NY - Parents May Face Jail Over Kid's Backyard Noise

[SewingDeb]

I listened to the tape and didn't see what the problem is but I also saw an interview with the neighbors. The reporter asked them how many complained and they all raised their hands. It must be continuous and that's what they have a problem with.

It is up to the parents to quiet the children down. The father promises he will.

 

[JBean]

I listened to the tape and didn't see what the problem is but I also saw an interview with the neighbors. The reporter asked them how many complained and they all raised their hands. It must be continuous and that's what they have a problem with.

It is up to the parents to quiet the children down. The father promises he will.

I think you have summed it up nicely.
I think this is what should have happened in the first place. the parents should have worked with the neighborhood to come up with a winning solution. That would have kept it from going to court, taught the kids a thing or two and created some good will in the community.

 

[bigbuck]

Has anyone complained? It's only lacking common courtesy if someone registers a complaint, over and over and over and over and you ignore it.

ETA: But you have made my point. It's not about kids being bad it's that they just don't realize. this is about the parents, IMO

No, nobody has complained in the three years we've had the pool and I'd like to keep it that way. It's funny, when you get my kids in our pool and the family behind us three kids in their's the area can sound like a war zone, and we have never had a problem.

 

[Taximom]

HI taximom. I didn't get the impression they wanted the kids to be "quiet". I think they just want them down to a reasonable sound level so that everyone can enjoy their backyards.
Like I said, after being raised with 8 kids and a pool and then raising my own 5 with a pool, and all their friends, it takes a lot to ruffle my feathers in the noise dept.
But not everyone has the kind of patience with noise and I totally respect that.


ETA: what do you think about my neighbor complaining about the basketball backboard?

We lived next to a teenage boy when I was having baby after baby and wasn't getting any sleep. That boy liked to play basketball for hours! We didn't complain. He stopped at 9 pm and didn't start early in the a.m., but it was still annoying. I just turned a fan on to help with the noise.

Funny thing is, now our kids play basketball and the teen's mom remarried and has a bunch of small kids now. When they were newborns, I made sure we tried to keep quiet w/the balls etc.

We teach our children common courtesy, but they don't always get it. They are just having fun in their little world. Won't be long till that 11 and 5 yr old are locked up in their bedrooms not saying a thing to anyone! (Teen girls!)

Our other neighbors' teen son has one of those "boom-box" car stereo systems which actually rattles the walls of homes 2 doors down. He played it at all hours when they first moved in. You can bet there were a lot of complaints about that!

 

[whitywendy]

Gosh I don;t know if that is directed at me, but I reread my posts and didn't see rotten or nasty or out of control references at all.I'll have to go back and see if other posters made those refernces. I don't think that is the case. I think kids are kids and they don't know how loud they are. That is what parents are for. To teach them boundaries and consideration. has nothing to be with being rotten or nasty. Just about being taught proper voice and scream levels. lol.
I agree this is not a court matter.

Oh no JBean, that was not directed at you. Look back at the first page and you will see what I was talking about. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[SewingDeb]

I think you have summed it up nicely.
I think this is what should have happened in the first place. the parents should have worked with the neighborhood to come up with a winning solution. That would have kept it from going to court, taught the kids a thing or two and created some good will in the community.

Exactly. It should never have come to this.

 

[bigbuck]

I think you have summed it up nicely.
I think this is what should have happened in the first place. the parents should have worked with the neighborhood to come up with a winning solution. That would have kept it from going to court, taught the kids a thing or two and created some good will in the community.

BINGO! It's not that hard to be a good neighbor or, parent. All it takes is a little effort and, use a bit of what's called common sense.

:clap:

 

[JBean]

No, nobody has complained in the three years we've had the pool and I'd like to keep it that way. It's funny, when you get my kids in our pool and the family behind us three kids in their's the area can sound like a war zone, and we have never had a problem.

Then there is no problem and no courtesy has been violated. I feel like getting in a pool now!

