Any laws about kids being in the street at night?

sophielc

I cam across laws about antisocial behaviour by teenagers but nothing for younger children.
I recently moved in a housing estate that is reasonably quiet apart from one family, or rather their 7 or 8 kids, all aged between about 2 and 10. During the day I have no problems with them but they are left outside sometimes at night as late as 1am and making some noise.
Last night they woke me up, one brother was pulling the other in a box on the road and in a quiet street at this time of night, it is disturbing. I don't know why they are allowed out so late at night and I don't think their parents care.

Before I report the disturbance to anyone, can someone tell me if there are laws about having unsupervised children out on the street at night or what is the latest time when people are allowed to make noise?

I would have let this go but since it seems they also pulled out all my daffodils from my front garden, I want to do everything I can to have this family evicted from this housing estate or their children taken out of the care of their parents.

I am sending a complaint form to my county council but I am just wondering which laws can I stand on, at which point parents are guilty of neglect, etc...

MagicSean

sophielc wrote: »

I cam across laws about antisocial behaviour by teenagers but nothing for younger children.
I recently moved in a housing estate that is reasonably quiet apart from one family, or rather their 7 or 8 kids, all aged between about 2 and 10. During the day I have no problems with them but they are left outside sometimes at night as late as 1am and making some noise.
Last night they woke me up, one brother was pulling the other in a box on the road and in a quiet street at this time of night, it is disturbing. I don't know why they are allowed out so late at night and I don't think their parents care.

Before I report the disturbance to anyone, can someone tell me if there are laws about having unsupervised children out on the street at night or what is the latest time when people are allowed to make noise?

I would have let this go but since it seems they also pulled out all my daffodils from my front garden, I want to do everything I can to have this family evicted from this housing estate or their children taken out of the care of their parents.

I am sending a complaint form to my county council but I am just wondering which laws can I stand on, at which point parents are guilty of neglect, etc...

Send a letter to the HSE and to the Gardaí (address to your local superintendent) as well. Children can't commit crimes under the age of 10 years old but their parents may be guilty of neglect/endangerment. In addition the Gardaí may be able to issue them with anti social behaviour warnings.

_JOE_

sophielc wrote: »

I cam across laws about antisocial behaviour by teenagers but nothing for younger children.
I recently moved in a housing estate that is reasonably quiet apart from one family, or rather their 7 or 8 kids, all aged between about 2 and 10. During the day I have no problems with them but they are left outside sometimes at night as late as 1am and making some noise.
Last night they woke me up, one brother was pulling the other in a box on the road and in a quiet street at this time of night, it is disturbing. I don't know why they are allowed out so late at night and I don't think their parents care.

Before I report the disturbance to anyone, can someone tell me if there are laws about having unsupervised children out on the street at night or what is the latest time when people are allowed to make noise?

I would have let this go but since it seems they also pulled out all my daffodils from my front garden, I want to do everything I can to have this family evicted from this housing estate or their children taken out of the care of their parents.

I am sending a complaint form to my county council but I am just wondering which laws can I stand on, at which point parents are guilty of neglect, etc...

You think the above qualifies for an eviction of the family? Seriously?

Is it a council estate?

I would suggest that you have a quiet word with the family as opposed to "going straight for the head-shot."

One thing i will say though, is that there is an exceptionally high threshold to be met before a child is taken away from its parent, and (as fond as i am of my own flowers!) I doubt such would qualify as a reason to take a child into care.

At the end of the day, the kids are quite young, but remember, these situations regarding neighbours and complaints tend to get out of hand quite easily. I would thread carefully OP.

Dilynnio

As far as I know you should ring your local garda station and tell them what is happening. I think there is a community officer of some sorts that can call out to the family then. you can remain anonymous as far as i know but ring the station they can help you out and give the best advice.

Everyone is entitled to the full right of enjoyment and peace in their home.....there is some law to that effect!

Hope this helps!

Maximilian

Ignore the (amusing) troll please.

sophielc

Dilynnio wrote: »

Everyone is entitled to the full right of enjoyment and peace in their home.....there is some law to that effect!

