Get Off My Lawn? Not So Much. Let Kids Be Kids. [Block Talk]

ACROSS AMERICA — Get off my lawn!

Not so much, according to Patch readers who answered our Block Talk question on Facebook: Your neighbor’s kids keep running across your yard. Does it bother you? What do you do about it?

Nothing, nothing at all, many said. Don't forget, you were a kid once.

“This is how I got around as a child,” a Naperville (Illinois) Patch reader recalled. “Running through yards was a shortcut.”

It’s not just about convenience, though.

“We encourage our kids to cut through yards as a safer way to get to a friend’s house, rather than walking along a street,” the guy said.

“I used to tell my neighbor’s kids to play baseball and whiffle ball in my yard, so they didn’t play on our busy street,” a Deer Park-North Babylon (New York) Patch reader wrote. “I loved it!”

“Children are the heart of a neighborhood,” a Milford (Massachusetts) Patch reader chimed in. “They bring it to life. We need to be kind and understanding to our neighbors, little ones too! Especially in these trying times! Let kids be kids!”

That’s exactly right, a Channahon-Minooka (Illinois) Patch reader agreed, commenting, “Run all they want! Heck, I’ll supply the Popsicles. “Neighborhoods build friendships.”

Another Channahon-Minooka Patch reader said it’s “no bother at all” when kids run across her yard.

“We sit and watch them,” she wrote. “Love the laughter, giggles and shrieks of joy.”

A Brick (New Jersey) Patch reader is grateful for neighbors like that.

“Thankfully, we have the best neighbors,” he wrote. “My girls always run in their yard when playing in the front, and they never say anything! They always come out to talk to them and play!”

“Life is so short,” another Brick Patch reader said. “Enjoy your children when you can! Play in the yard. Have the neighborhood children over and let your family make those forever memories!”

‘No Better Sound Than Children’s Laughter’

It’s cliché because it’s true. It does take a village to raise a child.

A Grosse Point (Michigan) Patch reader said his lawn is fair game for the neighborhood kids.

“I'd go out and throw a football to them to play with on my lawn, or teach them how to play ‘kick the can’ or ‘freeze tag,” he wrote. “Nothing more I enjoy these days than hearing kids laugh and play outdoors.”

He’s not the only accommodating neighbor.

“We actually move our cars, so the neighborhood kids can play football/tag across both yards,” a New Port Richey (Florida) Patch reader wrote.

When her kids grew up and moved away and her “giant front yard” was empty, “I encouraged the ‘new kids’ in the neighborhood to enjoy the space, wrote a reader who follows Patch’s national Facebook page. “Kids having fun is way more important than a perfect lawn.”

An Oak Lawn (Illinois) Patch reader responded after seeing his neighbor’s 5-year-old son riding his bicycle around his yard. “I smiled and laughed,” he wrote. “Kids at play should never be the issue.”

“Come on over, we’ll even turn on the sprinklers for you,” a Canton-Sixes (Georgia) Patch reader wrote. “There is no better sound than children’s laughter.”

Teach The Children Well

Kids and their parents have responsibilities, too.

Naugatuck (Connecticut) Patch reader would prefer kids stay off her yard “unless I know them and have met their parents, especially since my dog is reactive to strangers.”

A Vernon (Connecticut) Patch reader said the kids who cross her lawn are a polite group. “Doesn’t bother me at all,” she wrote. “Several have asked my permission to cut through to get to their house, and the answer is always yes.”

“My yard is free game!” a Bolingbrook (Illinois) Patch reader said. “Come play, get a whiffle ball game going, draw on my driveway with chalk.

“Hopefully,” she continued, “all the neighbors feel the same. Kids nowadays are so limited on their outside play and where they can go. So my yard is always open to anyone who wants to come play nice or even cut through. As long as they say hello and are polite, I am totally cool with it.”

