We had a little visitation last night, minutes shy of 10 pm. 3 or 4 boys scaled our 54 inch fence and jumped in our pool. Like banshees in full war cry. It was quite startling, to say the least. They were also startled when my dh threw on the flood lights. They were in and out in seconds, but I did get a good look at one of them. Resembles a neighbor around the corner with a small stature, but a big mop of hair. And that is the exact direction the boys ran when they left.

Now I have to admit that I am near sighted, so I am not positive it was him. But I am pretty sure. We really don't know the family at all, but know the boy has a reputation that would support this behavior. BTW, he does have a pool,also. He also hangs out in the woods behind our house. You would kind of have to be familiar with the back of the house to attempt this stunt in the dark.

I am glad that none of these boys were injured in their activities of fence jumping and diving in the pool in the pitch dark. I am very glad that my pool and my aluminum fence do not appear to be damaged. I am disturbed that they have stalked our property, and had the audacity to do this. DH and the kids were in the family room with those and kitchen lights on. I was upstairs and had just gone to bed.

DH has said he will put up a motion detector light on the pool area. We had the police out to make a report. Would you talk to the parents, or just forget about it. If you would talk to them, what would you say?

Unless you know for sure who it was, there is no point in talking to parents. You could get a numpty like I did who says "Boys will be boys".

I would definitely do the motion detector thing. If they are damaged on your property, whether allowed on it or now, unfortunately, I believe that you are responsible for them.

Our only visitors last night were 2 deer who jumped the fence and were hanging out in our (completely fenced) backyard. This was at 10pm, and the dogs were going mental (I have Beagles - and they do not have the quietest barks). The deer didn't want to leave, as they were too busy hanging out and eating the ivy (they are welcome to it, but please stay out of the backyard....), so DH had to go into the backyard and shoo them off.

Then the dogs had to go ourside and track (track = sniff and bark and bay) at 10pm (they are LOUD dogs when they are tracking) until we dragged them back into the house (they had to go to the bathroom before bed, otherwise we would not have let them out).

Sorry for hijacking your post.

Kids nowadays do not have any respect for others property. I am a bit surprised they actually jumped a fence though. That is really brave of them (I didn't want to use brave, I wanted to use B@LLSY).

You really can't confront (maybe a little strong word here) the parents since you don't know for sure it was the boy. But if you talk with the parents at all in general conservation, you could let them know what happened to you and find out if it happened to them and see if they have any helpful hints for you to prevent it. Maybe it will put the boy on notice that you know he did it and better watch out.
I hope this makes sense to you, I need a cup of java.

At first I thought you meant the neighboorhood pool...then I realized it was your own pool in your backyard. You seem pretty sure that you know who the kid is, but since you aren't absolutely positive, I wouldn't say anything to the parents. However, when I saw the kid, I would say something to him like "Hmmmm...seems we've had some unwelcome visitors in our yard...has your family had any lately?...I don't like it at all and have made the police aware of it...and they are going to be watching!"...That way you let the kid know that you know what he's up to...but you aren't flat out accusing him...know what I mean?...We had some kids who crash our neighborhood pool...They've thrown trash cans and chairs into the pool, jumped on top of the gazebo, rollerskated on the tennis courts, etc...It is very aggravating...The motion sensor floodlights are a great idea... ~Lisa

Hopefully it was just a one time thing. If that's the case, I would just leave it alone. If it happens again, I would act on it.

If you had acted right away, you could have caught them with their wet clothes on. Of course, the parents would say they were wet from their pool, but you would know!

I wouldn't say anything since you aren't 100% sure it was them. The horrid thing is that is one of them drowns or something in your pool after trespassing...you are liable and their parents will most likely sue you Stupid system we have

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I would contact my insurance company and find out what my liabilities (???) are. Some people think that just because they have a fence up, they are protected if someone hops the fence and drowns in their pool. Awful to think of, I know, but, I would want to know BEFORE something possibly does happen. Find out how to protect yourselves from a lawsuit.

Not much you can do, IMO, if you don't know FOR SURE, who it was. Personally, I would install a video camera to film the pool area. You can get one that is motion sensor activated.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

First thing you should do is put up a "No Trespassing" sign on the fence of your pool (or at the entrance to your pool).

I have to disagree as far as confronting (that might be too big of a word) the parents of one of the kids you thought you saw. If you think it was him and he hangs out behind your house, there's nothing wrong with calling the parents and saying something like 'we had some kids jump into our pool last night around 10:00 and I'm not really sure but one of them really looked like your son.' And then say something like 'I'm not pointing fingers but if it was him, I'd really appreciate it if you could talk to him because someone could have gotten hurt.' There's nothing wrong with mentioning it to the parents, even if you're not 100% sure it was the kid. I remember one time I got a call from a parent thinking it was one of my sons who was up on their roof. My son was home at the time, so I knew it wasn't him, but it didn't bother me that they called. They were just trying to find out who it was.

