Parents not supervising children in common areas

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shesells

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We are having a problem in our development at the moment (and with the summer holidays fast approaching it's going to get worse). Basically some parents just won't supervise their children when they're outside.

We have a small playground and huge communal gardens - so where do some kids want to play?? The car park!!

Kids are darting in and out from between parked cars with cars coming in and out of the development. It is only a matter of time before there's an accident. Add that to accidental damage to cars and to the planting and it's basically something we need to stop.

There is planting around the playground too and it's not malicious in anyway but the kids think nothing of running in and out of the plants, ripping leaves and branches off the shrubs and even attempting to climb the very young trees. We have trellis on the walls and balls are being kicked at the plants.

As owners we all pay the cost of replacing these, plus of insurance for the public areas. Quite simply I've had enough!

There's also another safety issue, unsupervised children may be targetted by undesirables or even "visiting teens" - we live quite near an area with not the best name and sometimes the teenagers decide to come across and hang out on the playground until the gardai move them on.

I am concerned on a couple of levels. One being the financial cost of repairs, one being the lack of parenting and the assumption that the kids will be fine. The final one is that something would happen to a child and even though we have a disclaimer up, if a child had an accident the parents could still claim under the developments insurance.

Regular newsletters go out asking people to supervise their children but it has zero effect on the families concerned.

Any suggestions?
 
Unfortunately no suggestions just sympathy.

I think I live quite near you and yesterday, there was a bike 'parked' against my car, as 6/7 children spent their time racing round the front of my house (not their own!) for some hours. Part of me says it's nice to see them play - but they have back gardens and communal areas for that...
 
Glad to know I'm not alone. Hubby got his car back from the garage a couple of weeks ago after having a dent removed (he reversed into a skip). Next day there's a handlebar dent on the bonnet!

My thinking is would their parents let them play in the car park at a supermarket? Probably not. Here is smaller but the traffic level is proportional so the danger is real. I was always told as a child that a car park was very dangerous and not for playing in.
 
So in essence you want parents to "supervise" their children i.e ensure that they behave in a manner that you believe to be acceptable. If this is what you want then you need to communicate clearly to those parents what your behavioural expectations are. I'd be interested to see how the exchange goes.
However, if you can prove that their children have damaged your property then you have a strong case to go down the legal route - my advice - Don't!
Reason it out, build bridges, not legal cases.
 
You should always drive carefully in residential areas, including car parks, as the chances of hitting children or adults is great.

Children are boisterous, it's true.

Your complaint sounds trivial.
 
Extopia - Sorry if you think my complaint is trivial, I am not complaining about the dent in the car it's about children running wild without supervision.

Orga - it's not about wanting a certain type of behaviour. It's about ensuring that an adult is present on the playground or in the gardens with the kids to ensure that their children are safe. Most parents do supervise their children but three families don't. When one of the kids fell out of (and damaged) a young tree, the parents were nowhere to be seen, a neighbour cleaned him up. There's also been at least one case where the kids have been in the communal gardens and have gone into a ground floor apartment through an open patio door to look around. The owner there got a huge fright (the gardens are accessed from locked gates so the owner had the patio doors open to air the apartment.

I don't think it's safe for these children to play in the car park at all or on the playground (climbing frames etc) without an adult supervising them. They are lovely children but they don't seem to have any sense of danger and that scares me.

I am also sick of having to pay for replacement plants for the area around the car park and playground. The cost adds up really fast. In a neighbouring (sister) development children running unsupervised have done €5k+ worth of damage to plants and why should all owners have to foot the bill for damage done by few?
 
children like to play and they are not proggrammed like machines. let them play where ever they want. And in the old days the community would supervise kids i.e a sence of collective social responsibility.. let kids be kids and yea accidents will happen thats life.

Developers should have ensured that developments are child friendly. If this was not done why not use your energy to advocate for better facilities for kids to play in. I feel sorry for kids having to play on an urban jungle like that
 
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So you want to know how to get parents to supervise their kids? The answer: talk to the parents (go with other parents if you don't want to go yourself) or supervise the kids yourself or do so in concert with the other parents.
If the kids do damage then the parents may be held legally responsible.
My advice: this problem needs to be dealt with in person, sensitively but affirmatively.
 
Will try Orga. Was posting on here to see if anyone else had any experience of this before I call to the parents. Have to tread carefully as it's a sensitive area but one that its in everyones interest to deal with sooner rather than later.
 
It's not your job to speak to the parents, but that of the management company. A friend of mine who lives in an apartment complex spoke to parents about unruly children and his car was keyed the following day. He doesn't think it was a coincidence.
 
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Issue is I am a director of the management company so will be involved. One of the families has been written to before but no reply or action. We do regular newsletters too and they're ignored. Have spoken to one of the Dads before but he doesn't see it as a problem. He says he pays enough in management fees and his kids can play where they want to.
 
Sorry, I meant managing agent not management company.

Some other suggestions:

Bill him for any damage caused by his children.
Add a house rule banning children from playing in the car park and landscaped areas. This should help you if one of them gets injured.
 
I think people see there own childhood through rose tinted specs,we were all a bit silly when we were kids,i caused scrapes and damage to things accidentally when younger,when it happens to my property now i see it as karma,what goes around comes around,vandalism would be a different issue,but kids have to play.
 
A car park is not an appropriate place for children to play. Anybody who allows their child to play in a car park is an idiot at best.

The poster says there is a playground and large gardens in the development.
 
dsid you ever play where you shouldn't have when you were young,does this make your parents irresponsible.
 
aha,so had your parents found out,lets not get on our high horses so quick,dont throw stones in a glass house,there only kids,inform their parents,continue to do so,Rome wasn't built in a day.
 
By your own pen parents who's children play in inappropiate areas are,and i quote you,"are at best idiots".you yourself said you played in these areas but were never caught,what exactly are you saying.I dont agree,I feel all children play in inappropriate areas at some time in their lives.Tell there parents,give it time and maybe things will get better.
 
Perhaps you should re-read my posts - you might have a better understanding of what I was saying.
 
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