Yes, but I understand. I get annoyed with the dog in back of my house that barks non stop if he sees me in my back or side yard. His dog siblings do not bark, ever. Just him. I've tried talking to him so he gets used to me, but no such luck. Not long after I bought my house a family with a few young boys moved into that house. Non stop screaming and fighting. The bigger one was always terrorizing the younger ones. I quit using my sunroom, which was one of the reasons I bought this house. I used to love to sit out there in my big cushy chair and read but they ruined it for me.

I remember a bff back when we were both having children saying "We don't want to be the screaming family". I had a bell I could ring and my kids would come running--so I didn't have to scream for them. It's odd the kids in your neighborhood are n't supervised. I know the decibel level in the school cafeteria is outside OSHA standards. No one seems bent on changing it. When you grow up in an institution you learn to be heard so you get yours!!

I'll play devil's advocate. As long as it's in the confines of noise laws (for Nashville between 6AM and 10PM), why not get to use outside voices, well, outside? They're just having fun. We didn't scream when I was growing up.

ETA: Did your parents often tell you, Children are seen, but not heard? Sheesh, I heard that all the time.

I get it. For me screaming is different than playing loudly. We used to have a neighbor with kids that screamed while playing. Shrieks of noise not words.

Luckily they moved.

I dislike when other people’s lifestyle trumps mine.

We had a weekend home that was great for many years until a new owner. Two families were sharing the house, at the same time. No more peace and quiet. We wound up selling it.

And no, my kids didn't scream while playing.

We never were out screaming (1950’s) . I told my own kids not to scream unless something was wrong like they were hurt (1970’s) The screaming kids out playing now are just ignored.

I hate the screaming that I often hear when I'm out and about in stores. No discipline by parents. I live in a small town on a quiet street and love that there are no children and no barking dogs. I am a curmudgeon.

California had a"shelter in place" directive when the pandemic first started. We were out of town staying at a location where the homes are closer together than at our regular house. Schools were closed, kids had little to do initially, and so they played outside. Fine - I was a kid once, I get playing outside with others. There were two girls among those playing nearby who didn't scream but rather shrieked incessantly all day long. Loud, ear piercing, disturbing shrieks, usually needlessly as far as I could see. Watching from a distance, someone would toss a ball or other item as in playing mutual catch, and the recipient would let out a loud shriek.

I'd had enough of it after a few days. I went outside, approached the two girls (who were perhaps about 10 and maybe were trying to out-screech one another) and told them that I could see they were having fun playing but I wondered if they could do so without shrieking all the time. That keeping the volume down would be more polite for the many neighbors who were stuck at home and trying to stay busy or, many trying to do work. Phone calls, video calls, etc.

It took a couple of times of my going out for a walk deliberately in their direction and smiling for the request to stick.

It was awful.

I'm not saying I am totally behind this... just giving food for thought. What about their right to enjoy themselves? Can they make any noise? What is a level that both the kids and you can have fun? Nobody should have to be 100% quiet all the time. I like it when they do. I try to be. But it's impossible to accomplish for an entire neighborhood to be totally quiet. I can't stand the motorcycles that have to rev their engines 17,001 times before taking off at the stop sign (I live at the four-way stop). I hate that people leave their dogs in the yard, when they'll bark at the people walking by, cars going up/down the street, the wind is blowing, or I have no idea what else triggers it. The commercial yard people (not the neighbors who are reasonable) who bring in heavy-duty equipment that is so freaking loud!

So I am not advocating kids screaming. But there has to be some amount that can happen. And they just got out of school. I imagine it'll calm down.

is there blood flowing ...

I am more asking for my tolerance. I was grumbling to myself yesterday "how good fences make good neighbors" because I just want to hole up and not at all interact... so your answer cracked me up bragu!

M y worst nightmare was one of those free standing basketball nets. My neighbor had one that was almost outside of my window where i sit most of the time. Thump, thump, crash went on for hours.

One day she called the township to have branches cut off my tree that hang over her driveway. Fine, she was within her rights but it might have been nice to let me know. I walked out to see what was going on and she came running over to say she was within her rights . Again, fine. So I took the opportunity to mention the noise from the basketball net. Wow, did she everget huffy!

Then we had giant wind storm that broke the pole of the basketball net and that was the end of that.

I dont mind the sounds of normal child’s play but kids screaming at the top of their lungs is bery annoying. Sorry if its sexist but the little girls seem to scream a lot more than the little boys.

