I agree with CH on this one. Most of us have done things that were technically illegal while at the same time mostly harmless. Things like sneaking into public swimming pools, going on roofs, and other things of that nature. We knew we would get in trouble if we were caught, and that was half the fun! But in most situations, we didn't want to damage or vandalize anybody's property. We were just looking for something to do that was different from the everyday mundane activities that everybody else was into.

I know some of you reply with things about lack of parental control, possible injuries resulting in lawsuits, and other worries. Honestly, if I ever got injured doing something I knew was mischievous, the last thing I wanted to do was tell my guardians. My guardians were also raised "back in the day" and carried most of their teachings, even if some were against today's laws, onto my brother and me.

I believe that if you call the cops on something as insignificant and trivial as this, you're just further wasting Americans' tax dollars. Some older people might still have the bully syndrome, but in some cases the kids really should be taken off the premises, such as a steel factory, nuclear power plant, oil refineries, and other actually dangerous places. But rooftops and sidewalk skateboarding?? Come on, people...

 

That's easy, I'd just ask what happened.

I took a kids bike once. They were stealing the chrome valve caps off of the wheels. I went out and grabbed the kid and his bike. Kid wiggled free. The bike didn't. I was hoping the parents would come looking for it. After a couple of hours, I gave it to the cops.

If my child was up there, taking the bikes would have been good punishment (hoping I would at least get it back for later ). The paintball, well, guess your lucky it was not a tazer, or worse. But I would get one hell of a laugh at my daughter if she came home that way. Then she would get punished for doing what she did in the first place.

Might be a good reason to get a paint gun.

 

we all did things growing up that were less than legal. but if an adult caught us we basically took the punishment, hoped to god they didnt tell our parents, and probably did it again anyway. **sigh** and when i say i paintballed kids im not saying "dude i was outside on halloween and this lil 8 year old came by and blam"... not at all. when i say kids i mean teens. if ur out egging, i will spray you with a paintball gun. well not anymore, now i have an airsoft full auto, lol...

we used to play on the coal conveyor belt not too far from my house. on of the coal mechanics cuaght us and striped us with his belt. we didnt run home and cry to mommy and daddy (they'd have done 10x worse to us if they knew what we were doin) and we sure didnt run to the cops. we accepted it as a consequence for our dumbass actions and went on.

as for a parent coming to visit me as a consequence of my actions as an adult. i have now problem with this. if that parent is smart enough to come up and find out why whatever happened to their kid happened, i am more than willing to sit down and say "hey man, little johnny came by with a bunch of his buddies and threw a sparkplug threw the windshield of my car, and wouldnt tell me his name or your name so i could call you, so little johnny got his butt whooped with my belt." if that parent doesnt want to discuss it or believes that they need to be physical over the incident, more power to them. i'll more than gladly give them the same act-right that i gave their kid.

 

Shooting a spark plug through someone’s window is a whole different scenario than paintballing some kids for goofing around on a roof. I would be pissed if my kid got paintballed for goofing around on a roof, or cutting through a yard, or anything that a kid normally does that us parents no longer do. Firstly I would hope that I would raise kids not to do something as extremely bad as firing a spark plug through someone’s window because I try to raise them to respect others property as their own. But secondly it is my job as the parent to discipline my child. Nothing would infuriate me more than someone physically laying there hands on or harming my child in any way. It's discipline if it's coming from a parent but child abuse and reason to be arrested when its coming from a person other than the child’s parent or guardian. I'm more the type to not involve the police or lawyers and take matters into my own hands which usually gets me in trouble but what can I say other than I'm old school like that. What type of example are you setting for that child? You’re not teaching them anything! You are just satisfying yourself in the wrong manner. You're also saying its okay to carryout their actions if not worse as an adult because obviously even though an adult should know better than to harm a child they don't. Even if you’re not that child’s parent you are supposed to be a grown up responsible adult that knows right from wrong. Even strangers actions can have massive impact on a developing child. The proper thing to do in a situation where the child won't reveal their parent is to involve the police. See how quick that changes their attitude. A lot of children rebel because adult don't know how to properly handle kids and treat them with the same anger they would an adult. Everyone remembers that A-hole in the neighborhood that all the kids hated so they would F with them all the time. The neighborhood A-hole would bring it all on themselves by being a dick to the kids and handling things the wrong way. I take it you don't have kids or know what it's like to be a parent?