 

[JBean]

We lived next to a teenage boy when I was having baby after baby and wasn't getting any sleep. That boy liked to play basketball for hours! We didn't complain. He stopped at 9 pm and didn't start early in the a.m., but it was still annoying. I just turned a fan on to help with the noise.

Funny thing is, now our kids play basketball and the teen's mom remarried and has a bunch of small kids now. When they were newborns, I made sure we tried to keep quiet w/the balls etc.

We teach our children common courtesy, but they don't always get it. They are just having fun in their little world. Won't be long till that 11 and 5 yr old are locked up in their bedrooms not saying a thing to anyone! (Teen girls!)

Our other neighbors' teen son has one of those "boom-box" car stereo systems which actually rattles the walls of homes 2 doors down. He played it at all hours when they first moved in. You can bet there were a lot of complaints about that!

Just to be clear, I don't think it is the kids that don't have commoin courtesy. Kids are kids are kids. I hold their parents responsible for not coming up with some sort of compromise and teaching this to the children.
I would not have let my kids yell and scream until 9 pm, so as not to disturb neighbors. They can still splash, play and have a great time.
As a matter of fact, my kids managed to be really really quiet when they didn't want me to come out and see what they were doiing, like slide down the slide with their pants off. lol.

 

[JBean]

BINGO! It's not that hard to be a good neighbor or, parent. All it takes is a little effort and, use a bit of what's called common sense.

:clap:

Agreed. I think if this group could have come together, like adults, this would have never seen the inside of the court room.
I can see having one neighbor that is grumpy. But so many neighbors unhappy about the situation? Something is up.

 

[JBean]

Oh no JBean, that was not directed at you. Look back at the first page and you will see what I was talking about. Sorry for the confusion.

Don't worry be happy!

 

[JBean]

I noticed that the complainer in the story has 5 dogs. There must be some ordinance against having that many dogs in a residiential neighborhood. But, the fact that is supposedly a posh neighborhood sums it up for me also. The kids yelling and playing probably annoys the nieghbors who is probably like Mrs. Drysdale (from the Beveryly Hillibillies) with their 5 dogs sitting out on the patio. I hope the poop scoop daily because the smell of that would be much worse than kids playing.

HI tsv. In my town, if you have over 3 dogs you can apply for an exception to the "no more than 3 dog" rule. Part of that approval process is sign off by the neighbors on your street. If they don't mind, animal control will probably allow more than 3 dogs. I just signed off on my neighbors because they have 2 Great Danes, 2 little scruffy dogs and one other little cutie. they clean up after them, they never bark and are very well behaved. So I don't mind at all.

ETA: point being they take the consideration of the community into account when making thes decisions.

 

[bigbuck]

When I first moved here almost four years ago. Our new next door neighbors came to visit. They raise five Russian wolfhounds or something like that in a large kennel on their property. They also have two of the little scruffy dogs that live inside the house.

They told me they had problems with the previous owner about the noise of their dogs. I laughed and looked over at the pool being put in my yard and told them if they can handle my noisey family I will handle their dogs. I must say these people have the quietest seven dogs on this earth. I only wish we were as quiet.

 

[sherri79]

i think there is enough blame for both sides. kids are kids. they splash and scream when they jump in cold water. its normal. no matter how fancy the place you live if it allows kids expect to hear them playing. more and more often we see nice expensive houses built on top of each other. when kids are pushed up against the neighbors house and act like normal kids this will happen. the neighbors need to understand that it is summer and kids need to be kids. expect you will hear them play. the parents need to remember they picked a home near other people. show respect for those that live near you. adults should be able to sit down and speak to each other. watching the interview with the dog lady makes the picture easy for me to imagine. she goes to the parents and says something like "cant you tell your kids to be quite? its so rude how loud they are and I've had it." the parent get defensive and respond with " there is nothing wrong with my kids. how dare you insult my kids" neither side makes peace and it is down hill from there.