Even more awful than loud kids are the leaf blowers and huge lawn mowers. Dont even get me started on mosquito spray. Why would anyone want theit yard fogged with pesticide?

As others have said, it depends exactly what “screaming” means here. Over the weekend my next door neighbors had company and some kids were playing, not constant screaming but a bunch of yelling in play. It made me smile, and I did not close windows to block the noise. In contrast, last weekend I was at my sister’s beach house and there was a family in front of her house with a couple kids shrieking away. The parents seemingly did nothing to quiet those kids down. I found that pretty obnoxious.

@dedtired - At my last house the kid behind us used to shoot lacrosse balls against the vinyl fence between us. I’d take a basketball over that any day! Fortunately that phase didn’t last too long. My assumption is he put some holes in the fence and the parents put a stop to it.

Playing loudly is NOT screaming. A house three houses up from us, has a pool and in the summer, they get loud. It is fine. The quiet limit is 10pm and they are very quiet after that.

We had one house near us, for a time, that the kids shrieked. It was awful. There is a difference.

About 16 yrs ago, we moved out of the city to a somewhat rural area on 2 acres, in a housing addition. Everyone has around 2 acres.

The people that lived across the street from us at that time had 4 under 6 yrs. They were the cutest -- but loudest screamers - kids. The mom put them outside every morning and there they stayed until about 4 pm. She even fed them outside. No supervision. Screaming at the tops of their lungs. When Summer rolled around, I was prepared to mention it to them, but they moved not long after. And the whole neighborhood rejoiced. LOL

Now on the south of us, our neighbors have 2 kidlets, one is 6 & 3, The 6 yr/old doesn't know any volume but LOUD. He yells from the time he gets outside until he goes in. They also built a chicken coop, and have chickens, all hens. (HOA doesn't allow roosters) They also have ducks. Loud, smelly ducks. They quack & quack all the time, except at night.

And then their dog starts at 7 pm - 4 am. I bought one of those electronic sound emitting things that when a dog barks it goes off, and hung it as close to their fence as possible. That seems to help, some. The quacking, not so much. The way the hawks are hanging out on our side of the fence, the chickens & ducks won't be long for this world.

On the north side, our neighbors have 3 teen age boys. They are good kids. They recently put in a pool and they are thoroughly enjoying it! They boys have dirt bikes. When they're not in the pool, they are zooming around the back yard - right next to our fence. They usually stop about 8 pm. (and it's not constant, so that's a plus.)

Yes, it's very annoying. We've said nothing to either neighbors. They are good people and would do anything for us, and visa versa.

Funny thing, our 2 small (house) dogs will run to the fence of the north side neighbors. And they stand there & bark at their dog until she comes over and then they race up & down the fence. Our littlest dog will also stand there and bark - intermittently - at them if they're in the pool. She's out there long enough to do her business, she's not left out there by any means.

My hubs will tell me we need to bring her in so she doesn't "disturb them." Hahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!! I told him, if they complain, then we'll discuss with them the "disturbances further."

I'll suggest that all of us to a certain extent, and in different ways, are often inconvenienced or have our own lives needlessly disrupted by actions of others. Often by those with a selfish lack of thought or consideration for others as the cause but not always.

It can come down to what's reasonable under the circumstances, both from the standpoint of the person who causes the inconvenience and the victim(s). You want to have an outdoor party - of course, we all like to do that from time to time. But not every weekend night and not with noise at 2am. You have a pool and kids play? Of course they do but it doesn't always have to be loud nor every day and every evening. You like to play your awful music outdoors? Sure, please consider what's a reasonable volume that neighbors can deal with.

Some people don't care how what they want to do can be an imposition on others or produce negative consequences. For many, it's simply not a consideration.

I think my issue with my shrieking neighborhood kids has nothing to do with lack of supervision. The care giver (mom? Grandmother?) is ALSO a shrieker. She has no volume knob. It's a fallacy to believe that someone who is older gets the sound issue, because not everyone is raised right. I don't think any talking to is going to get her to stop yelling while she's outside.

:/

Playing outdoors is an appropriate place for kids to be noisy. I grew up at a time when there were indoor voices and outdoor voices. Now it seems even adults don't understand that basic rule. Nosie pollution is everywhere. But children playing outdoors is not one of them in my opinion. Those were the sounds of summer to me and still are.

