DO NOT call the cops as your first option. Being a teenager myself i can attest that calling the cops for a minor issue before you attempt to settle it yourself is not the way to go. It is a gross misuse of police time and it pisses us off that you cant talk to us like we’re moderately intelligent humans.
While I havent personally done it in the past, many of my peers if asked to leave would ‘mark’ your house. Eggs, soap, toilet paper, and flaming bags of s**t come to mind.
Covering your steps in ice, oil, dirt, caltrops (sharp pointy things), or other such skateboard nasties is a better bet. You won’t be marked because you’ll seem like a superior being. check out books by George Hayduke at http://www.bb.com for more ideas
I had to do this when I moved into an apartment. one of the tenants was a big bully, really. Poor landlord was prety much his door mat. One night, while they were blasting “highway to hell” at 1am while playing football in the street. I got tired and called the cops. Went next door and told the landlord. Soon, a Cop crused by and everything broke up quickly. Then the dimwit redneck who sponsored this little event came over to yell at the landlord. Except he found me standing there. He yelled. "Who the (censored) called the cops?!)
I told him, quietly, but firmly I did. He got the general idea that I didn’t like him, and would keep doing it. After a few more pea-brained attempts at intimidation on his part, he left. The owner found out about it days later and kicked them out personally.
NevarMore: Try this: don’t piss off adults and behave. Tresspassing is something you can get busted for.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Saint Zero *
**Call the Cops.QUOTE]
Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.Sk8boarding is not a crime.
No, skateboarding is not a crime, but trespassing is. Kids who behave like those in moggy’s OP give you guys a bad name.
As for some kids “marking” houses when asked to leave, what’s up with that? I don’t want to hijack the thread, but this just irritates me, always has. It’s infantile and stupid, and it sure as hell doesn’t make people want to treat teenagers like anything but annoying little children. And it’s a damn shame, because so many teens aren’t like that.
No, skateboarding is not a crime. But there are 2 large parking lots and lots of sidewalks to use, instead of MY FRONT WALKWAY!
Next time it happens, I am going to nicely tell the boys not to skate on my sidewalk anymore- no explanations, just “Please don’t skate on my sidewalk.”
If they continue to do it, or “mark” our house, or our cars, I will again tell them not to do it, and then watch them to see where they live (if they live on my block). If I can figure out where they live, then perhaps my husband and I will pay a visit to their house and have a chat with their parents.
IF things continue from there, it’ll probably be time to get the police involved.
I see so many bumper stickers that say “Skateboarding is not a crime” that I have to ask, “Well, who ever said it was?” Maybe there are people who call the police just because people are skateboarding, but I’ve never met any of these people. It’s obviously not the skateboarding that people are against, it’s the tresspassing, loitering, and disturbance of the peace that often come along with it.
(Yeah, yeah, I know. Not all skateboarders trespass, loiter, and disturb the peace. Many that I’ve seen do; that’s just my experience. Towns should just build skate parks for them. The kids might not use them, preferring instead to still go for public stairways, etc., but at least there wouldn’t be any excuses then about not having any place to skate.)
Gravel up your walk. Small gravel is best, about .5cm to 1cm- fishtank sized gravel would be ideal. Any larger and it’s too easy to see, and too easy to clean up. Put up a sign vaguely referring to shooting tresspassers, or punji stakes.
Alternatively, get a big ugly psychotic dog, get it addicted to crystal meth and heroin, and leave it in the front yard. Oh, and don’t feed it too often, it makes the dog even crankier.
You could set up a webcam (most have some kind of movement detection software) and then have fun with the pics, and put them up for your skateboarding friends. (cross-dressing pics involving them dancing with goats might be a deterrent)
Well, then I still stand by my original answer. In my area, there is no law against skateboarding. The people who have the bumper stickers are therefore trying to send a message: “Skateboarders are not engaging in illicit activity just by skateboarding.” I still maintain that since their activity is totally legal, the only problem anyone has with them is when, while engaging in the perfectly legal activity known as skateboarding, they also simultaneously loiter, trespass, and so on. So the slogan and bumper sticker are invalid–no one ever claimed that skateboarding is a crime, but trespassing is.
Scenario B (not in my area) takes place in a town where (as mouthbreather pointed out) it is indeed illegal to skateboard, either completely or in certain areas. The bumper sticker is invalid there too because skateboaarding is indeed a crime, being against some town statute. Maybe if the slogan became, “Skateboarding SHOULDN’T BE a crime,” they’d be on to something, but to say that something ISN’T a crime just because you don’t think it should be is just silly.
“So I punched you in the face. It’s not a CRIME, you know.” Well, actually…
I think that’s the implied message.
I don’t think anyone is honestly interpreting that to mean “The local laws are not as they are written, they are as my bumpersticker says!”
If asking politely doesn’t help, you might try blasting a little Mozart or Bach at them. I know a lot of convenience stores do this to keep kids from loitering and it’s worth a shot.
Not to boast, but I would have this problem solved in 30 seconds. I would grab a couple of the punks by their collars (or whatever), given them a mean stare, look 'em straight in the eye, and tell them to get the hell off my property. Might only take 20 seconds on second thought…
I think the whole problem started because these children weren’t allowed to wear their hats or headphones in class, and are now acting out. (Whoops, wrong thread.)