I would rather call them and ask rather than it happen again and someone get hurt.

This sounds like a good way to handle it. I like the idea of the motion-sensor light too. I bet it won't happen again since you called the police (and your DH turned on the floodlights).

Did the police stop by the boy's house? That's what they do when we call on our teenage neighbor kid who *used to* throw things (ie raw eggs, oranges, bottles, etc.) at our house.

Yikes that is awful nervey jumping into a neighbor's pool! I've heard of pranks but this is a new one to me.

Frankly, because you don't know for sure, I'd not say anything but I'd definitely stay alert.
I like the idea of getting motion sensor lights.

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I would get the motion sensor lights, I would put up a sign. Then I would take a freshly baked batch of cookies to the house of the boy that you think jumped in your pool. I would tell his mother that you know he is young and knows a lot of the kids in the neighborhood and if he hears who was in your pool you would really appreciate the help. I would make sure that he was home and that he heard the entire conversation. That is just the nasty side of me.

I think this must be a new "phase" that the teenagers do now days. I don't know why they would want to because I would be in fear of getting shot at. My friend's son got in trouble for doing this. I think they were just being teenagers and being really dumb and irresponsible.

If you aren't for sure who the parents are just make all of your neighbors "aware" of the problem and maybe it will get back to the kids that people are watching for them.

It is a very dangerous activity they are participating in. Motion lights are a good thing.

Add an electric line to the top of the fence. Used to work to keep my horses from leaning over the fence.

JUST KIDDING!!!

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We dont have a pool but we do have a fenced yard. I know how you feel. A few years ago we had a tramoline. The neighorhood kids use to think it was basically public property and would walk in my fence anytime they felt like it. Usually I was not home and would catch them when I came in. Talking to thier parents did no good. They would tell them not to do it and they would do it again. It is a differrent world now. When I was that age if someone told me parents I did something I was in a heck of alot of trouble. And I would never even think to do it again. some parents now dont seem to care what thier children do.

I think if it was me, and we do have a pool, I would go to all the neighbors and let them know that there are kids tresspassing in our neighborhood and everyone should be on the lookout to keep their property safe, let them know what happened and a police report was made. That way even the parents of the kids that did this would be aware and maybe mention it to their own kids, that would let the kids know that you know. We have security floodlights all around our pool, they come on automatically at dusk and go off automatically at dawn, we have never had any problems and we just have the regular 4 foot chain link fence and locks on all the gates. Of course we do have 2 black labs also (but they sleep in the house at night) and that might be a deterrent too. I would also be worried about liability depending on your insurance company, I was told by ours as long as we have locks on the gates we cannot be held liable if someone tresspasses and injures themselves in the pool, we do not have a diving board because the insurance rates skyrocket because of the liability.

Am I the only one that could see myself and my friends doing something like this as a teen in the dog days of summer? I could also see my younger son coming up with this dumb idea, too! Course that doesn't mean that I think it's OK, just that I can see kids doing something like this.

Sounds like you did all the right things and that the motion sensor flood light would be a good thing (although sometimes they can be hard to get just right). Because I want to think that it's a one-time prank kind of thing, I would personally not conftont any particular parents about it. I think I'd make a point of casually mentioning it to any/all parents in the neighborhood asking them to be sure that their kids know how dangerous it is to go in someone's pool unattended, not to mention illegal due to trespassing....

cj/

I know I wouldn't have done it but I do know some friends that might have. Heck, I wouldn't even TP a house for fear of being arrested because I knew a boy who was arrested for it (vandalism)

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ummmm I would have been right there beside you CJ. I wasn't an angel.

Well, now we had a doorbell ring and run at 10:30 last night, just after DD and I turned in for the night. DD and I were the only ones home at that time. Creepy part is, it appears they are watching us, as this second incident occured right after we turned the lights out upstairs. I left the lights on in the pool area, because while we bought the motion detector lights, they are not installed yet, but I left the front of the house dark (we always had in the past) I took a bike ride to see if I could see any kids around, saw no one. About 15 minutes later, one of the teenagers from up the street came walking by with his dog, from the opposite direction back towards his house. He hangs out with the one I saw in the pool. Who also, I found out, has at the ripe age of 15, a restraining order against him for harassing a former girlfriend.

Never had any incidents with these kids before, just have seen them hanging out alot. They are all within the same age as my DD, but she doesn't really know them, has never socialized with them. I bit my tongue black and blue for the last couple of days- really don't know what to do now.

That is my worse fear with kids going in my pool and getting hurt with out our knowledge. I have a fence around my pool and a locked gate with the steps to prevent that from happening. Unfortunately you have to be positive that it was them to approach a parent. Good Luck!

