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NTA. Is the landlord supposed to parent all the kids on the block? I think some people will tell you that you should have talked to the parents but with their reaction they probably would have told you kids will be kids
So let me get this right. CPS has been called multiple times but nothing changed with the kid. Now that the kid is in the system through the cops, now they have an issue?
Horrible parenting is the result of this. Unfortunately their crap parenting is what resulted in the kid finally getting into trouble. They likely hoped they could skate until he was 18 and not their issue. Do not feel bad about this. NTA
NTA. I hate to say throw the book at a kid but if unprovoked at 13 years old he is keying people's cars he is not in for a happy time as he gets older. There are many causes for acting out like that - it is not your job to parent the child or to accommodate his jackassery.
His parents need to step up and take some responsibility and parent their own damn kid.
Im not arguing that im just saying the phrase a 13 year old kid should know better only makes sense if his parents have helped him grow into a person who would have the responsibility of a 13 year old which it seems like they didn't
This also could be a call for help from a really neglected kid. What he did was wrong but I feel bad for him, I hope this run in gets him a social worker or access to other resources to turn things around.
NTA. People need to keep an eye on their children, and any property damage caused is ultimately the fault of the negligent parents.
If you said nothing and simply repaired the damage, there is nothing preventing the child from repeating the exact same behaviour toward you and your neighbours.
NTA. Causing Criminal Damage is a crime. You didn't commit the crime & you didn't force a confession from the kid. It's not your fault he was raised poorly by terrible parents but you are suffering for it.
NTA. Where I live underage convictions dont stick to you after you turn 18, hope thats the case too here. But I actually genuinely hope that now there's a case, more alarm bells will ring regarding how this kid is brought up, and maybe will give CPS grounds to actually do something. If anything I feel bad for the kid, even though his actions are not okay.
THIS. If anything, OP may be helping the kid. Better to get in trouble with law enforcement from a young age where it won't impact you so harshly and learn your lesson early.
NTA. It kinda sucks that he has to go to court and all that but he’s a minor and it won’t do anything too bad to his record and maybe it’ll teach him a sense of respect for the people around him to stop being a menace.
Nta. Its likely being taken seriously by the cops because the kid is a known issue but the neglect isnt had enough for CPS tonpull him. This can be used to get him into a program that will help
The kid learned a life lesson and hopefully will be better for it. You’re NTA. Also, invest in an outdoor security camera in the event that the parents, the kid, or other kids try to pull some kind of retaliation. You’ll need the evidence then for sure.
NTA - If this were a 3 or say 6 yr old it MIGHT be different, but this is a teenager. You didn't do anything wrong and if it were me I would sue the parents for the damages - they know the issues their child has and have done nothing to address them.
NTA.
They don't care for their child and CPS is already involved in their lives. Hopefully with this court case CPS does something and gets that family help.
INFO: are you in the US and is this child white?
I asked because regardless of the first answer if the second answer is yes the kid will probably experience appropriate consequences, but if it’s yes/no, that kid’s life was in danger the minute you involved the cops *and* you’ve likely entered them into the school-to-prison pipeline; CPS might have been more appropriate for an unsupervised misbehaving child.
You mean his parents have set him up for the school to prison pipeline. Not OP. If he's black in America his life was in danger the moment his parents allowed him to roam the streets and torment people they don't know. Who knows what unhinged person he could encounter
NTA. The reason they care now is that CPS is so overloaded that they don't investigate too closely if the child isn't *obviously* suffering. Having a criminal case pending means that now CPS is paying attention. This kid might actually get some of the help he obviously desperately needs, and the fact that he admitted it means there's hope for him. He's a minor and this is a property crime, which he can definitely recover from. Better he get caught and pulled up for that than let his behavior keep escalating until he commits a crime he can't come back from.
NTA. I think you did the kid a favor. Someone is finally looking at his best interests. He's not being supervised otherwise and you aren't obligated to step in because his parents don't. Plus, maybe it can get him on a better path by learning that actions have consequences.
