How do I get kids to stop ringing my doorbell and running away?

Question

We have about 35 houses in our neighborhood, most with school aged children. For the past year, we have repeatedly had kids ring our doorbell between 9:30 and 11:00 at night and run away. We have caught a few of the kids and contacted their parents, but it doen't help, and some parents will actually lie and give their child an alibi! We have three young children whose sleep gets disturbed by the ringing, and it really is quite upsetting to us. Has anyone found any good ways to keep kids from ringing your bell or banging on your door? I'm at the end of my rope here.

Answer 1

Honestly, I'd pick a night and wait for them. Not out in the open, but hide wait for them to come up to the door. Confront them when they do it. You could even just stay hidden and use a video camera and catch them. Then they have no chance of lying for their child. Try to get them on trespassing if you can, i'm not sure of the regulations for that tho, you'd have to do some research on that one.

Or get a guard dog and tie it up near the door. Good luck, gotta love immature brats.

**edit** if you get bright enough porch lights, there should be plenty of lighting for video taping...did you try putting on the nightvision mode? just about every video camera has one

Answer 2

sit outside your house with a gun.

xDD

Answer 3

Place a proffesional looking sign on the door that says

MONITORED BY VIDEO CAMERA

POLICE WILL BE NOTIFIED OF CHILDREN ON PROPERTY

and put a video camera up

If you find another child doing this, call the police.

Answer 4

I think the video camera so you can prove it is a great idea, you might even be able to take it to the police and have them talk to their parents. If that is not affordable for you I would recommend putting a BIG dog on your front steps! I would say trying to find one that will shock them but, I'm not sure if there is something like that and if you would be able to only turn it on at night...but that would be a funny idea..I think the dog is your best bet

Answer 5

INstall motion detecting lights by the doors. They are great when you come in at night too.

That, or sit outside one of these nights at that time, with a camera. Flash a picture of them at the same time you yell, "what do you want!!!" Show it to the parents. Tell them next time, the police are getting called.

Answer 6

Tape a note to your door that says "If you even THINK about touching that doorbell mutant elves will come out and eat you then your family." Well I thought it was funny..That's what I would do. But if that doesn't work then call the police maybe they can do something.

Answer 7

get a doorbell like this

http://www.dba-oracle.com/images/redneck...

Answer 8

put somthing sticky on it or somthing that will  give them a rash or something

Answer 9

Get a pit bull!

Answer 10

Most things today can be attached to a timer.  It might be possible to find a way to attach your doorbell to a timer, that sets it to "turn off" once bedtime comes around.  And then Turn back on in hours when people are more likely to come to the door and ring the bell.

It is a really hard situation especially if parents aren't willing to discipline their children like they should.  What these parents are letting happen, are letting their kids think its ok to trespass and disturb the peace.

Do you have a local community watch or home owners society.  If you do this is a great reason to get involved in it.  Bring this up and make it clear that this is something that cannot be tolerated.  Its one thing if they are ringing it during reasonable hours, but once its affecting the sleep of young children its out of line.

Look into ways to turn the bell off (on a timer), Change the main entrance to your home (if possible), Or you can set in Motion sensors that makes a noise in the house whenever they are tripped.  These can be turned off at will. And if you place them on the porch you would know as soon as the kids stepped up to the door.  Also you could use this to replace the traditional doorbell, and just turn it off once the kids go to bed.   These sensor systems often come with a small video camera that you could install in your kitchen so you could see who is on your porch or at your door, when you have the bell on the sensor turned off.

I hope this has helped!

Answer 11

Unplug Your Doorbell,

:)

x

Answer 12

Get motion sensor system that sets of a loud alarm.

They have ones that are decently priced.

Answer 13

If you are know who it is, then CALL THE POLICE and have them charged with trespassing.  Videoing the kids is interesting, but not very helpful.

Or see if you can have the doorbell rigged to give an electric shock when they touch it :-)

Or you or your husband can hide outside and catch the little cretins one night, and then call the police to report an attempted burglary.

Why are kids that age running around outside after 9 pm, anyway? Check and see if maybe there's a curfew they are violating?

Answer 14

hehehe.. set up a night-vision camera ouside so they are caught red handed! then, bring the tape to heyre parents=] well good luck and i hope the lil b******s stop it! =]

Answer 15

Alright, surely this kids are a son of a ..... and they are sure a pain in the ... But, and easy way to stop this is to buy a doorbell that is able to turn off, you know like turn it on between the day and turn it on between 9:00-whenever you get up. You can try taking of the door bell instead. Buy a good dog that actually, you know bark's and bites(make sure he has a small house and food and water, also don't forget to chain him up!). And your neighborhood, shouldn't it have neighborhood security cop? And finally, try and tell the parents kids to back off or your calling the cops.

Answer 16

I don't know about banging on the door but tape a thumb tack to the door-bell. They will hurt their finger if they try to ring it and and it is usually dark by then so they shouldn't see it. Hope this helps.