 

[whitywendy]

HI tsv. In my town, if you have over 3 dogs you can apply for an exception to the "no more than 3 dog" rule. Part of that approval process is sign off by the neighbors on your street. If they don't mind, animal control will probably allow more than 3 dogs. I just signed off on my neighbors because they have 2 Great Danes, 2 little scruffy dogs and one other little cutie. they clean up after them, they never bark and are very well behaved. So I don't mind at all.

ETA: point being they take the consideration of the community into account when making thes decisions.

IMO, sounds like the woman didn't take into consideration that these young girls are just CHILDREN. NOT ADULTS. Let children be children before they grow up and become obsessed with money, prestige and living in an PLUSH neighbor........................................

 

[JBean]

IMO, sounds like the woman didn't take into consideration that these young girls are just CHILDREN. NOT ADULTS. Let children be children before they grow up and become obsessed with money, prestige and living in an PLUSH neighbor........................................

Well if you are going to make those kinds of broad assumptions based on the adjective "plush" used to describe the neighborhood, I guess we can also assume these kids are spoiled rotten and their parents let them do whatever they want.
Just to clarify, I don't think either of our assumptions are reasonable, I am making a point.

 

[STEADFAST]

Well if you are going to make those kinds of broad assumptions based on the adjective "plush" used to describe the neighborhood, I guess we can also assume these kids are spoiled rotten and their parents let them do whatever they want.
Just to clarify, I don't think either of our assumptions are reasonable, I am making a point.

One of the neighbors who complained is a plumber. Hardly the Drysdales -- as they've been compared to on this thread!

I'd also like to point out that posters who believe that these girls' parents should take this opportunity to teach them consideration of others are just as likely to have children and to love children and to want children to have happy childhoods as the posters who think the girls should be allowed to be as loud as they please in their pool are.

I, myself, have children AND grandchilren whom I love dearly, and yet I still believe they should show consideration for others EVEN WHILE THEY ARE OUTSIDE PLAYING.

 

[JBean]

One of the neighbors who complained is a plumber. Hardly the Drysdales -- as they've been compared to on this thread!

I'd also like to point out that posters who believe that these girls' parents should take this opportunity to teach them consideration of others are just as likely to have children and to love children and to want children to have happy childhoods as the posters who think the girls should be allowed to be as loud as they please in their pool are.

I, myself, have children AND grandchilren whom I love dearly, and yet I still believe they should show consideration for others EVEN WHILE THEY ARE OUTSIDE PLAYING.

The Drysdales LOL!

As for the rest of your post, well said and I agree.

 

[MeoW333]

These kids were screaming like they were being murdered for hours and hours. Ear piercing splitting noises. No neighbor should have to deal with that. I have no idea why the parents didn't nip this in the bud before it progressed. It also, aside from being an annoyance, is almost like crying wolf; if the little girls ever really needed help, people would think they were going about their normal screaming. The neighbor's should have addressed the parents first. If nothing was done, the parents should have got a verbal reprimand. If still nothing, give the parents a ticket. No child in my neighborhood plays like that and we have tons of kids that live here.
About the woman with the dogs?- i don't see how that is relevant either. Many people have dogs trained; more so the dogs are used to certain sounds and would bark only if someone was knocking on their own door or in their own property.

 

[txsvicki]

Actually the article said that it was a posh neighborhood. I assumed they were all pretty wealthy. The plumber could own his businesses I suppose. Posters are right that the kids shouldn't be screaming loudly for hours, but I guess the judge has to go by the law and hours that noise is considered a public nuisance? I was told that college students who held wild parties at all hours next door to me couldn't be reported until after 9 pm, and I know that it's not legal or code to have more than 3 dogs in the city here. I just figured that most cities have rules about how many dogs are allowed just as much as about noise or public disturbances since the article did make sure to point out that the lady has 5 dogs, and she herself brought it up by saying in the interview that the 5 dogs "don't even make that much noise", so they have to be pretty noisy and she knows that it could be annoying or she wouldn't have even mentioned the dogs.