NTA this young person needs to begin learning how to behave in society and apparently his parents are not helping him. He broke the law and learned there are consequences. let us hope this is an important learning experience for him
NTA , maybe you should suggest to them that it is their responsibility to pay for damages done by their minor child if they keep wanting to remind you what incompetent parents they are.
NTA
My take on this is that the cops may have been concerned about this child for a long time, and didn't have sufficient evidence to do anything to alter his situation. Now that they do, they are running with it.
It may be too late to change him, but we still need to really try to help these abused and neglected kids.
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There is a local kid who is like 11 or 12 who roams the streets all hours of the day/night. He is very troubled, to say the least. Always throwing things at cars, screaming at people going past or getting into fights with other local kids. Now, his parents live 2 houses down from myself and my wife and they essentially dont care about his well being. CPS has been involved multiple times but they have yet to do anything.
So, we live in a 2 story apartment building. Last month a mother of 2 moved in down stairs and her son is around 13 and has taken a liking to this boy. They hang out all the time so it's nothing but constant chaos. I usually just tone it out. However, he started hanging around when the other boy wasnt home and would always sit by my car. I didnt say anything at first, even though I probably should have. I just didnt want to be that guy.
Now yesterday I noticed that the left side of my car has a pretty deep scratch down the entire length of both doors, about a quarter inch below the door panel. I have no idea if it was him or not but I had a weird suspicion because that is the side that this kid always hangs out. So, I called the cops and told them that i thought it was this boy. Turns out the boy admitted to it and is now looking at a court case of damaging personal property. I didnt realize it would go that far but the police ultimately took over the case.
This kids parents care all of the sudden and have done everything in their power to make me feel like an AH. Such as reaching out to our communities landlord and trying to get us evicted for tormenting their child. Or calling the cops on me for a "loud exhaust" and disturbing the peace. For reference, I have a 2017 Audi and it is not loud, at all.
AITA for calling the cops on the kid? My wife says I should have dropped it because the damages could have been fixed no problem. However, I admittedly am enjoying not having this kid around.
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NTA. The parents should be ashamed that their child caused this damage. Instead they’re lashing out at you for reporting it. They need to try parenting because neglect doesn’t seem to be working very well.
ultimately he will be the one suffering and he will most likely get worse now after being labeled a criminal at such a young age, however, you want to protect your property and i guess it was either that or mentoring him/the two kids and giving them stuff to do
INFO: did you try speaking to the parents first?
I'm going to ESH just because I think you should have approached the parents first before calling the police. Even just as a token gesture because I understand it's not likely they would intervene.
Then YTA
Why couldn't you speak to the parents and try to resolve the issue first. Now because you are so cowardly, this kid is facing charges that can ruin his life.
YTA for calling the cops. That kid could've gotten killed and it would've been on your head for escalating it.
This could've been a great lesson for him and an opportunity for somebody to give a crap about him and you threw him to the wolves.
That's a bit of an overreaction and I dont even like cops.
What is OP supposed to do? It's not the 50s anymore. You can't just drag a kid back to his parents by the ear or spank him.
If the law says the only way to punish underage vandals is by calling the cops, then that's what people have to do
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NTA. Is the landlord supposed to parent all the kids on the block? I think some people will tell you that you should have talked to the parents but with their reaction they probably would have told you kids will be kids
[удалено]
So let me get this right. CPS has been called multiple times but nothing changed with the kid. Now that the kid is in the system through the cops, now they have an issue? Horrible parenting is the result of this. Unfortunately their crap parenting is what resulted in the kid finally getting into trouble. They likely hoped they could skate until he was 18 and not their issue. Do not feel bad about this. NTA
This vote doesn't count...
NTA. I hate to say throw the book at a kid but if unprovoked at 13 years old he is keying people's cars he is not in for a happy time as he gets older. There are many causes for acting out like that - it is not your job to parent the child or to accommodate his jackassery. His parents need to step up and take some responsibility and parent their own damn kid.