I think the screeching "may" have gotten worse for several reasons. Parents allow it/ignore everywhere so no one learns to lower their voice anymore. Even background music in stores featuring pop stars screeching like cats in heat. Screeching became a thing to model somewhere along the line. Conversations that were once modulated to remain private are broadcast to everyone. People talk loudly on their phones. t goes on and on. So maybe kids are louder these days since they have such poor role models, but start with the so called adults.

There is also a big difference between day and night. Voices and screaming and shrieking are a lot louder and carry further at night. It can be most annoying.

We are lucky around here. I do hear the children on the weekends who must be playing in their pool or at picnics or something, but I can't see them and they are far away. But the children of the neighbors nearest us are all college age or older so it's all pretty quiet. Though J up on the hill is *always* doing something with his dump truck or back hoe so there can be a lot of construction noise, but it's not usually constant. I think the neighbors who did a lot of shooting must have moved as I don't hear the gun shots all the time any more which is nice.

Thanks for all your thoughtful replies. Rob, I agree that not everyone is brought up the same way and so some have their own normal. And I have the best neighbors in the world. They have children. On the one side, there were 3 boys who played basketball day and night and that thumping was right by my window. The parents put in a row of arborvitae to keep the basketball from coming over and hitting my car. We also came to decision that the boys could come and ask me to move my car and I was happy to do so. So, consideration. The boys are old enough now that they have other interests so that has pretty much ended. On the other side, I have a young girl that has found a passion in soccer and kicks the ball into the privacy fence (theirs) and has broken some of the boards. One was sticking out into my yard and I was concerned their dog might decide to take an interest (he is a nice dog, but the reason for the privacy fence when he got big enough to clear my smaller fence). I was concerned though so I texted them to let them know it was broken to that extent. They didn't seem too concerned that she did that but they did get a professional net for her to kick the ball into. Mostly a good solution.

I don't mind a lot of kids playing and making noise. I totally understand it and it doesn't bother me. It's the (what to me) unreasonable shrieking that I don't understand it's being allowed. I don't and won't say anything. I have great relationships with all my neighbors and I want to keep it that way.

I used to have a neighbor across the street who had a fox hound and the moment I stepped out my back door, he barked. I went back in, he stopped. I stepped out, he barked. He was annoying but it wasn't something that hit my nerves, I guess.

I do like hearing all the "noise of the neighborhood" in general. I know who's cutting grass, who is having a tree taken down and who's kids are out having fun. If I didn't, I could certainly closed all my windows but I love having them open 24/7. So, the kids will continue to scream and I will do my best to ignore it. It doesn't ruin my day, I just wondered if it was something that is now normal that wasn't when I was a kid.

And, no, I was never told "children should be seen and not heard". lol I'm not THAT old. :)

Again, thanks for the replies.

Don't feel bad. Family above me has kid who runs from the livingroom to the kitchen ALL THE TIME. And the father stomps his feet ALL THE TIME. I've asked him politely and management have talked to him but it didn't register in his thick skull. So I just keep banging on the ceiling until he stops. I can handle it during the day but not when I go to bed at night. Then I want quiet

There is a big difference between yelling loudly and shrieking. When I was a kid, we were told that we were not to shriek unless we were hurt and needed first responders to save us.

This made me recall when I was little, in elementary school and discovered the thrill of shrieking as loud as I could as I went down the big metal slide (remember those?) - which was in the middle of the school playground and during recess, so it probably didn't stand out too much against the rest of the din.

Also, screaming and shrieking is one way to release tension, and too, some families are just extra loud and boisterous, I think.

I agree that outside should be an acceptable place for kids to raise their voices - glad to see it's not too much of a burden.

Another aspect is that some people are more sensitive to noise than others. I think that can change over time too. I liked a lot more loudness when I was younger, but now that I'm a senior, I like quiet much more.

Our across-the-street neighbors have a basketball hoop by their driveway and their kids have played with it nonstop for years now - thump, thump, thump, THUD, rattle, thump, thump - ad infinitum 😒

Now that the kids are older, they seem to have taken up paddleball (or maybe it's pickleball) and now we hear thwok, thwok, thwok 😄

There is a girl who visits her grandfather next door to us, and when she plays outside, she screams (shrieks) constantly at the top of her lungs. She did it in my front yard once, and I went outside and told her to stay out of my front yard. The next morning, all of my landscaping lights were missing - at least the ones along the sidewalk. I know she took them, but I never reported it because at least she stayed away from my front yard. When she would scream right in front of my windows, it was horrible.

