Harmless Pranks, or Dangerous and Damaging Behavior?

One afternoon a couple months ago, someone rang my doorbell and pounded on my door. When I went outside, there was a boy on a bike, and he “apologized” for his “dweeb” friend. I told him that I didn’t hold it against them. A few hours later, however, I heard (and even felt) what sounded like someone kicking my garage door. Since it was dark, I couldn’t get a good look, but the next morning, I noticed a footprint on the door. My wife said it was “retaliation” for my “catching” them at the front door, and I realized she was right; two incidents just a few hours apart was too coincidental. Over the next four weeks or so, there were three more incidents of either ringing the doorbell or kicking the garage door; we also discovered that they had turned off a couple of breakers, which explained why our AC and dryer weren’t working one morning.

A couple more weeks passed, and I thought that perhaps the boys had had their fill of “fun.” However, when I was woken up at 1:30 A.M. by another kick at the garage door a couple weeks ago, I decided I’d had enough. I recalled that my wife and I had an account with Nextdoor, an app which describes itself as “an app for neighborhoods where you can get local tips, buy and sell items, and more.” I looked over the most recent posts in my city, but I didn’t find any incidents like the ones we had been experiencing. I made a brief post about what had been happening and asked if anyone else had had a similar experience. The next morning, someone posted that the past few nights, someone had turned off their breakers, so the night before, she and her husband had been on alert. When their lights went off, they quickly went outside and saw two boys, who were “shocked” at being followed to the home of one of them. While the boys “hid” in the bushes, the couple confronted the mother, told her what had been happening, and said that if it happened again, the police would be at her door. She didn’t even know where her son was at at that moment, but she apologized; furthermore, she said that the police needed to be contacted to teach the boys a lesson! This woman who had confronted the mother shared further on Nextdoor that on his way down the stairs the previous night after their power was shut off, her husband had almost fallen; she asked who would pay the medical bills if he had? Amazingly, when my wife and I had been discussing our problem the day before, she posed the same question, hypothetically; a few hours later, it was almost not hypothetical at all!

Predictably, as the days went by and other people posted their comments in the continuing thread, some of them wrote things like “kids will be kids” and how they’re bored but just doing harmless, mischievous stuff. In at least one case, the commenter said that what the kids were doing was not right but that it wasn’t just the kids or their parents who were at fault; it was everyone’s fault because our community had closed down some entertainment venues (a roller-skating rink, for example). Other people responded that regardless, it’s still the responsibility of parents to know what their kids are doing. I would add here that it’s easy, of course, to excuse misbehavior when you’re not a target; at least one other person said the same thing. Admittedly, some people sounded a bit extreme, like one person who said the kids would probably be in prison soon; on the other hand, I would say that if this kind of behavior goes unchecked, it is likely to escalate, and prison will be a possibility in another ten years or so.

Some people posted comments that asked all of us to remember when we were kids and we (one person said at least 60% of us (?!)) were doing the same thing, playing ding dong ditch (ringing doorbells and running). There were two things that troubled me about such comments. One was that they seemed to ignore the door-kicking and the shutting off of breakers that had been happening. The second was that as they reflected on their own childhood misbehavior, there was no acknowledgment of wrongdoing. It seemed as though they were defending the kids, and in the process they were defending themselves. For myself, I remember some wrongdoing from childhood; there was a time when I threw a raw egg in the car of a teacher I didn’t like, for example, but I have asked the Lord’s forgiveness for that. That happened a couple thousand miles from where I live now, but if I were to encounter that teacher now, I would confess and also ask his forgiveness.

Interestingly, since my initial post, there have been at least three more accounts by other people on Nextdoor of ding dong ditching and kicking in my city, but not by the same two boys; I’m sure of this because of video evidence. As for myself: I’m convinced that the two boys who were “caught” that night by the other couple are the same two who were “pranking” us, partly because I now have the address of the boy whose mom the couple talked to. Neither we nor they have experienced any more of these “pranks,” either. I’m very thankful for the response of the mother who, rather than trying to defend her son, indicated that police involvement would be good if necessary.

Here’s a good summary comment by someone on Nextdoor about this whole situation: “Kids shutting off power and kicking in garage doors are not innocent kids ‘just having fun.’ There is a level of maliciousness and intent that goes into these actions and they are well aware of what they are doing.” I know that some who are reading this will object to the word “maliciousness,” but I agree 100% with this comment. For myself, I can put up with “ding dong ditching” to a degree as long as it’s not happening late at night; however, as this commenter says, shutting off power and kicking doors is not just kids “having fun.” It can be dangerous, as the man who almost fell down the stairs found out; it can also be damaging, although thankfully, I’ve found out that my garage door is “tough.” However, I can easily see kids escalating their bad behavior to where they’re breaking things, for example. Furthermore, this kind of behavior can be dangerous and damaging to the kids, as well; one person asked what might happen if the kids encounter a homeowner in the middle of the night who thinks they are intruders. Also, as I mentioned earlier, if their behavior is unchecked, it’s likely to escalate, and the consequences to them and their community could be devastating.

If you are the parent of a minor, please keep track of where your kids are and know what they’re doing. Even better, keep them involved in activities–especially in the summer, and at least to some degree with you!