Edit: I guess I should add my personal thoughts on parents disciplining their children and share my tale. I am guilty of spanking my older daughter once. About a year ago she was acting really bad and wasn't listening to me I decided that maybe it was time I went my moms route and give her the first spanking. I gave her a little tap on the butt and immediately after I was crushed when she looked at me with her innocent teary big blue eyes with a look that I had just broke a sacred trust. I'm there to protect and care for my kids not hurt them. I had never felt so low or so bad in my life! I started crying and apologized immediately to her and told her I would never hit her again. I had fell victim to my anger which manifested itself in a form of aggression toward my own flesh and blood. I was truly the scum of the earth at that moment. I vowed to myself to never raise a hand to my children again. I always need to remember they are just children no matter how angry they may make me at the time. When my mom would spank me it wouldn't teach me a damn thing but it made her feel better. By hitting my children I would also be teaching them that it is okay to solve your problems with violence which is a fault in me and a lot of my generation and previous generations. It is far more effective and less damaging on the child to sit them down and explain what's wrong with their actions and give them a punishment that they'll actually think and care about like not letting them go outside for a day. It's just not in me to hit my kids.

 

Guys I was just kidding about the whole paintball thingy....I would not paintball a kid for climbing on a roof..hell I have never even owned a paintball gun

Guess we all decide on how to raise our kids in a different way..I don't know about you but when I got caught doing something that I had no business doing and I got my ass whalloped for it, I sure as hell did not do it again. I sort of got the idea that the old man wasn't on some power trip, I f'ed up and knew what the consequences for F'ing up was. My first reaction was 'I ain't doing that again!"



Goose

 

I got that the paintball thing is a joke but I don't believe the number of people that responded advocating violence or doing wrong against children. I had the opposite reaction to getting a beating from my mom. It just made me do whatever I did more but I would be smarter about doing it. It got to the point of where I would laugh at her when she hit me which would make her even madder. Just because your parents did something doesn't make it right or that you should continue the cycle.

 

I knew there were some people out there who remembered what it was like to be a kid... and I also wanted to get the point across that we`re not the same America that used to exist and that people tend to view things a little differently than when we were on the Frontier.
Violence usually creates more violence, that`s my experience, you gotta know when to say when... B/B, er, S/S

 

An accountable parent would ask where missing property was or how new property was aquired. At least, that's how it is/was in my household growing up AND raising my son.

 

Like I said CH....a thump offside the head worked wonders for me and all my friends.....didn't work for you as you said...we just have differing opinions...I'm not advocating beatings but imho there is nothing wrong with a good kick in the ass when warranted...and yeah BB, I think we all remember what it was like being a kid. Of course we did stupid stuff..but I knew the deal if I got busted ...plain and simple...

I'll totally disagree on the assertion that just because our parents did something doesn't make it right today.....if anything because we don't do things the way our parents did things is one of the biggest problems going today.






Goose

 

Sure.....if your kid is a thief. That doesn't cover innocent childhood mischief though. Stuff like climbing on roofs. A memory that stands out in my head is when I was in 7th grade I got in a fight with a senior because me and some of my buddies were playing football in the street and I landed in their yard catching a ball. Joe's dad kept warning us we better stay away from their yard. Of course we were just kids playing ball accidents happen. As soon as I landed Joe's dad started yelling and Joe came charging out to get in the face of a kid like 5 or 6 years younger than him who was just having fun with his friends because we didn't listen to his dad on accident. I was raised in some of the hardest parts of the ghetto so I don't back down. Needless to say we ended up scrapping and the scary and sad part about it was that his dad didn't act like a responsible adult and end it. Rather he encouraged his son to fight a younger kid because he was angry. My buddy Nate's family lived two houses down where we were actually playing at so his dad came out and ended it. See....**** like that sticks with you as an adult. It has nothing to do with Joe because he was an idiot * but everything to do with his dad.


* I consider Joe an idiot not only for that time but we got in a fight a few years latter. He had this crappy S10 that he loved. I was skateboarding and I ollied off of a stairset into the road as he was coming. He hit me with his truck! Luckily he was going slow cruising for younger chicks. You know the type.......for a few years after high school they cruise around after school trying to pick up freshman even though they graduated. Anyways when he hit me he slammed on his brakes which caused me to hit his hood and my skateboard to roll under his wheel and snap in half causing half of it to go into his wheel well. There was no damage to his truck but my board was done. The dick has the nerve to get out of his truck and get pissed at me! He got around to the passenger side and saw my board in the wheel well and snapped because he already didn't like me. So here I am defending myself against a kid that just hit me. Luckily some buddies came along and he got back in his truck and drove off. No cops, no charges, no lawsuits........things were different even back like 15 years ago.