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Carolyn
At the Jersey Shore

Are other neighbors having any problems with him and his gang?

I would honestly be concerned about all of it... him hanging out in the woods behind your house, the pool, the doorbell ring and run. Now is the time to nip it in the bud.

It does sound like it is getting to borderline harassment or stalking. Maybe you could call the police department and have an officer come out and advise you. Let them know about the police order against the guy.

I know the feeling of paranoia... We have a teenage boy with anger issues who lives right below us. We were his constant target until we anonymously got the police involved.

The police officer stopped by his house mid-day and spoke with the boy saying one of the neighbors had called in -- didn't name us specifically. He said that he told the boy that if it didn't stop, he'd be back in the evening time to talk with him when his parents were home. That was when the harassment ended...

School starts August 6 here and it seems like a lot of the summertime boredom alleviates with that. I hope that you find a resolution so that your nights can go back to normal. It's hard.

Best of luck!

I second my first bit of advice.....get video cameras. You can order them on line cheap, or go to Best Buy or Somehting like that. Well worth the peace of mind.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I would turn off all the lights like I was gone to bed and when I heard them,I woulndt turn on any lights or anything, I would call 911. I bet if they get away with it once, they will be back to see if they can again.,

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Last night at 10:02 a car pulled into the driveway and laid on the horn, then 2 or three male occupants hooted and hollered. DH went out, but they turned off the lights and zoomed away. I will ask for increased patrol in the area in this time frame for a few days. DDs idea. I think it must be someone looking for her attention, at least I hope it is that innocent.

You say they are around your dd age. Even though she might not really know them, it could somehow be they are harrassing her for some reason. Possibly she is friends with someone they have issues with.
If it was just the pool thing I wouldnt think anything like that. But with the doorbell and the horn. I think there is more to it then just kids jumping a pool in the summer. I would try to figure out something fast b/c it seems they are getting bolder with the horn thing now. They could be a danger to your and your family. I dont want to alarm you but I would be taking extreme measures right now if I were you to protect your daughter and yourself.

I called the parents. Another neighbor who heard what happened called to tell me that this kid was also accused of throwing a bike into a pool at a house behind mine, through the woods . I felt I needed to make contact with the parents, neighbor to neighbor. I told the mom, in a calm and polite manner, what I thought, and why, and what my concerns were. She simply said it wasn't her son- said he isn't allowed out at night. In direct conflict to what I and other neighbors have seen. Then the DH took the phone and got fairly irate, but not out of control. Not his kid, impossible, etc.
My motion flood lights are up- we fully expect some type of further problem. Allinaugust, my DH is researching the cameras- they are alot more affordable than I anticipated. These kids are so bold and seem to be getting a thrill out of this. I am hopeful it will blow over, but I kind of doubt it.

I think you did the right thing contacting the parents. And because they were of no help to you at all I would now call the police and let them know what is going on in your neighborhood. Just to cover you in case this boy does something to your home no in retaliation from calling his parents. I hope the cameras help and this will give you the proof that you need. It is so sad that you have to go to these measures to protect your home.

[quote=mailady;2844949] She simply said it wasn't her son- said he isn't allowed out at night. QUOTE]


Sorry lady but I bet if he wanted to sneak out he could I used to all the time as a teen
front/back doors and windows can all be opened

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Exactly! It's really too bad when parents make excuses for their children without investigating a bit further first. I don't know many people who would get up the guts to do what you did. You are very brave! Hopefully, even though they pooh-poohed what you said, they confronted the son and asked him about it. I can always tell when my kids lie to me.

mailady, how's this situation going? hopefully, it blew over and no more incidents...but just curious...

cj/

Shoot'em in the arse with a paint ball gun whenever they come back. That'll teach them.

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TLJ Women united in Spirit!

I hate to post this, because every time I post something good, it seems I curse myself and something bad happens, but it has been sooo quiet around here. Not an incident or a peep. The hanging around kids have been conspicuously absent. No one walking around in the woods behind my house (that I can see anyway). All the neighbors are commenting on how they just don't see those kids hanging in the street 24/7 now. I hope this is for good, and that they are not laying low temporarily due to increased PD patrols. Time will tell. I was creeped out by the whole thing, but DH is out of work for a long time now due to a torn ACL, so me and the kids are not alone at night at all anymore. Thanks for asking.

Glad to hear it's settled down. THe increased patrol could be helping but that phone call to the parents might have helped, too. Even though they were in denial with you doesn't mean they didn't have a talk with their boy.

peapie

I think it probably is the group of boys you suspect. My first thought was they probably have a crush on your daughter, and this is their way of getting her attention.

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Thanks for the update , glad to hear the boys aren't roaming your neighborhood - and....

KNOCK ON WOOD!!

cj/