My neighbor kid was throwing rocks at a cat.

[AlCzervik]

i just caught him a little bit ago, we had a conversation where he told me "You can't tell me what to do!!" this same kid has stomped through my flower bed and broken off one of the other neighbor's sprinkler heads. Anyhow i walked to his front door and got his Dad, told him what he did and Dad promptly grabbed the kid and brought him in the house. the cat seems to be ok, i went to his house and got his owner and told him what happened, the owner thinks maybe this isn't the first time this has happened.

Anyhow, neighbor kid has some problems, he also plays with a neighbor girl 2 houses down, she's 3 years younger than him and i wouldn't let her anywhere near this boy if she was my kid, i'm going to tell her mother tomorrow. I feel like i'm turning in to the neighborhood narc.

[MorningGlow]

1. You did the right thing

We have three heathens nextdoor to us and wouldn't hesitate to rat them out to their dad if I caught them doing something like that. But I know what you mean about feeling guilty--we're constantly reading the riot act to these little idiots (really, they just DO NOT LEARN) about running through our yard and trampling our flower beds, and sometimes I wonder if we're coming across as intolerant in the eyes of our other neighbors, as they seem to ignore their behavior. (But then again, they don't live nextdoor to this brood.) Not that their disapproval would change our behavior one whit, of course. :evilgrin:

[AlCzervik]

4. the flower bed pissed me off but hey it's flowers, the cat thing just sent me into orbit.

i feel like a shit for saying this but that kid is just creepy, there is something about him that is really wrong.

[MorningGlow]

8. Trust your instinct

And keep an eye on that kid.

I'm grateful our neighbor kids aren't dangerous, just stupid. I blame all the second-hand pot smoke from dad (we can smell it billowing out of his living room on summer nights). (Real stellar family.)

[applegrove]

2. Yes you did the right thing. That type of behaviour doesn't bode well.

[flvegan]

3. See now, if you had a pitbull...

:popcorn:

[AlCzervik]

5. maybe, i was pretty angry and then when he started giving me shit i just stepped

back instead of saying what i want to "Enjoy your career in serial killing you little fuckstick!"

[flvegan]

6. How old is this kid?

[AlCzervik]

9. he's right around 9. when i caught him he had actually chased the cat so it was under

a car behind one of the tires and he's crouching down throwing rocks at the car and he had a whole handful of them and they weren't small, they weren't huge but big enough to hurt.

[DBoon]

31. If some kid was throwing rocks at my pitbull

He'd have a lot more to worry about than the dog attacking him!

[flvegan]

36. The average pitbull would see it as a game and play along.

Get the rock! Throw another!!

This would indeed be a situation where you have to beware of the "owner".

[DBoon]

44. rock = chewy toy

nothing like doggie logic

[no name no slogan]

7. Well, he's very lucky it wasn't Drillcat

[JackBeck]

10. I know it's cliche

But it really does take a village.

You're taking the proper course of action. Next thing you know, the kid will be sticking lit firecrackers up frog butts...oh, wait...we all now how that one turned out.

:pals:

[AlCzervik]

11. the cat owner thinks he may have done this before so if that turns out to be a fact then

it's a pattern. This cat and another one are always on my driveway, they always look like it's gonna be a showdown, both of them are pretty damn funny.

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. I would be glad to have you as my neighbor...

And, if he is already that vicious and that little girl is just 6...I for sure would want to know about this if I were her mom. It's not the neighborhood narc...it's a neighbor who cares.

[AlCzervik]

13. i'd be happy to have you, house for sale on my street right now---huh?

and oh yeah, i'll be talking to that little girls mom tomorrow, i see her with him all the time and it makes me feel icky.

[harmonicon]

14. narc?

I don't know. When I was a kid, there were no neighbourhood narcs - just neighbours. People knew what other people were doing because we lived in the same street. When my friends and I were little bastards, you bet the neighbours told our parents, and our parents punished us. The parents also got free baby sitting from friends, we used our neighbours pools on hot summer days (including that of a young guy with no kids - he was just nice, because it's nice to be nice), and I think it made life a little better. It sounds to me like you did the right thing.

I started talking to my next door neighbour last week, and it turns out that he's trying to rent out his house and is going to give me a great price, which is great, since my landlord totally b.s.'d me about the price of another flat that I'd looked at (total bait and switch).

I also found that it's a lot better to know your neighbours even if you're just living in an apartment building. Sometimes this kind of shit happens, and it's good to talk about it, and talking about it will be easier if you already know the person you have to talk to.

[AlCzervik]

16. i know most of my neighbor's fairly well and some of them very well, we all moved in around the same

I felt comfortable telling his Dad but he's been pulling this kind of stuff for a few years now and it makes me wonder if he's going to ramp it up or just get to a point where it stops.

[harmonicon]

22. who knows what will happen to him

at least you've done what you can, and if you don't get the outcome you'd like, it doesn't mean that you haven't had some positive impact.

[AlCzervik]

25. and i'll be watching, especially when he's outside with the little kids.

[BlueJazz]

15. Time to put him into the "Magic Box"

[AlCzervik]

17. i have a big box in my backyard, you could fit about 5 bodies if you stacked them right.

all i needed was a 3 x 3 box for pool stuff but my husband went nuts and built this huge what i call "The sarcophagus for 5". Neighbor kid would most likely be missed after a day or so and really, all the media attention would be difficult to deal with.

