Ring and dash pranking by kids in my neighbourhood, what can be done?

Magnifiqalex

I am not sure if this is the right topic to post in, but thought it would be the closest after searching through others, if it is not kindly request anyone to guide me to the proper thread.

I am in Dublin. So some kids are continuuosly ringing the bell and running away, these are of range 8-14. They start by 4 pm till 8 pm. I tried switching off my bell but its too much work rewiring in order to turn it back again. I have work so can't really follow them to look for their houses to talk to their parents. Recently I did catch one girl without even touching her and just asked for her address and she started crying. Her father came as her friends called, they lived nearby(which i did not know). When he came he was all concerned with his daughter, not at all concerned with the cause or the problems, he just said his side and went back. I am new to this area, its a new house and I dont want to go to the authorities as i dont want to ruin the possible relationships with nearby families due to their kids( although i am not sure if police can or will do something to fix this).

My only question is how to deal with this, they are just so adamant, Its kinda feels harassment now, I am totally losing it. What are my possible options in this situation?

Peregrinus

The kids are looking for a reaction and by reacting in any way, amused or angry or anything else, you give then what they want and so reinforce the behaviour. The quickest way to stop this behaviour is to stop answering the door to them, and never say anything about the doorbell having been rung.

Buy a new doorbell of the kind that you can switch off. Or install a webcam so you can see who's ringing your bell and decide whether you want to answer or not.

This requires you to be more patient than the kids. But adults are generally good at being more patient than kids, so you're playing to your strengths here.

bobbyy gee

disconnect bell .lock gate top window throw out bucket water call garda

Peregrinus

bobbyy gee wrote: »

disconnect bell .lock gate top window throw out bucket water call garda

ineffective and unwise.

Ineffective, because reacting to the kids will merely reinforce the attention-seeking behaviour.

Unwise, because calling the guards on yourself immediately after you have assaulted someone tends not to go well for you.

_Brian

By “catching” the kid and making her cry your now the neighbourhood crank.

The local crank will forever be harassed for the crack.

You need to break the cycle by ignoring what is going on and hope they get bored and move on to someone else.

Halloween is approaching, I’d suggest being decently generous with the local kids to maybe show how sound you are

irelandrover

Id advise to get a ring doorbell, can be muted during certain times but you will still be able to see who is at the door and ringing the bell.
Once you stop reacting the kids will grow tired off the game.

shesty

Yeah, ignore.
Also winter is coming, it will be too dark for them soon. School and homework will kick in in the coming weeks also.
Kids keep doing something when they get a reaction - this is very annoying but in the scheme of things not massively serious, so do your best to ignore.
Get one of those videocam bells either, so you can see whether it is someone you need to amswer or not.

colm_mcm

I dont think a video cam doorbell will improve things.

iamwhoiam

Years ago when we had that problem we taped a bottle top over the bell .Use whatever will cover the bell and tape it down firmly .

amadangomor

colm_mcm wrote: »

I dont think a video cam doorbell will improve things.

I would go back to the parent and say nicely that you have a camera at your doorbell and if it happens again the video will be shown to the Gardai.

Do you really want to have good relations with someone who totally disregarded your peace of mind whilst not reprimanding his daughter for bad behaviour.

JeffKenna

amadangomor wrote: »

I would go back to the parent and say nicely that you have a camera at your doorbell and if it happens again the video will be shown to the Gardai.

Do you really want to have good relations with someone who totally disregarded your peace of mind whilst not reprimanding his daughter for bad behaviour.

And what are the Gardai going to do to a young child? Far worse is happening in estates every day. The OP should take the advise of this thread on board and just ignore it.

Darc19

I used to love doing this and getting the chase.

Similarly I used to love robbing orchards and getting the chase.

Nice to see kids doing the old stuff again.

Yes it's annoying, but laugh at it and ignore it and they'll move on.

Or put a dummy camera at the door

But a reaction and chasing them is exactly what they want.

drogon.

OP the best course of action is to ignore it, don’t even bother opening the door. They will slowly stop.

The same with those scam calls, if you answer and engage with them, they will continue to call.

colm_mcm

amadangomor wrote: »

I would go back to the parent and say nicely that you have a camera at your doorbell and if it happens again the video will be shown to the Gardai.

