How can I get my neighbor kid to knock it off?

Question

It's not really a big deal but it bothers me severely. For the past week or two (but not every day) when my neighbor gets off the school bus (the stop is in front of my house), he pulls leaves off trees in my yard and rips them up as he slowly walks up the hill towards his house. I know he's just being a kid but the thing is I've yelled at him (from the house so I had to yell because of distance) to stop it on two different occasions. I've also caught him picking up stones from the ditch and throwing them across the street. Small stones and he doesn't throw far but it's the principle of the thing.

Etiquette-wise, what should I do next? I want to have good neighbor relations (no one here talks to neighbors unless there is an emergency- by good neighbor relations I mean I want to make sure this kid doesn't vandalize or anything) but I also want this kid to listen to me and respect what I have to say.

And he definitely heard me each time because he immediately stopped what he was doing. He just starts again at a later time.

So do I go down to where he is next time I catch him doing it? Do I give him a verbal warning up close and personal? Do I walk home with him and see if there is an adult to tell? That sounds lame. Do I go and intimidate him by asking him why he's doing what he's doing and make him feel uncomfortable? Do I lecture him on how much time and effort is put into my yard every week? This is just brainstorming.

Please share your stories of punk kid neighbor control issues. Ten points to the best answer.

By the way, he looks about 12 or 13.

Answer 1

Go scream at him.. lol

Answer 2

Well it sound like this is the age where everything and everyone is dumb and they are cool.

I am a great believer in not beating around the bush, it is your property and you have a right to live in the style in which you are accustom too. You don't have to go into deals with this child just wait for the bus you already know what he is going to do and tell him to stop destroying your tree and said the same thing about the rocks. You may have to go out a few times but he will get tired of be a mini menace. He most likely keeps doing this because no one has told him to stop.

I am a Director of children programs and most kids are just bored and do thing unconsciously. As a home owner and so are all of my neighbors there are a couple of multi-unit homes with children, my neighbors are very good about dealing with bad behavior we have taggers. My neighbors are diligent about making sure that the children on our block clean up the mess. They will report them to the graffiti patrol who in turn will have the parents pay for the paint or make them clean the graffiti on behave of their children. You know that we do not have repeat offenders and we appreciate the effort the neighbor puts into maintaining our block.  

  

Answer 3

Set your sprinklers to go off right as the bus pulls up so the kids will run past your house & go bother someone else :)

Answer 4

Hmm well I'm only 15 so I don't have that problem obviously, but I would suggest maybe talking to his parents sometime. I would start it causually though, like maybe if you see them walking their dog or mowing the lawn. And just nicely ask them to talk to him about it. Hopefully that helps.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

I would wait for him at the bus stop and politely ask him to stop. Just tell him it's your tree and you really don't appreciate it... try to talk to him like you would an adult. If he mouths off to you or does it again, I would go to his parents. I understand what you mean by it isn't a big deal, but it bothers you.. because it would bother me too!

Also, if going to his parents doesn't help either, you could call the school board and have his bus stop changed. I had to do that a while ago when some kids were sticking their hands through my fence and teasing my dogs. Their parents didn't do anything to help the matter, so it was kind of a last resort kind of thing.  

Answer 7

Go walk up to him and tell him, maybe he doesn't hear or understand you from a distance, or doesn't care what you have to say if your not willing to get up and do something about it.

Or wait about 3 months, fall is right around the corner, no more leaves :P

Answer 8

i would talk to him and then if he doesn't stop i would talk to his parents.  i have some annoying neighbor kids, one time a kid just came into our house when we were all outside. we just ignored the kid and they didn't come over again.  

Answer 9

Sometimes you just have to let it go.  Really, is he ruining the tree?  Is he throwing rocks at cars?  Then just let it go.  He's just being a boy, not trying to cause trouble.  

Or if you really can't stand it  (hey, you said it's not a big deal, but it bothers you severely...can't be both ways)........just go up to the kid and ask him to stop.   Don't yell from where you are...go meet the bus and say "hey, I noticed you pulling leaves off my tree, please don't do that anymore"