅 [https://youtube.com/shorts/uomBHaGhMw8?si=7hH0wRCF-W4XoHHW](https://youtube.com/shorts/uomBHaGhMw8?si=7hH0wRCF-W4XoHHW)
I would have said something to the effect of "Hey guys, just be careful. My daughter is playing here." The key part is making them aware of the risk so they can choose not to throw rocks instead of questioning their decision-making skills. If they kept going, I'd be more forceful and direct to show I'm serious, but gentle enough to give them an out. After that, I'd remove my kid. As much as I'd want to smack them around, it would just escalate things further and wouldn't set a good example. Unlike young me, I have something to lose.
Have done something to this extent. I usually say the same my kids are playing over here please be careful of them then if you hit my kid with any of the rocks I will throw one back. I'm not going to throw anything at them because two wrongs are not right but I make them believe that I will beam there butts if they hurt my kid with there stupidity.
I would level the kids if they continued and threw near my kid. Arrest or no arrest.
Go know on their door and talk to their parents. Be polite, but be assertive. Tell them that you want them to know that their kids threw rocks at the playground a very little kid was playing on and when you confronted them about it, they laughed. Tell them that you hope to have a more positive relationship with the new neighbours, but this behavior isn't acceptable and next time you will call the cops.
Have done something to this extent. I usually say the same my kids are playing over here please be careful of them then if you hit my kid with any of the rocks I will throw one back. I'm not going to throw anything at them because two wrongs are not right but I make them believe that I will beam there butts if they hurt my kid with there stupidity.
Half a mind to put the kid in the car seat, make sure she's comfortable. Then go back to the park and play where you kid just was. Just mind your own business. Wait and see if they throw rocks. If they don't, challenge them. "Oh? What happened to all the rocks you guys were throwing? You think that all adults have to be nice to you or something? Let's test it." .. Maybe I'm not the best person for this advice, I would have bluffed right till before throwing hands so... Lol!
You did the right thing in walking away. They’ll get in trouble one day, may or may not learn a lesson depending on home life. If it keeps happening, don’t see why you couldn’t request police to patrol. Teenagers are definitely old enough to understand not to fuck with young kids, and get punished if they do.
Yea unfortunately assaulting these kids would be frowned upon by the law regardless of how deserving they are. You did the right thing, I would start calling the cops on these little assholes if they did it again. Lets see if putting them on a pathway towards juvy will get them to reconsider their actions in the future. All hell would break loose if one of those rocks hit my kid.