I (23F) and my family (mom and sisters) have been being harassed and overall being targeted by two boys in the neighborhood (approx. 9-11 yrs) for the past couple years. It began after my younger sister (13F) stopped talking to one of the boys on their walk to school and at school. We assumed that he and his friend would stop after a couple weeks but it’s been over two years at this point. It’s just been annoying most of the time, throwing garbage in our yard, running through the yard to scare our cats sitting in the windows, blasting music towards our house, etc.. Last year, the two boys began running up to our door and body slamming and kicking the door once a day for two weeks. We asked them politely to stop as it could damage the door/door frame and said that if they did it again we would talk to their parents. They stopped messing with us altogether for a couple months after that then the usual shenanigans resumed minus the kicking/body slamming the door.
However within the last couple months (starting when school ended for the summer), the kids have begun throwing milk cartons from the local lunch in the park program at our house and/or opening the cartons and pouring them in the yard near the door. They’ve also been leaving a speaker near open windows and blasting random sounds and music at all hours of the day and night and tapping on the windows during the day.
Over the weekend, the boys printed out “WANTED” signs with a picture of one of them on it and taped them to each of our windows and both the front and back doors. We took them all down but kept one as evidence of what happened. Then last night around 1:30 am, they were out throwing things towards the house, hitting the street signs with metal poles and blasting music and weird sounds towards the open windows. We’d assumed they had stopped after a while of them finally being quiet, however one of the boys came up to my open window, face on the screen, and whispered menacingly “you’re on the FBI watchlist”. It obviously scared the shit out of me and I said “wtf dude, leave and don’t do it again”. Then the other boy did the same exact thing at my window. I got up and asked my younger sister if they’d also done it to her, she had her window closed so we assumed they didn’t try talking, but she said she heard tapping on her window. My mom went outside to see where they were or if they were still in the yard and saw them sneaking back to under my window again. My mom told them if she caught them doing it again that we would call the police and make a report.
We also will be talking to their parents later today when they get home. Ideally, we don’t want to call the police, but I honestly don’t think they’d stop even after talking with the parents. I think the police telling them to stop might scare them off enough to where they stop bothering us entirely though.
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I (23F) and my family (mom and sisters) have been being harassed and overall being targeted by two boys in the neighborhood (approx. 9-11 yrs) for the past couple years. It began after my younger sister (13F) stopped talking to one of the boys on their walk to school and at school. We assumed that he and his friend would stop after a couple weeks but it’s been over two years at this point. It’s just been annoying most of the time, throwing garbage in our yard, running through the yard to scare our cats sitting in the windows, blasting music towards our house, etc.. Last year, the two boys began running up to our door and body slamming and kicking the door once a day for two weeks. We asked them politely to stop as it could damage the door/door frame and said that if they did it again we would talk to their parents. They stopped messing with us altogether for a couple months after that then the usual shenanigans resumed minus the kicking/body slamming the door.
However within the last couple months (starting when school ended for the summer), the kids have begun throwing milk cartons from the local lunch in the park program at our house and/or opening the cartons and pouring them in the yard near the door. They’ve also been leaving a speaker near open windows and blasting random sounds and music at all hours of the day and night and tapping on the windows during the day.
Over the weekend, the boys printed out “WANTED” signs with a picture of one of them on it and taped them to each of our windows and both the front and back doors. We took them all down but kept one as evidence of what happened. Then last night around 1:30 am, they were out throwing things towards the house, hitting the street signs with metal poles and blasting music and weird sounds towards the open windows. We’d assumed they had stopped after a while of them finally being quiet, however one of the boys came up to my open window, face on the screen, and whispered menacingly “you’re on the FBI watchlist”. It obviously scared the shit out of me and I said “wtf dude, leave and don’t do it again”. Then the other boy did the same exact thing at my window. I got up and asked my younger sister if they’d also done it to her, she had her window closed so we assumed they didn’t try talking, but she said she heard tapping on her window. My mom went outside to see where they were or if they were still in the yard and saw them sneaking back to under my window again. My mom told them if she caught them doing it again that we would call the police and make a report.
