Driving westbound on Sylvania last night, right in front of the McDonalds, and suddenly "Boom", something hit the passenger side of my van. I quickly turned and looked while my wife told me that 3 kids just threw a rock at our van. My van is a piece of crap and although I wasn't worried about dents or scratches, I was glad that the rock didn't hit the glass because changing them is a bigger pain in the butt.
Anyway, we u-turned and as the 3 kids ran northward on Lockwood, we followed. About 4 houses down they all ran behind the houses there. We went downt he road a little then turned back towards Sylvania and parked in front of where the kids ran. One of the kids ran onto a porch, spoke with a woman sitting there and then went into the house. It was duplex.
As we were sitting there, a young woman came up to us and asked what happened. I told her and then the woman sitting on the porch asked, "My Michael?" to which the other woman said, no Michael so and so down the street.
We called 911 and within 3 minutes 2 squad cars were there. I got out and told the officer what happened. I explained that one of the kids just went into the house we were sitting in front of. He approached the house and asked the woman sitting on the porch to speak with the little boy. She told him that she didn't have any kids. The cop asked her about the boy who ran into the house and she told him that wasn't her kid and that she lived upstairs. He then asked her something and she got mad and started yelling about something. The cop then raised his voice and told her that he needed to speak to the boy. So, while she stated that the boy wasn't hers and she lived upstairs, she did open the door to the boys house and tell him to come out and speak to the police. She also complained, very loudly, that the kids have bicycles so what did they need to throw rocks for.
The police spoke to the little boy and they walked down the street to another house, except the woman seated on this front porch. The porch lady started calling people on her phone. She was so loud while talking on the phone, telling everyone she spoke to that "They need to park down the road at their house and not bring this "shit" in front of her house." After about a minute another car pulled up but one of the police cars were blocking the shared driveway so the car turned around and parked behind my van. She got out yelling about her driveway being blocked. Then her and porch lady started yelling about how all these cars shouldn't be in front of their house and how they should all go down the street to this "other house".
About 10 minutes later the cops returned to my van and told me that they talked to the parents and I could file a damage report if I wanted because the parents would have to take care of it. I told him that I only wanted to prevent any future rock throwing to be prevented and didn't really care about my dents/dings. And as porch lady was still yelling about something I got in my van and left.
I can't be sure but about a month ago I thought I saw the same 3 boys trying to throw a pretty big broken branch or small log onto the street right in front of cars that were going by.
The way the "Porch lady" acted surprised me. To lie about the boy being related to her in some way and avoiding the police when all they wanted to do was ask questions. Also, how the alledged mother sped home after being called by the porch lady and was also upset about the cars, but not about what her son was involved in.
It is my firm belief that behaviors and problems start with parents not parenting their kids. The lack of awareness that standing in plain view and throwing a rock at a moving vehicle like they didn't care is an example of society today.
It was my junky van today, tomorrow it could be a really nice car or someone's window that if shattered could cause a major accident and/or injury.
I don't think more pools, more police, cameras, or even a science center will stop this type of behavior. Unless you can hold parents accountable for their children at all times, this type of behavior will escalate.
Sometimes, I just want to move to the mountains and take my chances with nature and wildlife.
My own crime experience
Comments ... #
"It is my firm belief that behaviors and problems start with parents not parenting their kids."
Couldn't have said it better, hockeyfan. You did the right thing, though. Maybe the kids won't do it again because you went to the trouble to follow them and call police. Unfortunately, many people don't even bother to call police in such instances.
WHen my eldest daughter was 4 she got caught with a bunch of other kids putting rocks inside snowballs and throwing them at cars. One of them broke a car window.
Every parent punished their child and made them help pay for the car window. And in our house she was "grounded for life."
To this day at 57 she swears she was innocent. I told her in our house you were guilty till proven innocent. And if you hang with kids that do bad things you are as guilty as they are.
Some where after the time I was a kid and my girls were kids parenting changed and not for the better. I was taught to respect other people and their property and passed that on to my kids. Now no one seems to have respect for anyone or anything.
Agreed Jackie. If my parents would have caught me doing that or even being around kids that did that, I would have still be sitting here grounded at 46 years old.
I don't think my parents were perfect, but I was taught to respect other's property and take responsibility for my actions.
Somewhere parenting did change and I think it changed for the worse.
I don't know why it happened or who is to blame, but it seems that parents now work more outside the home to get more material things for themselves and their kids, but lack the time they are actually involved with their kids. It's like they think it's more important to give kids a cell phone than to sit with them and do homework or get involved with them at some level.
