Children need proper supervision

THE situation in housing estates with groups of children playing for hours and late into the evening without any adult supervision is alarming.

They have no respect for people going about their daily business. They shout at them, trespass on their property by going into gardens, climbing walls, and sometimes committing small acts of vandalism, which are very stressful, annoying and expensive to repair for the owners.

My father is 65, lives in a small housing estate in west Limerick, and he cannot go outside the door while the children are around.

My heart goes out to the elderly and the housebound, who have no option but to shut up, put up and stay indoors. They are afraid to go out for a bottle of milk. I spoke to the parents and they were not concerned about the situation at all. They even told me “my father should move out into the country”.

Surely, these children should be supervised by at least one adult, who would teach them respect for other residents and their property. The bottom line is that these children are dangerous when unsupervised.

They jump out in front of cars in order to give a driver a fright. For a laugh, they block driveways so that drivers cannot get access to their own driveway, climb walls even though they have been warned of the danger of falling off and injuring themselves. They pedal their karting cars on the roads late at night with no lights or visible clothing. Approximately, 80 vehicles use the road in my father’s housing estate, which has about 40 homes, some with two cars and there are other service vehicles and visitors coming and going.

We hear so much about children and their welfare. Surely they have a right to be supervised at play, and be brought up to respect other residents of housing estates. After all, the children of today will be the adults of tomorrow.

J O’Sullivan

Raheen

Limerick