We also will be talking to their parents later today when they get home. Ideally, we don’t want to call the police, but I honestly don’t think they’d stop even after talking with the parents. I think the police telling them to stop might scare them off enough to where they stop bothering us entirely though.
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> The action that should be judged is potentially calling the police to make a report of neighborhood children and their parents for harassing me/my family. The action might make me/us the asshole by calling the police for kids being kids even though it’s not funny for them to be talking thru the windows at 1:30 Am
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
You wouldn’t be wrong to call the police if the harassment continues what you’ve described goes beyond harmless pranks and is crossing into trespassing and intimidation. Talking to their parents first is a good step but if it doesn’t stop, involving authorities is reasonable to protect your family’s safety and peace.
NTA. If these kids are 9-11 years old and are out at 1-2 a.m. they don’t have parents who care enough to change their behavior. I would have called the police years ago…. Now is the time to start collecting all evidence – the trash, the signs, and ESPECIALLY video/images of them with their faces in your window if you can get it. Peeping Tom’s don’t get “talked to” by police – they get arrests and records (much deserved at this point).
This started when they were 7 or 9 years old?
Honestly, I don’t know how you’ve put up with this for so long. I would have called when it started happening.
You are NTA. And, you might consider setting up cameras outside to collect evidence.
NTA, alternatively you can call CPS
NTA Make a diary of this behavior. Depending on your country, you can take their parents to court for being a public nuisance. You can get damages. Their parents will step in when they receive a letter from a lawyer threatening a law suit for breaching the peace.
YWBTA if you went to the police without giving the parents a chance to address this. These are shitty children, not hardened criminals. The appropriate solution is discipline from the parents.
If the parents refuse to rein in their kids, then you MIGHT consider calling the police. But honestly, I’m seeing stupid shenanigans, not anything dangerous or damaging. My threshold for calling the cops has gotten a lot higher over the last decade, as cops have gotten a lot worse.
NTA. This is harassment and it needs to stop. Absolutely not okay to be looking into the windows of your home, what if someone had been undressed? What if they’ve been looking in and gone unnoticed? Helllll no this should have been called in months ago.
I hope you’ve been video recording as much as possible so it’s not a he said-she said scenario. They should absolutely be held accountable.
I wouldn’t bother with the parents. It seems as if they are not paying attention to their children and may not listen or change anything if you do talk to them. You should just go directly to the police. Do you have any cameras?
NTA. Get cameras and start documenting. Call the cops and file charges for trespassing, vandalism, harassment and trasspassing. Do this Consistently Get a notebook and write down every instance. Get your neighbors to do the same thing.
It sounds exhausting but I have read enough posts similar to your and this is basically what works.
Call the parents, cops, and CPS. Everything you’ve laid out points to irresponsible parents who are raising burdens to society. If they don’t learn now, they’ll end up in prison anyways. I’d just get it over with now. They’ve already done enough for you guys to get a trespass on your property, so I would bring that up too especially when talking to the parents. Definitely get one though, that way if they do anything again they’ll get arrested.
Trust me, getting the cops and CPS involved is doing them a favor.
This goes beyond needing to call the cops. If underage children are just out and about harassing people, you need to call CPS.
why have you not AT LEAST contacted the parents already? you’ve been long-since justified contacting the cops. grow a SPINE
NTA. Call the police on the little shits. They need the crap scared out of them or they’ll only do worse shit when they get older. Where the fuck is their dad to knock some sense into them…
Why haven’t you talked to their parents already??
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I don’t know why you are hesitant to call the police, but you need to! Or at least CPS since these kids are out in the middle of the night.
Little menaces grow up to be adult menaces and AH’s do yourself a favor and call the cops