rgurien_IHB
New member
I'm posting this here on the encouragement of some neighbors in my apartment complex:
I received a call this afternoon from the complex manager regarding my sons' playing outside. He told me that children are not allowed to play in the streets, driveways, or walkways of the complex because it is too dangerous. When I asked him to explain what he meant, he said that he has seen children running or riding in the streets and in the way of cars and that is too much of a hazard to the complex.
I then asked why children couldn't play on the walkways and he explained, again, that it is "too dangerous" to have children running around and getting in the way of other people. When I asked why "other people" had right of way over children, he changed his story and said that when children play on the walkways it's too loud for people who may be at home working or relaxing. I asked him to define what kind of play would be allowed outside--jumping rope? Playing jacks? Hide and seek? He responded that playing jacks would be okay if it is on the patio. I asked why not jumping rope or hide and seek? He claimed that those activities are too loud. He also said that children could play at the pool if they were supervised or go to the parks in the area. I asked him if kids could ride scooters or bikes on the walkways if they were going to a park and he said "yes." I then asked him what made going to the park less noisy than just playing on the sidewalk and he didn't answer me, just went back to the arguments about "danger" and other tenants, and that people can "tell when a kid is going to a park."
He also told me that he was making these same calls to other parents and that none of them were giving him the "trouble" I was giving him. I told him I found it hard to believe that other parents were not upset about being told that their kids can't play outside. He said that kids can play outside, but they can't play on the walkways, the driveways, or the street. I asked him what was left, and he didn't say--just went back to his same story about it being too "dangerous and noisy."
Now the real curious thing about this is when I got home from work tonight I saw at least three different groups of kids playing in the driveways, and two young children riding scooters on the walkways. I asked two different families if they got calls from the manager (since our kids play together almost daily) and they told me no. Both families seemed pretty surprised that I would have gotten a call like that; one person wondered if the complex was suddenly turning into a senior community, and if so, perhaps they would be paying to relocate all of us.
Now, I am not at all claiming that my children are perfect angels. I know that they can be noisy and I know that they sometimes yell when they play outside (but no more than any of the other kids.) I know that one of my sons is still unsteady on his bike and it is certainly possible that he could have ridden in front of a car. Dangerous, certainly. But a call to simply remind me and my husband (who works from home, by the way) to have the boys keep it down and/or not ride in the street would have been enough. But to tell me that my children cannot play outside anymore? Way over the top. Oh, and did I mention discriminatory? Not part of our lease. And, um, maybe even a violation of housing codes?
I'm new here and don't know how privacy is handled, so I hesitate to give my name or even the name of the complex. But yes, it is an Irvine Company rental community.
I'd love to hear some suggestions regarding what you think we should do in response. Though I'm likely to ask my kids to keep it down this week (they'll be in camp starting Monday) I also want to make sure this manager knows just how appalling his request and the way he handled it was.
I received a call this afternoon from the complex manager regarding my sons' playing outside. He told me that children are not allowed to play in the streets, driveways, or walkways of the complex because it is too dangerous. When I asked him to explain what he meant, he said that he has seen children running or riding in the streets and in the way of cars and that is too much of a hazard to the complex.
I then asked why children couldn't play on the walkways and he explained, again, that it is "too dangerous" to have children running around and getting in the way of other people. When I asked why "other people" had right of way over children, he changed his story and said that when children play on the walkways it's too loud for people who may be at home working or relaxing. I asked him to define what kind of play would be allowed outside--jumping rope? Playing jacks? Hide and seek? He responded that playing jacks would be okay if it is on the patio. I asked why not jumping rope or hide and seek? He claimed that those activities are too loud. He also said that children could play at the pool if they were supervised or go to the parks in the area. I asked him if kids could ride scooters or bikes on the walkways if they were going to a park and he said "yes." I then asked him what made going to the park less noisy than just playing on the sidewalk and he didn't answer me, just went back to the arguments about "danger" and other tenants, and that people can "tell when a kid is going to a park."
He also told me that he was making these same calls to other parents and that none of them were giving him the "trouble" I was giving him. I told him I found it hard to believe that other parents were not upset about being told that their kids can't play outside. He said that kids can play outside, but they can't play on the walkways, the driveways, or the street. I asked him what was left, and he didn't say--just went back to his same story about it being too "dangerous and noisy."
Now the real curious thing about this is when I got home from work tonight I saw at least three different groups of kids playing in the driveways, and two young children riding scooters on the walkways. I asked two different families if they got calls from the manager (since our kids play together almost daily) and they told me no. Both families seemed pretty surprised that I would have gotten a call like that; one person wondered if the complex was suddenly turning into a senior community, and if so, perhaps they would be paying to relocate all of us.
Now, I am not at all claiming that my children are perfect angels. I know that they can be noisy and I know that they sometimes yell when they play outside (but no more than any of the other kids.) I know that one of my sons is still unsteady on his bike and it is certainly possible that he could have ridden in front of a car. Dangerous, certainly. But a call to simply remind me and my husband (who works from home, by the way) to have the boys keep it down and/or not ride in the street would have been enough. But to tell me that my children cannot play outside anymore? Way over the top. Oh, and did I mention discriminatory? Not part of our lease. And, um, maybe even a violation of housing codes?
I'm new here and don't know how privacy is handled, so I hesitate to give my name or even the name of the complex. But yes, it is an Irvine Company rental community.
I'd love to hear some suggestions regarding what you think we should do in response. Though I'm likely to ask my kids to keep it down this week (they'll be in camp starting Monday) I also want to make sure this manager knows just how appalling his request and the way he handled it was.