This is not just about my flowers, but about the repetitive bad behaviour of these kids. Leaving a 3 year-old run around in the street at all hours of the night exposes him to be hit by a drunk driver coming home from the pub or worse. In my book, this is an act of neglect by the parents.

NotSoDumbBlonde

The first thing you should do is start a diary wherein you record every single event that occurs, including the time and date. If they are outside at 1am shouting and making noise, write it down. If your garden is vandalised, write it down. Whatever happens, keep a note of it.

I also agree that you should try to confront the family on a "casual" basis and explain that the behaviour of their children is affecting your enjoyment of your home and the peace and quiet you are entitled to expect. Keep a record of this and write down the response/s you get (if any). Try the softly-softly approach at first.

Write down everything that has happened since the problems commenced. You need to contact the Gardai and inform them of the disturbances you're experiencing. You should also ask for the Community Garda to keep an eye on the area in the evenings. This sounds like an anti-social issue and unfortunately, there is little you can do. The parents/guardians of these children are responsible for their actions at this young age and the worst that can happen is that the parents/guardians could be fined for the actions of their children. The guards may intervene at a later stage and, as previously suggested, issue an anti-social warning but apart from registering your complaints with the gardai as and when they arise, you dont have many other options. If your local council were to become involved, it would be an advantage to already have a detailed log of the various incidents with the gardai.

I know how disturbing this can be! Hope things calm down for you.

slimjimmc

There appears to be a large child welfare element to this situation.
Approaching the parents could earn you a bad reaction. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the parents are thugs or the like, they could be under stress, unable to cope or even simply oblivious to the consequenses of letting their children run loose as 1am.
Having a neighbour 'butt in' could cause embarrassment or indignation and might result in a not so curteous response. If social services moved in after you had your chat with the parents who do you think would be #1 on the blame sheet, do you think they'd really care or believe if it wasn't you who called them in?

Instead of contacting the parents I suggest doing what k_mac has advised ... HSE and Gardaí. Let them deal with it in the appropriate manner.
Keep the diary too, just in case facts are needed.

bryaner

_JOE_ wrote: »

You think the above qualifies for an eviction of the family? Seriously?

Is it a council estate?

I would suggest that you have a quiet word with the family as opposed to "going straight for the head-shot."

One thing i will say though, is that there is an exceptionally high threshold to be met before a child is taken away from its parent, and (as fond as i am of my own flowers!) I doubt such would qualify as a reason to take a child into care.

At the end of the day, the kids are quite young, but remember, these situations regarding neighbours and complaints tend to get out of hand quite easily. I would thread carefully OP.

If that's the manners they have thought their kids the don't deserve to have them! or be allowed to reproduce ever again..

sophielc

The diary is an excellent advice, I will start doing this as soon as possible. I haven't had any disturbances since I posted the message, strange with all the good weather I was expecting them to be out, maybe someone has been complaining to them.

cushtac

slimjimmc wrote: »

Instead of contacting the parents I suggest doing what k_mac has advised ... HSE and Gardaí. Let them deal with it in the appropriate manner. Keep the diary too, just in case facts are needed.

I doubt the parents are going to take a visit from either the Gardaí or HSE any better than they would a visit from the OP.

slimjimmc

cushtac wrote: »

I doubt the parents are going to take a visit from either the Gardaí or HSE any better than they would a visit from the OP.

Perhaps, but the HSE are better qualified in situations like this and either way at least the OP won't be in the line of fire if tempers turn nasty.

sparkling sea

If the children are being left out till all hours then they are in danger - report the problem to the HSE - the Gardas can't do anything really unless the children are in imminent danger and they would also have to contact the HSE.

There are stories on the news every week reporting the terrible things that happen to children who are neglected by their parents while the rest of the community looked the other way. The parents might have problems of their own and in the long run may be glad of the intervention. Either way the childrens safety and best interests should be parmount.

Make sure whoever takes the info from you at the HSE understands that you wish to remain anonymous, do this for your sake and safety. Do not confront the parents, it is more likely to cause more harm then good.

Some people are just bad parents - inform the HSE

This is not anti social problem if some of the kids are very young - its child neglect and endangerment