[BlueJazz]

23. "Well...I'll be Damned....How in the Hell did he get in there ?? "

....and Look!...Somebody tied his Hands.

:rofl:

[AlCzervik]

24. the image of that is hilarious, wrong but funny.

[KitchenWitch]

33. Can I throw rocks at him?

:evilgrin:

[nytemare]

18. How old is the kid?

He seems seriously maladjusted. Animal abuse in childhood is a really bad sign. This kid may need therapy to keep from being a deranged adult.

You did the right thing, no doubt.

[AlCzervik]

20. 9 give or take a few months, no boys his age on my street either so he plays with

the younger kids which is worrying.

[LeftyMom]

19. Want me to beat him up?

Oh, that whole tried as an adult thing... I should probably avoid that.

Want LeftyKid to beat him up? :evilgrin:

[AlCzervik]

21. i'll take Leftykid but i think neighbor my be a dirty fighter, anyone who throws rocks

at cats must have a shiv in their sneaker so LK will need some back up weaponry.

[LeftyMom]

26. It's a bad idea to take rocks and a shiv to a gun fight.

[AlCzervik]

27. he better check those guns in at security!

he's too cute.

[LeftyMom]

28. That picture's so old now, he's almost four there and now he's seven.

I think I need to see if I can get a new pic of the gun show.

[bamademo]

29. Pick up stones and throw them back.

Seriously. You don't have to hit the kid, just make them feel threatened. I've done it before with great success.

[AlCzervik]

30. no, that's not me. Hopefully the fact that i caught him will be enough.

[DS1]

32. thanks

[NewEnglandGirl]

34. Like some others have said

When a child abuses an animal it's a very bad sign. That could be the start of a sociopath. You are right in warning the other neighbors.

[devilgrrl]

35. Bet there's a lot of anger in that house of his.

I don't know, I have a hard time believing that people are born bad, something's happening inside that house.

Any thoughts?

[AlCzervik]

37. they have 6 kids, the 1st 4 seem ok, the last 2, well something isn't quite right with

either one of them. Mom is a nice person, she's churchy but not preachy, the Dad is seems like a nice person as well but who knows really what goes on when the door is closed? There haven't been any big things that have happened but a few incidents with jr. but this was the first i saw with an animal and it was shocking, he literally chased this poor animal down after he had already hit a few times pretty hard, the whole hunting of it really made me feel sick to my stomach.

Out of the 6 kids they have 2 are out of the house, both are in their early 20's, the other 4 are around 15, 14, 11 and 9.

[devilgrrl]

38. You did the right thing.

I hope they deal with that behavior.

[Blue Diadem]

42. I wonder if the younger two are being bullied by the older siblings.

There has to be a reason why that young man is so angry. I hope his parents can get some control over him.

I'm glad you went to his parents and you're doing the right thing by going to that little girl's Mom and letting her know.

I saw a similar thing happen, except it was a baby bird the kid was throwing up in the air and smacking with a garbage can lid. In that case, the father said boys will be boys. A year or so later, the same boy ended up holding an open pocket knife to my son's throat.

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. Interesting thought...

although I do know one house, where love and joy were placed above everything else, and things still went wrong with one child.
I sometimes think it may be genetics. The child in the home was adopted.

[Robeson]

39. You did right...

...you have nothing to feel bad about. You handled it in a mature/adult manner. Two thumbs up...:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Carnea]

40. Reminds me sadly of that story from a few days ago in the times

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1D7173FF937A3575AC0A966958260



"The parents know that publicity from ''60 Minutes'' would help raise money for an AIDS camp next summer, but they would not risk being found out. They know what can happen on their Bronx streets when it is discovered a family has AIDS.

''Shoot me frontal - are you kidding?'' said Tony, who has a 2-year-old with AIDS and a healthy 3-year-old. ''They throw rocks at AIDS kids, burn their apartments.''

Miriam and her 2-year-old have AIDS, but no one from home knows. ''I had a friend who died of it. They took his cats and shot them, put all his stuff out to burn.'' "

Do your best to get to this kid teach him empathy. Try to reach him and those around him. Shame his parents into caring that their child is on the road to being a sociopath. The kid can be saved. It isn't your responsibility as a neighbor but as a human being. Our first reaction is violence to whap the kid upside the head and teach him might makes right. Without even realizing he already knows that lesson all to well.

We should reward insight and sensitivity and condemn violence.

Don't be like those neighbors of the AIDS kids who kill their family pets and set fire to their apartments. Out of fear and hate and anger cause their preacher said the government gave them AIDS and their local free weekly said that everyone was out to get them and they are fed on a diet of despair not a diet of hope and love and understanding and empathy.

I feel bad for the boy and I feel bad for the cat. Both need a hug. The cat and the little girl need to stay indoors away from the boy for a little while and he needs to learn the rewards of doing the right thing. Not the material rewards that are given but the reward of feeling good about oneself.

[galledgoblin]

41. if it were just the destructiveness and disregard for other's property

I'd say he's just being a kid and he just needs stronger direction from his guardians, particularly in respecting the property of others.

but hurting animals is a huge warning sign. he needs therapy, and NOW.

[BarenakedLady]

43. Good on you.

I saw a kid tormenting the birds for sale at the feed store. I gave him hell. I have no idea where his parents were. My kids would never think to do that. Ugh.

[Sheets of Easter]

45. Throw a brick at him.

When his parents protest, tell them what he told you.