What happens when the school district shuts down schools suddenly for no reason? Unsupervised teenagers get in trouble.
I just rode my bike up to the top of the hogback ridge behind the CSU football stadium, where I watched the bike race on Saturday. As I neared the crest of the hill, a rock landed on the road – at a place where a rock slide wasn’t likely. So I looked up, and there were three high school kids throwing rocks from the top of the cliff down onto the road. I yelled at them to stop, and stared at them for about five minutes while I warned some other cyclists.
Not being very bright, they got on their mountain bikes and started down a dirt trail in front of me where I got pictures of them. I knew where they had to come out at a parking lot by the football stadium, and rode down the road and waited for them behind a car. When they showed up, I jumped up and confronted them. At first they denied it, but I told them I had pictures of them and would give them to the police unless they started listening very carefully.
That got their attention, and I gave them a good tongue lashing for 10 minutes. Among other things, I said to them :
It is too hot to go to school, but not too hot to ride your bikes up a mountain and throw rocks at people?
I also gave them a lesson in physics about how fast a rock travels after falling 100 feet. I look fairly intimidating anyway (half an hour a day at the gym doing upper body lifting) and had them listening very carefully by the time I left them.
The temperature is about 70 degrees. Why aren’t the schools operating? Why don’t parents raise their children to be decent human beings?
At least they weren’t emitting much CO2.
I had a similar situation a few years ago where I had a water pump running watering small farm field of vegetable. I heard some kids back where my pump was running and heard pining sounds, r Well the little #$% were throwing rocks down the hill trying to hit the pump and the ping sounds were from the rocks hitting the motor and pump housing. I snuck through the woods and lit off a very loud firework not far from them then started yelling at them. I could sneak up to where they were to confront then so I just gave them a scare they will never forget.
Kids these days just have no respect for other peoples property.
Good for you. One of the problems these days is parents and teachers often don’t stand up to bad behavior by young people. They need to be held accountable.
Amen. I was no saint, and thank God whenever I did step out if line, someone in my community manned up and held my feet to the fire. A few years ago a kid threw a soda can out of a school bus window and hit my truck,as I drove past in the opposite direction. Both myself and the vehicle behind me turned around and stopped the bus driver at the next bus stop. We were able to ID the little bugger, and later I received a phone call from the principle asking me if there was damage to my vehicle, and profusely thanking me for alerting him to the problem. He said that all too often the kids get away with these shenanigans because people just don’t care, he also passed on gratitude from the bus driver who now has a bit more respect (fear of reprisal) from his riders.
See something, say something.
Upper body, eh? Check out StartingStrength.com and Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd. Ed. (http://aasgaardco.com/store/store.php?crn=199&rn=413&action=show_detail)
Add some squats and deadlifts to your routine and you’ll live better and be harder to kill.
Be careful.
Following children and taking photographs of them could be misinterpreted.
You don’t know what they might accuse you of.
You may find that it is yourself who is under investigation by the police.
Here in the UK, I wouldn’t admonish children any more for misbehaviour because
I might end up being the accused.
Too true. The nannies have infected the population with their fear of all things male.
The first attempt foiled!
Watch your back, they’ve marked you for elimination.
rocks from above, always an extremely serious thing, although sometimes people don’t understand this until too late:
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/rock-climbing/Dropped.html
Did you check their backside to see if they emitted anything else?
Good on you Steve! Kids need to be surrounded by tough-love adults, especially teenage boys.
Back in the 80’s a girl at our school was killed by a rock thrown at a train from above by some kids from a neighbouring school that were having a curriculum day. Unfortunately, kids that throw rocks know it’s no fun if there’s no target.