Whether it's at stores, parks, or in schools, kids act like animals and the parents just let it happen. There's no discipline.
And respect? If I would have talked to adults like some kids talk to me, I probably wouldn't have any teeth left. Now it's like kids have been taught not to fear anyone or anything. It's like the first thing out of their mouth is how they are going to sue or call the police.
I'm completely aware of what could happen from getting physically involved with a young person over a dispute, but that wouldn't prevent from doing so if I thought it was necessary and a last resort.
Maybe time has passed me by and I'm just becoming an old fogey.
...I could file a damage report if I wanted because the parents would have to take care of it.
Which is what you should have done. Having to pay for the damage caused by their children is pure punishment for the adult parent, plus there is now an official record of the children's behavior that might help a future victim.
Yeah, the parents should be held responsible. The police did their bit and spent more time on it than I would have thought.
To this day at 57 she swears she was innocent.
53 years later? Huh. You don't suppose she's really telling the truth, do you?
porch "ladies" with cell phones...beautiful. The price paid for letting a once decent neighborhood go to hell.
posted by justareviewer on Jun 23, 2012 at 10:39:12 am # 2 people liked this
I can tell you were some of the parenting has been lost. It's because of the Nazi Children Services. I know from personal experience.
My oldest boy kept biting his little brothers. He kept doing it even after a butt whooping, grounding, and other things.
I told him if he keeps doing it that I was going to do it to him to see how he likes it. Well, he kept doing it so I bit him. I didn't break skin or even leave marks, unlike what he did to his brothers. His Counselor called CPS on me and had me investigate for child abuse.
another time my youngest son's teacher called CPS on me because I let them build a fort under the table one night and they didn't get enough sleep so he was tired at school and fell asleep at nap time in Kindergarten and wouldn't get up. That time they investigated me for neglect??
posted by lfrost2125 on Jun 23, 2012 at 11:16:47 am # 1 person liked this
madjack
Whether it was the truth or not was immaterial to me. Hang out with a crowd doing bad things and you are guilty also.
I always worked and my mother went to work after us kids were in school. So I don't think the fact that mothers are working has anything to do with this.
It is the values that our parents instilled in us that we passed on to our children that count. Where that went awry I do not know. I do get tickled when I hear my own children parroting the phrases I used on them.
I really don't understand the need for destruction. My cars sit in a driveway that runs parallel to road and at least once during every summer someone throws things out of their car window at our cars, or scratches them. Brand new scratch on my car this week as a matter of fact. No rhyme or reason, we just happen to live on a corner with a stop sign. So aggravating.
tlm,
I not sure of the name of it is but my mom got a scratch at work on her brand new van when one of the punk students decided to run a key down the side. She bought a scratch removal kit from 3M. I was surprised how well it worked you can't even see where the scratches were.
posted by lfrost2125 on Jun 23, 2012 at 12:54:44 pm #
Thanks! I'll check it out. The car is six months old, I'm surprised I made it this long. :(
I live in Sylvania and my car was parked on the street. During the night, someone threw eggs on my car and pulled my front bumper out on the driver's side. Kids these days just do not care and have no respect for anyone, including themselves. I would file a report, hockeyfan... Make them pay and MAYBE they will learn a lesson.
posted by golddustwoman on Jun 24, 2012 at 12:07:10 pm #
"Kids these days just do not care and have no respect for anyone, including themselves."
I don't think there's any community immune to vandalism, destruction of property, etc., by kids anymore. For the first time in my neighborhood, we're having problems with kids who park near a wooded area near our home and set off firecrackers, set bonfires, and then get into street fights at around 1 a.m. every night. It's just a matter of time before they start causing mayhem to property. My neighbor has decided to get a gun as a result. I think it's going to be a long, hot summer.
I can tell you were some of the parenting has been lost. It's because of the Nazi Children Services. I know from personal experience.
My oldest boy kept biting his little brothers. He kept doing it even after a butt whooping, grounding, and other things.
I told him if he keeps doing it that I was going to do it to him to see how he likes it. Well, he kept doing it so I bit him. I didn't break skin or even leave marks, unlike what he did to his brothers. His Counselor called CPS on me and had me investigate for child abuse.
another time my youngest son's teacher called CPS on me because I let them build a fort under the table one night and they didn't get enough sleep so he was tired at school and fell asleep at nap time in Kindergarten and wouldn't get up. That time they investigated me for neglect??
