From: rtener@pyrman2.mis.pyramid.com (Rex Tener)
Newsgroups: ba.general,misc.kids,misc.legal
Subject: Re: East Bay Regional Parks/dog restrictions
Date: 6 Oct 92 17:57:21 GMT
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA

In article hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E. Schaffer) writes:
>In article leadfoot@bigbootay.sw.stratus.com (Mark Curtis) writes:
>>I view your children as a nuisance!  They aren't all that attractive
>>either, but I'm not talking about looks.  They run around carelessly,
>>break, trash, and trespass with no concern for what they're told. ...
>
>  This shows a seriously high level of hostility towards children.
>A 5 year old who wanders across a property line - is that what this
>hostility is all about?

I can't speak for Mark, but I'll take a stab at why I'm hostile to 
unrestrained children.

I just survived five months of a living hell.  Seven children, belonging
to three different families, ranging in age from three to ten terrorized
my girlfriend and I on a daily basis.  The final solution was for us 
to move.

Daily we were subject to kids screaming for hours on end,
children playing on top of our cars, children playing baseball while
using my car as a backstop, and kids using our bedroom wall as a backstop,
Weekly we were subject to children urinating off their balcony and on to
our stairs.  Several times these kids ran their bicycles into the side
of my car.

One evening these children were stacking cinder blocks in the street 
trying to cause a car accident.  That is exactly what they told
me when I asked them what they were trying to accomplish.  This is
the only time I've dialed '911' in California.

I talked with the parents almost on a weekly basis.  I tried
to be as diplomatic as possible, never accusing their children,
just explaining to them the problems and could they make sure
their children stayed away from our cars.

The parents just didn't care.  I had one parent advise me that if 
I even touched or restrained her child, that she would make sure
I was arrested.  

This all took place in Mountain View, Silicon Valley, California.
Supposedly an upper-middle class community.

>>I don't want them around, I told them to stay out, I told their parents
>>that they weren't welcome, and that is as far as it goes.  Beyond that
>>it is their parents who are their legal responsibility.  I didn't build
 
>  Fine, and there are legitimate ways for you to enforce this.  Hurting
>or killing the trespassing children just isn't allowable.

Name them.  I consulted our family attorney and he indicated
that moving would be the easiest way to deal with the problem.
In California, if kids want to terrorize you, there is nothing you
can do.  When I originally posted this to rec.autos, I received at
least five emails from people who had sold their homes to get
away from children like the ones I described above.

The ironic part is that I love kids.  However, I would never wish these
children on any neighborhood, not even Henry's.

Rex Tener                                                 rtener@pyramid.com
Pyramid Technology                                            A.M.A. #580669 
"Radical is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air." - F.D.R. (1944)
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