“As long as they’re not wrecking things, it’s all good,” a Concord (New Hampshire) Patch reader wrote. “We all did it as a kid.”

It’s Complicated, Though

Homeowner liability issues and frivolous lawsuits trump an open-yard policy, a couple of Milford Patch readers said.

“There would be liability issues if a child is hurt on private property,” one of them wrote. “Too many people are too quick to sue, instead of taking personal responsibility for their kid getting hurt on property they had no business being on in the first place. Unfortunately, that seems to be the way of the world now.”

“Unfortunately, times have changed and kids can no longer roam around the neighborhood by themselves,” another wrote. “They need to be supervised at all times.”

Another Concord Patch reader said that while she doesn’t mind when kids cross her lawn, she does “worry about a kid tripping and breaking an arm or something.”

“I had a bad experience one time when someone got hurt on my property, so I am hyper sensitive to this now,” she wrote.

A Lakewood (Ohio) Patch reader appreciates that her neighbor children respect property lines. But it “makes me sad” when their football is kicked or thrown onto her driveway and the kids are afraid to fetch it, she said.

“Of course, they can run across my yard, and they can get their football,” she wrote. “They are kids! Now, beer cans, fast food wrappers on my front lawn, not so much. But seeing kids outside playing is one of the joys of life.”

“I let kids walk on my lawn all the time,” an Abington (Pennsylvania) Patch reader wrote. “As long as they aren’t destroying anything, they are fine. Let kids be kids. However, I do find myself telling my own kids to get off other people’s yards because not everyone thinks the way I do.”

Kids, Unplug Yourselves

Several other readers pointed out that when kids play in their yards, they’re not playing with their electronic devices.

“Let kids be kids,” another Oak Lawn Patch reader observed. “At least they are outside playing and not on some device.”

For sure, another Oak Lawn Patch reader chimed in.

“It is grass,” she wrote. “I am happy when kids play outside instead of being glued to their electronic devices. There are more important things in life to worry about. Who cares if they play on the grass?”

“As long as they are respectful of my yard — have at it!” a Concord Patch reader wrote. “I’d rather see and hear children outside than have them inside on social media! Children need to be children and act like it without someone telling them no all the time.”

Agreed, “stop being such sticklers and let the kids play,” another Concord Patch reader wrote. “I’d rather have them playing outside than inside. They’re not hurting anything by running across my yard; let them enjoy the outdoors.”

But, Yeah, Get Off My Lawn!

Some readers want the kids in their neighborhood to respect property lines.

“Wouldn’t like it,” a Concord Patch reader responded to the Block Talk question. “What about my privacy? What if I'm doing something that involves concentration, or something like getting my cat used to the outdoors and one of your kids runs through my yard, scares my cat and my cat claws the crap outta me or something?

“What if I'm having work done and your kid hurts itself or falls into a pool and drowns?” the reader wrote. “So many reasons why I don't want anyone running through my yard.”

A couple of Canton-Sixes Patch readers gave similar responses to the Block Talk question.

“Best to stay on your own property unless invited, one wrote, adding, “it shows respect for others.”

“Well, first my yard is not a playground,” another wrote, and, second, “kids should be taught respect for other people's property.”

There’s nothing to debate, according to another Concord Patch reader, who wrote, “Everyone who doesn't live at my house or wasn't invited needs to stay off any part of my property, period.”

“Then maybe you should move into a 55+ community if you don’t like children,” a Lacey (New Jersey) Patch reader wrote. “I wouldn’t care. I have kids, but if they ran into someone else’s yard, I wouldn’t want anyone getting mad at them for being kids.”

“It's grass. Literally grass,” an Oak Lawn Patch reader wrote. “Any homeowner who gets upset over grass needs to get a new hobby.”

About Block Talk

Block Talk is an every-other-week feature on Patch offering real-world advice from readers on how to resolve everyday neighborhood problems. If you have a neighborhood etiquette question or problem you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com, with Block Talk as the subject line.

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