I agree with you, lfrost2125. I had a similar personal experience in another state.
Child Services, in most cities, suck and aren't worth the crap paper in an outhouse.
Dean Sparks should be dragged out of his office and hung for the horrors he's allowed to occur and continue on his watch while collecting a fat pay check. How does he sleep at night? I have no idea.
posted by hockeyfan on Jun 25, 2012 at 12:27:41 am # 1 person liked this
Bikerdude, if you see kids out past curfew definitely report it.
Curfew hours:
If you are under the age of 11, your restricted hours are from:
10:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m.
If you are between the ages of 11 and 15, your restricted hours are from:
11:00 p.m. until 5 a.m.
If you are 16 or 17 years old, your restricted hours are from:
12:00 Midnight until 5:00 a.m.
...she got mad and started yelling about something...
...She also complained, very loudly, that the kids have bicycles so what did they need to throw rocks for...
...The porch lady started calling people on her phone. She was so loud while talking on the phone...
...She got out yelling about her driveway being blocked. Then her and porch lady started yelling about how all these cars shouldn't be in front of their house...
...And as porch lady was still yelling about something I got in my van and left.
Maybe I've watched too many episodes of "Cops" or "Judge Judy", but I swear that some people think if they can yell the loudest they will win or make people shrink away. If they just keep braying like jackasses the problem will fix itself. Annoying.
I grew up in the 80's, which were not the 1950's by any stretch of the imagination. However, had a police officer come to my house and told my parents...on the porch, in the kitchen, out in the backyard...that they needed to talk to me and why, I guarantee my parents would have been so embarrassed as all hell and gone quietly to get me and hoped like hell the neighbors wouldn't notice the cop car out front. The last thing they would have done would be call attention to the fact their kid was being questioned by the cops.
And that's not even contemplating what would have happened if I actually did do the crime in question. The cops would have had to take me out of the house due to the rage in my parents eyes and the bubbling veins in their foreheads...
Different values, I guess. I wish the cops could say "STFU" to people who do nothing but backtalk them or confound investigations without fear of some "rights infringement" lawsuit or hurt feelings lawsuit or whatever...
posted by oldhometown on Jun 25, 2012 at 12:03:33 pm #
What has happened to the time honored rule that when the street lights came on you better be home. No excuses were ever allowed or exceptions at our house.
"I wish the cops could say "STFU" to people who do nothing but backtalk them or confound investigations without fear of some "rights infringement" lawsuit or hurt feelings lawsuit or whatever..."
Got a nephew in the TPD. Still recovering from a broken hand he got when he punched a refrigerator instead of the husband in a domestic dispute, just to get the guy to shut up. These people know exactly what the cops can and cannot do to them, so they bait them and backtalk and the cops have to take it if they don't have a good reason to haul them out of there in cuffs.
Jackie, you think the parents had those rules? What goes around, come around.
I long for the day like long ago when kids could be kids and parents were parents and took the responsibility of parenting seriously. I can see NO reason for a 10 or 11 year old being at at 10 or 11 p.m. And heck I had a curfew when dating in high school and it wasn't midnight.
I had a curfew when dating in high school and it wasn't midnight.
2:30 AM, wasn't it? Or did you get to stay out until 3?
I don't know much of anything about Dean Sparks, but if you think he's doing a poor job the people to blame are the Lucas County Commissioners: Pete Gerken, Tina Skeldon Wozniak and Carol Contrada. Being that they are elected officials, I'm certain that they're extremely concerned about LCCS's performance. Someday they may even go so far as to form a committee to evaluate the relative merit of conducting an investigation into LCCS on some level.
Meantime, the rest of the world is stuck with the delinquent children who are not being raised by responsible, law abiding parents.
When I was a kid, my summer bedtime came well before the sun went down. Same thing for Mr. Gamegrrl. My parents knew where I was at all times.
As for the "loud talking" culture that has become so common, I just don't get it. Around here, EVERYONE yells. Yelling on their cell phone. Yelling down the street. Yelling when they're fighting as well as when they're not. It's the cell phone yelling that I really don't get. I so do not want to hear your conversation, person who lives across the street from me. You're disgusting, and I really don't want the gory details of your disgutingness broadcast to me as I sit on my porch to enjoy a nice summer evening.
madjack
Curfew was 10 p.m. on week days and 11 p.m. on weekends. I had mean old parents or so I thought.
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