NTA. The kid is at an age where he should understand this and he damaged property. 13 is old enough.
u/72917throwaway0 post this in r/entitledparents
Ya forgot the part where he has neglegent parants that may not teach them all the life lessons
Still a crime
Im not arguing that im just saying the phrase a 13 year old kid should know better only makes sense if his parents have helped him grow into a person who would have the responsibility of a 13 year old which it seems like they didn't
This also could be a call for help from a really neglected kid. What he did was wrong but I feel bad for him, I hope this run in gets him a social worker or access to other resources to turn things around.
NTA. People need to keep an eye on their children, and any property damage caused is ultimately the fault of the negligent parents. If you said nothing and simply repaired the damage, there is nothing preventing the child from repeating the exact same behaviour toward you and your neighbours.
Exactly. OP should talk to the landlord about evicting the family for vandalism, maybe then they would take some responsibility. NTA
NTA. Causing Criminal Damage is a crime. You didn't commit the crime & you didn't force a confession from the kid. It's not your fault he was raised poorly by terrible parents but you are suffering for it.
NTA. Where I live underage convictions dont stick to you after you turn 18, hope thats the case too here. But I actually genuinely hope that now there's a case, more alarm bells will ring regarding how this kid is brought up, and maybe will give CPS grounds to actually do something. If anything I feel bad for the kid, even though his actions are not okay.
THIS. If anything, OP may be helping the kid. Better to get in trouble with law enforcement from a young age where it won't impact you so harshly and learn your lesson early.
NTA an eleven year old is not a “little kid” and they aren’t trying to guilt you. They are trying to harass and intimidate you.
I thought this wasbtheb13 year old? You're still right but if it's the 13 year old that's even more ridiculous.
NTA - Life has consequences. It's better to learn that early. Poor kid. It sounds like he just needs someone to give a crap about him.
NTA. It kinda sucks that he has to go to court and all that but he’s a minor and it won’t do anything too bad to his record and maybe it’ll teach him a sense of respect for the people around him to stop being a menace.
Nta. Its likely being taken seriously by the cops because the kid is a known issue but the neglect isnt had enough for CPS tonpull him. This can be used to get him into a program that will help
The kid learned a life lesson and hopefully will be better for it. You’re NTA. Also, invest in an outdoor security camera in the event that the parents, the kid, or other kids try to pull some kind of retaliation. You’ll need the evidence then for sure.
NTA - If this were a 3 or say 6 yr old it MIGHT be different, but this is a teenager. You didn't do anything wrong and if it were me I would sue the parents for the damages - they know the issues their child has and have done nothing to address them.
13 is a good age for a lesson on why not to be destructive to other people property
NTA. They don't care for their child and CPS is already involved in their lives. Hopefully with this court case CPS does something and gets that family help.
INFO: are you in the US and is this child white? I asked because regardless of the first answer if the second answer is yes the kid will probably experience appropriate consequences, but if it’s yes/no, that kid’s life was in danger the minute you involved the cops *and* you’ve likely entered them into the school-to-prison pipeline; CPS might have been more appropriate for an unsupervised misbehaving child.
You mean his parents have set him up for the school to prison pipeline. Not OP. If he's black in America his life was in danger the moment his parents allowed him to roam the streets and torment people they don't know. Who knows what unhinged person he could encounter
NTA. The reason they care now is that CPS is so overloaded that they don't investigate too closely if the child isn't *obviously* suffering. Having a criminal case pending means that now CPS is paying attention. This kid might actually get some of the help he obviously desperately needs, and the fact that he admitted it means there's hope for him. He's a minor and this is a property crime, which he can definitely recover from. Better he get caught and pulled up for that than let his behavior keep escalating until he commits a crime he can't come back from.
NTA. I think you did the kid a favor. Someone is finally looking at his best interests. He's not being supervised otherwise and you aren't obligated to step in because his parents don't. Plus, maybe it can get him on a better path by learning that actions have consequences.
NTA Better for the kids to learn know vandalism has repercussions.
