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Okay, so the poster who said there's a neighborhood full of kids who are outside screaming all day long in the summer is well aware of the noise and yet doesn't do anything about it? Why should the neighbor on the receiving end of it have to walk over and speak to you "in a civil manner"? That's simply BS. YOU know your kids are screaming, then shut them the F up yourself! It's YOUR responsibility, not the neighbors' responsibility to tra la la over to your house to beg you to make them stop. By simply not bothering to do something about it is a clear sign that your poor parenting is the reason why it's continuing to happen. Parents today are too lenient. And don't twist it around that your kids' screaming/shrieking just is poorly tolerated by people who don't have kids. Don't blame it on "poor tolerance". That's the typical attack from someone who's dysfunctional and doing something wrong--it's the intolerant person's fault, not your fault! By saying that parents tolerate it just fine, you are proving that it's the parents themselves who are at fault, because you are too willing not to discipline your children to stop it.
I wouldn't call the police unless it were after 10 pm.
Why should anyone be obligated to do so on their own property? I think the onus is on the offended party to grow a pair and go over to the neighbor with a reasonable request for specific quiet times, if they have some sort of special need for silence. If you can't deal with a few hours of children playing loudly outside, you probably need to find a place to live far far out in the countryside.
Adults are far noisier than children. From fat old fogeys on bikes with straight pipes to the dude who decides to start a woodworking business in his garage, the toys and tools of suburb-dwelling adults generate MUCH more noise pollution than a few hours of loud horseplay by children.
Now, my Chinese friends would disagree with me and agree with those on here who think that parents need to hover over their children and hush every peep that comes out of their kids. They are constantly shushing their kids, even on the playground. However, they grew up in a different, and much more dense, society than what he have here in the USA, and I don't see any benefit to emulating that particular aspect of their way of life.
No one is saying the parents should enforce silence. That's a straw-man argument. The OP and others are only saying, parents should be considerate of the neighbors, and have the kids keep the noise down to a dull roar, and stop the blood-curdling shrieks. This is a reasonable request. Shouting, laughing, while enjoying pool play is one thing. Shrieking constantly is quite another.
No one is saying the parents should enforce silence. That's a straw-man argument. The OP and others are only saying, parents should be considerate of the neighbors, and have the kids keep the noise down to a dull roar, and stop the blood-curdling shrieks. This is a reasonable request. Shouting, laughing, while enjoying pool play is one thing. Shrieking constantly is quite another.
Straw man, my foot. I merely pointed out different cultural norms. It's not normal in America to tell your kids to keep it down when they're playing on their own property during daylight hours.
I maintain that some snowflakes need to get out from behind their keyboards and go talk to their neighbors about any noise issue that's bothering them. It's not hard or scary to be a normal human being. Since so many keyboard warriors are prone to hyperbole these days, I don't trust their judgement of appropriate noise levels. One man's "constant shriek" is another kid's "occasional shout". That's why they need to hash it out with their neighbors, rather than here.
If your only reaction is to go whine online about kids and parents in general, then you've got no one but yourself to blame when nothing changes despite your clevery-worded online tirades. Living in society means you occasionally have to be social, not just rely on social media.
Straw man, my foot. I merely pointed out different cultural norms. It's not normal in America to tell your kids to keep it down when they're playing on their own property during daylight hours.
I maintain that some snowflakes need to get out from behind their keyboards and go talk to their neighbors about any noise issue that's bothering them. It's not hard or scary to be a normal human being. Since so many keyboard warriors are prone to hyperbole these days, I don't trust their judgement of appropriate noise levels. One man's "constant shriek" is another kid's "occasional shout". That's why they need to hash it out with their neighbors, rather than here.
If your only reaction is to go whine online about kids and parents in general, then you've got no one but yourself to blame when nothing changes despite your clevery-worded online tirades. Living in society means you occasionally have to be social, not just rely on social media.
But working it out with the parents is asking them to keep their kids' noise down. Your earlier post, though was talking about how expecting silence was unreasonable. Of course it is. That's not what's under discussion, though.
I fully sympathise with the OP. One of my neighbors has a boy who is about 3 years old. Recently he has started to shriek frequently in a very high pitch which must be damaging to local dogs ears! It's absolutely terrifying. A couple of days ago I went running over to check on him because I had seen him on the street with his babysitter and i assumed from the pitch and longevity of the shrieking that something terrible had happened to him. He was standing looking into the front window of his house screaming into the house for fun and perfectly fine. I'm wondering if there may be a "new school of thought" where parents are being told it's a good thing to allow their little darlings to express themselves that way because, as the parent of two grown sons, I could not imagine ever allowing this behaviour or expecting everyone who lives around me to put up with it! Same child is given his parents car keys so that he can turn the car alarm on and off for half an hour at a time and that's fun for the neighbors too!
