Grow Your Own Magazine

Lol! probably for the best, there's some stuff on Beebs website about such a case....

Grandma steals football? - you've gotta laff?

__________________
Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Sad, isn't it? The law now seems to be on the side of the criminal.

Used to work in an ground floor office near a pub, we had people working shifts and one chap got a bit fed up with the idiots peeing in the car park and peering in the windows.

This chap was into sci-fi, battle re-enactment, role playing games etc and had very long hippy style hair.

One night two drunks started tapping on the windows at one end of the building and moving along to a new window every few minutes.

So, he got out the excellent set of prosthetic teeth and red contact lenses he had aquired for playing a vampire in some role playing thing and nipped along to the last window, closed the blind, readied his torch and waited.

Tap-tap went the drunks on the window, swish went the blind and "Hissssssss!" there was a floodlit red eyed vampire clawing at the glass...... as two sets of high speed feet dopplered away dwon the street.

__________________
Always thank people who have helped you immediately, as they may not be around to thank later.
Visit my blog at http://podsplot.blogspot.com/
I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/

Peter - superb!

__________________
~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Waffler - what about this? You know where the kids live right? Next time it happens, go round the parents house, knock on the door and ever so politely, non-aggressively and innocently ask if you can help? You thought you were needed because their child just knocked on the door?
Repeat as necessary until it stops.

__________________
~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Good one!
Unfortunately I only know they live down the street (the dodgy end! ) but not exactly where.
They saw me arrive home last night and rang a few times, but nothing tonight luckily. Mind you, we seem to have half a moat around our property today (the same one we had in the summer, running up to the wedding, which we were so worried about) so that may have perturbed them somewhat.

Run away before they answer.

__________________
My phone has more Processing power than the Computers NASA used to fake the Moon Landings

Hi Waffler

Jeremy Vine today on Radio 2 12 - 1pm is going to be taking about 'yob culture'.

I have been reading all ...and I am about to propose something that I would do but which will seems rather ( radically) opposite of the rest of you :
-you live in a village, so I suppose you know these kids more or less...at least they want to be known, attract the attention.
-If they have this kind of games, it must be pretty boring life for them, and basically they dont seems to be really "sharing" anything interesting with others .

For me, they want your attention, well ...give them! but in a positive manner... find the way to welcome them, and introduce yourself with a smile!!
whats the best way to answer to someone being aggressive with you? for example someone shouting at you? shouting in return will just escalate the process of violence, but if you speak soflty and keep perfectly calm, the anger will just die out like a blowing a match.
These kids are bored, they are in this age where they want to be recognized by the adult much more than when they are younger, they are most of the time on their own and bored...this are just attention seeking...
In my opinion, the more you will try to NOT listen to them ( police, violent reaction) the more the problem will deepen...
Try this, a smile, a door open,an invitation to help in with your garden, a cake?
Believe me, it works...I've done it!

Have to agree with you Maria at least to a certain extent. However, I do still believe that we are all entitled to our peace and privacy, and to feel safe in our own homes. If the problem can be dealt with locally and tactfully all well and good, but if not then the police must be made aware of what is going on. After all, what is harmless fun for some people can actually be very frightening for some maybe elderly and vulnerable residents.

I completely understand where you're coming from Maria. However, I DON'T know the children - simply knew approximately where in the village they live and have since been told by our neighbours what the family name is and that the whole family is a pain.
And I know that shouting does very little - to be honest we've taken the 'just ignore it' approach, because as a teacher I am used to taking on the calm tone and talking rather than shouting.
However, AS a teacher, I would find it a bit of a Busmans holiday to 'invite' these children in to my home or garden, when, as much as I love kids (it's the littlies I like not the big uns) when I'm at home I don't really want them encroaching on my limited free time. Of course it would be different if they were my own children or the kids of family or friends.
I also suspect that, even if they took up an opportunity to 'help' in the garden, they may then read this as a signal to come in whenever they feel, which I'm afraid I simply do not want, and frankly, which I don't think should be encouraged.

Luckily, (dare I speak too soon!) these past few nights have been quiet - we last heard from them on Wednesday evening, and then I think it was only the once.

Waffler, PM me their name and the village and I will write a letter to the parents (you wouldn't be mentioned, and the postal mark being Norfolk wouldn't identify you at all). Or you can email me a letter of your own and I will print and post it for you.

__________________
~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

actually, that's the best one in this case !! seems to work , happy for you

We had a couple of teenage lads messing around with our garage/shed for a while - one night in particular we came home to find them walking nervously away and it took us ages to notice they'd taken almost all the screws out of the six hinges on the double doors!

I put the screws back and drilled out the heads (so now even I can't remove them!) but most importantly we put a cctv camera above the door. It's not even plugged in, but we've had no trouble since.

It's true the picture isn't always good enough to be useful, but kids don't realise that and even professional crooks are unlikely to chance it. I'm guessing if your troublemakers are just bored kids this will make them go somewhere else for their fun.

__________________
Resistance is fertile

In all seriousness, don't expect the police to use the evidence collected unless you have a sign warning about the CCTV. If they are not aware they are being filmed for this purpose, it is virtually inadmissable.

My local kids football club was always having problems with vandals so they stuck a camera up. When they produced clear footage of the next toe-rags to damage the place, the police refused to do anything 'official' on the grounds the evidence had been collected illegally, because, yep, you guessed it, there were no signs telling them they were being filmed!

Several adult members of the football club decided to do something 'unofficially' and it stopped. I don't blame the police directly because it's the pathetic judiciary system that has produced this and you can bet your life that same 'system' would be complaining about vigilante-ism if it found out!

__________________
Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

I had heard that about CCTV cameras actually, and since we live in a 17th C chocolate box thatched cottage, we neither have the inclination, or would probably be allowed (if we bothered asking: we're Grade 2 listed) to put big signs up drawing people's attention to the cameras. It's mental that you're not allowed to protect yourselves and your property without fear of a law suit!!

Thanks for the offer TwoSheds, but I think we'll just see how things go for now. With any luck, they've been washed down a local drain with all this wet weather!!

So how does "normal" cctv get allowed then? Like those invisible ones hidden in streetlamps? There's no signs on them.

__________________
~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Maybe there's a difference between protecting private property and those covering public spaces at the council's (or ultimately public) expense?

This need for notification is also the reason loads of companies have a message on their phone lines telling you the call may be recorded for training purposes.

I like to tell them that the call may be recorded by my switchboard as well for our own records, and most of them have been told to say they can't allow this!

__________________
Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

As usual, one law for some and no law for the poor bu****s who are actually suffering from antisocial behaviour.