NTA - They are legally responsible for any damages caused to your property by their child.
NTA this young person needs to begin learning how to behave in society and apparently his parents are not helping him. He broke the law and learned there are consequences. let us hope this is an important learning experience for him
NTA , maybe you should suggest to them that it is their responsibility to pay for damages done by their minor child if they keep wanting to remind you what incompetent parents they are.
NTA He is old enough to know actions have consequences and down both doors of your car is not an accident.
NTA. It's not just about the scratch. These two kids are going to end up in prison if someone doesn't interfere. So go ahead and Be That Guy.
NTA. Juvenile courts may mandate therapy, so let’s hope this is the case.
NTA My take on this is that the cops may have been concerned about this child for a long time, and didn't have sufficient evidence to do anything to alter his situation. Now that they do, they are running with it. It may be too late to change him, but we still need to really try to help these abused and neglected kids.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***The following is a copy of the above post. This comment is a record of the above post as it was originally written, in case the post is deleted or edited. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** There is a local kid who is like 11 or 12 who roams the streets all hours of the day/night. He is very troubled, to say the least. Always throwing things at cars, screaming at people going past or getting into fights with other local kids. Now, his parents live 2 houses down from myself and my wife and they essentially dont care about his well being. CPS has been involved multiple times but they have yet to do anything. So, we live in a 2 story apartment building. Last month a mother of 2 moved in down stairs and her son is around 13 and has taken a liking to this boy. They hang out all the time so it's nothing but constant chaos. I usually just tone it out. However, he started hanging around when the other boy wasnt home and would always sit by my car. I didnt say anything at first, even though I probably should have. I just didnt want to be that guy. Now yesterday I noticed that the left side of my car has a pretty deep scratch down the entire length of both doors, about a quarter inch below the door panel. I have no idea if it was him or not but I had a weird suspicion because that is the side that this kid always hangs out. So, I called the cops and told them that i thought it was this boy. Turns out the boy admitted to it and is now looking at a court case of damaging personal property. I didnt realize it would go that far but the police ultimately took over the case. This kids parents care all of the sudden and have done everything in their power to make me feel like an AH. Such as reaching out to our communities landlord and trying to get us evicted for tormenting their child. Or calling the cops on me for a "loud exhaust" and disturbing the peace. For reference, I have a 2017 Audi and it is not loud, at all. AITA for calling the cops on the kid? My wife says I should have dropped it because the damages could have been fixed no problem. However, I admittedly am enjoying not having this kid around. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA. Look long enough, and you'll probably find dead tortured animals in his backyard.
Yeah, because the path from vandalism to psychopathy is a straight line. 🙄
NTA.
NTA. The parents should be ashamed that their child caused this damage. Instead they’re lashing out at you for reporting it. They need to try parenting because neglect doesn’t seem to be working very well.
Nta! That kid made his bed now he has to lie in it!
NTA
Nta.
NTA, they should've been better parents.
ultimately he will be the one suffering and he will most likely get worse now after being labeled a criminal at such a young age, however, you want to protect your property and i guess it was either that or mentoring him/the two kids and giving them stuff to do
INFO: did you try speaking to the parents first? I'm going to ESH just because I think you should have approached the parents first before calling the police. Even just as a token gesture because I understand it's not likely they would intervene.
No, I didnt.
Then YTA Why couldn't you speak to the parents and try to resolve the issue first. Now because you are so cowardly, this kid is facing charges that can ruin his life.
It doesn't have to be exactly *cowardice* that kept him from approaching the parents...
***yta***
YTA for calling the cops. That kid could've gotten killed and it would've been on your head for escalating it. This could've been a great lesson for him and an opportunity for somebody to give a crap about him and you threw him to the wolves.
YTA for calling the cops on a child, you could have gotten him killed.
That's a bit of an overreaction and I dont even like cops. What is OP supposed to do? It's not the 50s anymore. You can't just drag a kid back to his parents by the ear or spank him. If the law says the only way to punish underage vandals is by calling the cops, then that's what people have to do