Last Christmas, I bought a Screaming Aztec Death Whistle to use if I hear her shrieking again:

She hasn't been doing it for some time now, and so I think she might have grown out of that phase. It was worst when we first bought this house.

Incidentally, the Aztec whistle is extremely loud (you can't tell from the video), and some people have had the police called on them when they used it because they thought someone was being murdered. I haven't used it yet.

i see so few kids outside playing anymore. I dont care if they are noisy .I dont care about human voices, but heavy bass or audible media playing is a supreme annoyance. And, dont forget all of those leaf blowers and other noise machines of the burbs.

Kids outside playing can only make so much noise with their voices and, aside from some unique instances, they are fine by me.

Yesterday I heard a loud exchange betweent the adult and the four year old who had lost something on the back porch. She kept imploring the adult to help her find it and the adult just kept hollering at her from inside the house. What an unproductive exchange!

FYI: Those that have had kids know this. 99% if the time the world is ending with kids and if you RUN to every issue you get there just as they solve the problem themselves. Sometimes letting the child work it out is the best call even if it gets loud... My son is dealing with kids walking by his house on the way to the local park. They've taken to lobbing his landscape rocks at his house. Love the whistle idea Lars..I wonder if it would have worked!!

We have neighbors affectionately (not!) called the Vroom Vroom Guys. They work on their vehicles for hours on end. Vroom Vroom vroom vroom vroom *pause* vroom vroom vroom. Drive away in a cloud of exhaust. Circle the block. Return. Repeat.

You'd think that sooner or later they'd get it fixed to their liking.🙄

i feel bad for everyone who has to put up with noise pollution, especially screaming kids and barking dogs. i went through all of that when i lived in town and it was beyond annoying.

since i moved to the boonies 27 years ago, my annoyances are male mocking birds who sing all night long until they finally attract a female and coyotes during mating season.

What IS it with little girls who seem compelled to scream? Our dogs always loved 'em, which of course resulted in extended shrieking.

I was nearly run over by a running, shieking girl of about six in the grocery store yesterday. The mom had a twin girl in her cart. I didn't envy the mom and cut her some slack, but I didn't see here attempt to calm the runner.

Amen to that Ninapearl! We are occasionally inconvenienced by boats with over sized sound systems blasting music with foul language while towing a water skiers but this never goes on for very long. It’s only for a few months and the rest of the year is quite serene. We’re fortunate in this regards.

Oh man! We have some knuckleheads here with cars that sound like they're backfiring, but apparently, they make that sound on purpose - multiple times when they go by, multiple times daily 😣

And everything echoes around here too, since we're surrounded by water...

Living in the boonies you might think it will be quiet but...the assault type rifle practice on Sunday, the guy with a small plane doing his touc

h and goes every nice day, and for a while we did have shrieking girls. They out grow their pleasure in hearing how loud they can be. I dont mind the coyotes singing or the crack of dawn bird racket. During Robin season it is like interstate noise but I tune it out. When I lived up valley we had Varied Thurshes. Beautiful sound except when you have them in herds-fluty stuff all day long and the days are very long here. Like fever birds in the tropics.

I live in the semi-boonies and the noise is real...so many blowers, wood chippers, boys with BB guns, chainsaws, barking dogs, gun shots, music festivals across the small bay I live on that carries across the water, kids on quads and dirt bikes. People move out here thinking they've moved to the 'country' so they can do all the things listed above. However, the family with 3 boys with quads and dirt bikes and 2 dogs that ran loose (I had to pay for a fence to keep the dogs out of my yard and away from my cats) moved away after so many complaints to them about disturbing the neighborhood. They moved to the real country where they are now some other peoples' problems. All the barking dogs have died and haven't been replaced. The boys with BB guns grew up and moved away. My neighbors are growing old along with me and are not so quick to start up a chainsaw or chipper any more. Most don't obsessively try to keep leaves from ever touching the ground like they did when they were younger. No longer any kids on the street, but for an occasional grandchild visiting. It's now the little piece of heaven I longed for! New neighbors moving in soon; hoping it continues.

I am always shocked when I visit friends in an older neighborhood in Seattle and it's SO quiet! No machines needed, many have push mowers or electric. No chainsaws, few blowers because the yards are small. Barking dogs not tolerated, etc.