Suffering the same thing here. Family of six moved in next door, with four daughters aged between 2 and 8 with lungs like the Canyon.
The houses are right on top of each other, only 8 feet separation, and the screaming goes on for hours. The parents just let them run around the house with little to no supervision, screaming for literally hours on end. Shrill, mind piercing screaming. I think I lost my entire remaining memory of the 3rd grade. It's so loud that when I'm on meetings and on mute the screams trigger the "you're on mute" response from my Teams app. Even the mic picks it up it thinks I'm trying to say something!
To those who say kids will be kids, not so. The previous tenants had two children the same age an in a year and a half I never heard them scream even one time. They were very well behaved children who had engaged parenting. Now, it's countless screams every day. Moving is not an option, though I do have the latest Bose noise-canceling headphones. I do agree that laws don't really help a lot unless it's during designated quiet hours, when they are inside usually. I'm on good terms with their landlord, whom I've known for years. I haven't played that card yet, as they've only been in here a month (though this past month feels like years). I would wager though, that there's a clause in their lease about excessive noise. There may not be a municipal ordinance I can get them on but I bet there's a lease clause about it. I consider it my silver bullet but I may have to use it.
Suffering the same thing here. Family of six moved in next door, with four daughters aged between 2 and 8 with lungs like the Canyon.
The houses are right on top of each other, only 8 feet separation, and the screaming goes on for hours. The parents just let them run around the house with little to no supervision, screaming for literally hours on end. Shrill, mind piercing screaming. I think I lost my entire remaining memory of the 3rd grade. It's so loud that when I'm on meetings and on mute the screams trigger the "you're on mute" response from my Teams app. Even the mic picks it up it thinks I'm trying to say something!
To those who say kids will be kids, not so. The previous tenants had two children the same age an in a year and a half I never heard them scream even one time. They were very well behaved children who had engaged parenting. Now, it's countless screams every day. Moving is not an option, though I do have the latest Bose noise-canceling headphones. I do agree that laws don't really help a lot unless it's during designated quiet hours, when they are inside usually. I'm on good terms with their landlord, whom I've known for years. I haven't played that card yet, as they've only been in here a month (though this past month feels like years). I would wager though, that there's a clause in their lease about excessive noise. There may not be a municipal ordinance I can get them on but I bet there's a lease clause about it. I consider it my silver bullet but I may have to use it.
Unless you have a relationship with the landlord that trumps thousands of dollars a month in rent, you won't get anywhere with them. You certainly won't get anywhere with the city, except laughed off the phone.
FYI, city noise ordinances do exist, but they are written such that they cannot reasonably be applied to screaming children who confine their play to daytime hours. You would need to measure and record the decibel levels and durations of the noise they're generating. Even in very strict cities (mine is one), the municipal code sets the noise limit very high to allow for "typical neighborhood noises" like wood working or home construction. So, usually, the volume that has to cross the property line needs to exceed 100 decibels for an aggregate 30 minutes.
For reference a circular saw generates 110-130 decibels, and a VERY loud child can possibly generate 100 decibels for a very brief moment. No human being alive can sustain 100 decibels for more than 30 minutes without shredding their vocal cords.
Finally, since there is spacing and you say they are screaming inside their house, it's likely that the volume making it across the property line is well below the 100 decibel threshold. Normal conversation is 60dB, and it sounds like that is what is actually making it to you.
Your best bet is to keep a record of the disruption and then go and have a chat with your neighbors about it. Figure out how many hours or minutes a day you are hearing loud screaming, and take note of if it's disturbing regular meetings or your work. If you find that the screaming is actually occurring for less than an aggregate of several hours or so, maybe adjust your own expectations of quiet in a dense neighborhood. Once you have collected the information that your neighbor's children actually ARE constantly screaming for 3-4 hours a day, then figure out when you need/would like quiet and bring that request with you to your neighbors.
And be thankful you didn't have a dog next door that's left home all day while the owner goes to work or goes on vacation. They can and will bark for 10-24 hours straight as well as through the night. Nearly all parents do their best to raise children who can fit in to society without disturbing their neighbors. Also, as you've noticed, children are human beings and can be reasoned with and instructed to observe quiet hours. Dog owners rarely care about the disruption their pets cause, and even if they do there's often nothing that can be done if the animal likes to bark.
Unless you have a relationship with the landlord that trumps thousands of dollars a month in rent, you won't get anywhere with them. You certainly won't get anywhere with the city, except laughed off the phone.
Wrong. Actually I called the city and they were very helpful. They did note a nuisance ordinance that covered this, and as well the landlord agreed it was an issue and they both spoke with the family who has drastically kept the noise down now.
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Screaming Children