Do you really want to have good relations with someone who totally disregarded your peace of mind whilst not reprimanding his daughter for bad behaviour.

You’re underestimating kids. All that will happen is they’ll wear hoodies, or tear the unit off the wall.

Darc19

amadangomor wrote: »

I would go back to the parent and say nicely that you have a camera at your doorbell and if it happens again the video will be shown to the Gardai.

Do you really want to have good relations with someone who totally disregarded your peace of mind whilst not reprimanding his daughter for bad behaviour.

I presume this is tongue in cheek.


If not. Please tell me under what criminal act the young child would be charged with???

GreeBo

Doorbells should have their own RCD in the fuse box, just flip that, dont worry about disconnecting wires!

Losty Dublin

amadangomor wrote: »

I would go back to the parent and say nicely that you have a camera at your doorbell and if it happens again the video will be shown to the Gardai.

Do you really want to have good relations with someone who totally disregarded your peace of mind whilst not reprimanding his daughter for bad behaviour.

These days kids would worry about it more if you showed the video on TikTok than if you you showed it to the Gards

Mrs OBumble

There's nothing illegal about ringing your doorbell.

GM228

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

There's nothing illegal about ringing your doorbell.

Actually, there is, it's an offence to wilfully or wantonly disturb a person by ringing their doorbell!

drogon.

Darc19 wrote: »

I presume this is tongue in cheek.


If not. Please tell me under what criminal act the young child would be charged with???

Well maybe the OP should call over to the kids parents house and keep ringing the bell and see how they feel.

I recall having something similar years ago, where kids threw eggs at an elderly mans house close by, the parents didn't give a rats arse, until they had eggs thrown at their house the next Halloween

Kids will be kids and I blame the parents for it. But I find if you ignore the door bell and don't even bother opening the door, they will eventually stop.

By getting annoyed or irritated they are winning and having fun. If you ignore them for 3 or 4 times, they won't bother again !

Jade2015

GreeBo wrote: »

Doorbells should have their own RCD in the fuse box, just flip that, dont worry about disconnecting wires!

Yeah that's what I used to do with mine, except some of the lights are connected to the same switch which is fine in the day time, but then my burglar alarm.is also on the same fuse switch and it would.trip this ring after a while

gmisk

I'd maybe get a camera or a dummy camera.
Also you get wireless doorbells with plug in ringers.
You can turn them on and off.
About 15 quid on amazon.
If you have a gate maybe lock it?

Samuel T. Cogley

GM228 wrote: »

Actually, there is, it's an offence to wilfully or wantonly disturb a person by ringing their doorbell!

What about knocking? Serious question.

Thespoofer

Best reaction is not to be seen to react. I'd agree with disconnecting the doorbell, ( maybe look at installing a handy switch to just flick on/off when it suits ) and secondly, do not answer the door to them!

The best way to disarm them would be to even salute/hello to them when walking on street, just don't let them see you being bothered and this normally will be enough to make them move on.

tscul32

Kids round here do it every summer. Just don't open the door and ignore it. If I pass a kid that I know was doing it I'd just say hi and smile. They don't really do it again then.

amadangomor

Darc19 wrote: »

I presume this is tongue in cheek.


If not. Please tell me under what criminal act the young child would be charged with???

I didn't mention that they would be charged with anything but by telling them you are going to the Guards might wake them up a bit and tell their kid to cop to fk on.

Most people on here have probably done it when they were younger, it's part of growing up. I've done far worse but if my parents found out they certainly would not have defended me. I'd have been in serious ****.

Panthro

Spray em with the hose.
Anyone asks you say you were watering your garden and didn't see the trespassers until it was too late.

average_runner

Just ignore them, it's a kids old game. We did it as kids, wanted the chase. No chase and we stopped.

Kaybaykwah

average_runner wrote: »

Just ignore them, it's a kids old game. We did it as kids, wanted the chase. No chase and we stopped.

I'm an old guy and still do it.








Nahhh. Just kidding.

...Ghost...

Ignore the doorbell and next come the eggs. Sorry OP, but the best solution is to sell the house and move far away to a place with no electricity or kids.

GM228

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

What about knocking? Serious question.

Yes, it's also an offence to wilfully or wantonly disturb a person by knocking on their door.

You can always knock on the window though