older kids at the park making it hard for us to enjoy!
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
ok mamabear apparently im not getting through to you maybe your a little defensive because you have children that age? ONCE AGAIN i never ever ever said that all children who swear are bad, i mean i used to do it too, i'm almost everyone has. and yes i will certainly teach my son how to stand up for myself, but you know what else i will teach him? to choose his battles wisely and to walk away when it's simply not worth it. frankly i would rather not bring him there anymore REGARDLESS of if the kids move for us or not, no matter what you say you weren't there and MOST of these kids are disrespectful, and dare i say shameful kids. yes i understand they are just that.....kids.......but that doesn't give them the right to act like animals! oh and by the way my son is 2 and i call him young man, does that mean i think he's an adult, come on now!
As far as I can tell there is no battle here. You haven't even asked for what you want. How is that picking a battle? You are creating a battle in your mind and choosing not to fight it.
If you had asked for what you wanted and the kids were uncooperative my answer to you would be quite different.
i give up this is pointless. it's perfectly ok for kids to shout obscenities, disrespect young girls at the park, smoke, and be downright disgusting all in the presence of younger children and adults..........they're just KIDS. that doesn't make them bad kids, then you tell me what does? tell me you would be proud of your 12 year old dressing like a streetwalker, or your son disrespecting and degrading woman like these "kids" were doing. reasonable kids do not act like this. therefore there is no reasoning with them. btw another poster on here did just what you said and asked the kids to move and apparently that didn't work out ended up having to call the police so what do you make of that?
What is pointless? Nobody has been nasty to you yet you are getting frustrated. You perceive things that are not there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadozer
it's perfectly ok for kids to shout obscenities, disrespect young girls at the park, smoke, and be downright disgusting all in the presence of younger children and adults..........they're just KIDS. that doesn't make them bad kids, then you tell me what does?
No it's not ok, but that's why I asked you to give me more details. Now that you have described it I understand it better.
Why are you so frustrated? I haven't said a single cross word to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadozer
tell me you would be proud of your 12 year old dressing like a streetwalker, or your son disrespecting and degrading woman like these "kids" were doing. reasonable kids do not act like this. therefore there is no reasoning with them. btw another poster on here did just what you said and asked the kids to move and apparently that didn't work out ended up having to call the police so what do you make of that?
I didn't suggest that you reason with them. All I suggested was that you ASK them to allow your son to use the equipment and see what happens.
ok so maybe i was a little offended by you saying i was terrified of these kids, when in actuality i'm scared of losing my own cool in front of them and my son so THAT is why i am avoiding the situation. not too mention how my son is repeating everysinglething he hears and one more trip there he'll be yelling f all day, that's just not cool!
The OP did not say anything about vandalizing equipment or misusing it, merely that they were there and preventing her kids from using the equipment. Let's not add things that were not there in the first place.
I wasn't saying that they were vadalizing equipment, I was speaking generally -- hence my language "especially if" as opposed to "especially when." But in this instance, they were misusing the equipment, which is not made for teens.
To me, if reasonable big kids see little kids trying to use playground equipment that the big kids are hanging out on, the big kids will move without being asked. If they are semi-reasonable, they will move if asked, whether the request is polite or not. If they are copping an attitude and acting ill-mannered, chances are they may not move or may show off for their friends by coming back with some smart talk. You look at how they are acting and decide whether you want to approach them or not.
I have never known one person who welcomed young people loitering on a tot lot or playground and cursing. Whether they are just being kids or whether they are just being ill-mannered kids, they need to find somewhere else to go, period.
Harking back to the meltdown on aisle 7 thread, isn't is amusing that meltdowns are labeled a parenting problem, but here cursing loitering teens are just being misunderstood kids? It's not so black and white.
I have never known one person who welcomed young people loitering on a tot lot or playground and cursing. Whether they are just being kids or whether they are just being ill-mannered kids, they need to find somewhere else to go, period.
Harking back to the meltdown on aisle 7 thread, isn't is amusing that meltdowns are labeled a parenting problem, but here cursing loitering teens are just being misunderstood kids? It's not so black and white.
Of course no one likes to be around a bunch of cussing teenagers, but I disagree that a park belongs to one group more than any other. Yes, sometimes there are signs that an area is meant for small children, but I have yet to see any kind of city ordinance prohibiting one age group from being there. I see parents and older siblings climbing on the play equipment or sliding with their little ones, and clearly the large play structures can take the weight.
I just disagree that teens need to be driven off like a bunch of pigeons. If they are not littering or vandalizing anything, I would generally have no problem with kids in a park. It's a public park. It doesn't belong to you or your children any more than it belongs to me or my children. It belongs to the residents of a city. If the kids are genuinely being a nuisance, by being bullies or tearing up the place, then sure, call the cops or something. Like I said, foul language in public is offensive, but there's nothing you can do about it any more than you can call the cops about an adult swearing on a cell phone on a sidewalk, or cursing at you in traffic.
I still see no difference between hanging out in a park and loitering. I Googled "loitering" and "parks" and just saw a lot of city sites that define loitering at parks as hanging out at night.
thank you bowian atleast someone understands my frustration! i'm not saying to leave the park, or that it belongs to the little ones exclusively, but there are benches and bleachers for "hanging out"
To me, this situation is like when a neighbor always parks in front of your house instead of his own. Very annoying, but there's not a lot you can do. You can say something, you can suffer in silence, or you can move. I know it stinks at times, but I don't think everything has to be legislated into the ground. Good luck, Shadozer.
I can see being hesistant to talk to them since you are with your son and do not know how the teens will react.
If it were me, I'd probably ask the ones to move that are blocking what your son would like to do (on the premise that kids need to take turns at a park, even teens!). So, for example, if a teen was blocking the slide, I would say "excuse me, my son would like to go down the slide", just to the teen that is blocking the slide. This way, it is asking just one teen, and it is a reasonable request, so hopefully you can get them to realize they are in the way one at a time.
On the flip side, if I could not picture doing this, I would probably call the non emergency police # some day when I am not going to the park, and ask for suggestions and if there is anything they can do. I would explain that the teens are not doing anything really wrong, just blocking the playground equipment and talking like teenagers. Maybe the police would be able to keep an eye on the situation and/or talk to the teens.
I do have playground age kids, and I have asked older kids to move if they are blocking equipment, and I have nopt had a problem. However, I do not think I have had to do this with teens that worry me, so it is not exactly the same.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
