Children and climbing trees

[flowerofedin]

I was horrified on my return home to find young children climbing trees in our communal back garden. The damage done to the Silver Birches in the free-for-anyone bit outside our living room window over recent years is totally appalling, but for kids to come into peoples' gardens to damage trees is showing total lack of respect for the trees and the people living in the flats. What happened to education??? Are or should the parents be held responsible for their children's behaviour. There, I've had my say on the matter, and will the rest of you have a Happy Easter, now???

[brainfarmer]

its kids nature to climb trees i'd be more worried about them not respecting peoples property boundries and from what u say the kids didnt set out to damage the trees. i was a very keen tree climber in my very much younger days it was a case of of you could climb it u did. we used to make rope swings on trees aswell which im sure did the particular branch no good but the trees survived. we cant expect kids to have a feeling for nature if we stop them doing anything that brings them into contact with it.

[Stewy]

Originally Posted by brainfarmer

its kids nature to climb trees i'd be more worried about them not respecting peoples property boundries and from what u say the kids didnt set out to damage the trees. i was a very keen tree climber in my very much younger days it was a case of of you could climb it u did. we used to make rope swings on trees aswell which im sure did the particular branch no good but the trees survived. we cant expect kids to have a feeling for nature if we stop them doing anything that brings them into contact with it.

I agree, Kids being Kids I would say

[Tinkerbell]

I do appreciate how you feel flowerofedin, and I can sympathise with the other replies. I wouldn't be amused if my environment was rubbished and damaged trees can look appalling - takes them ages to grow too. Perhaps a word in the children's ear by a Community Police Support Officer might work, not to stop their fun altogether but to respect the surroundings.

Tinkerbell

PS - I certainly will enjoy Easter if it stays this warm. Feel a steam train journey coming on.

[nightshade]

Sorry flowerofedin,I commiserate but I climbed trees
always the tallest most difficult, I scrumped apples,
I picked other peoples flowers for my Mum,all in all...........

[Kymba]

I can understand how you feel, But I am afraid I am all for kids being encouraged to climb tree. I spent a lot of my childhood doing just this and can't describe how it feels when you manage to climb a Huge Tree for the first time and look down on the ground below.
Its something kids dont seem to do these days. they seem to grow up to fast and miss out on so much.

[DaiTheDragon]

I climbed up and fell down many a tree in my youth but it was in the woods not peoples gardens. And I have to admit my main reason for climbing trees was to collect birds eggs and although in the wrong sort of way thats what got me interested in birds, but that was over 40 years ago and in my defence there was not much talk about conservation then.

Dai

[flowerofedin]

I don't wish to spoil anyone's fun. I just want children to realise that not all trees can carry their weight, particularly if more than one child climbs the same tree at the same time, and that a healthy respect for trees and the countryside in general should be instilled into children at an early age. All too often we see young trees and saplings broken and vandalised because of the total lack of respect shown for the weight-bearing properties of the tree in question. I shall post photos of the damage done to the Silver Birches soon.

[Garden Carpet]

Flower, would you know how to repair the damage they have done. Perhaps if you do you could consider going out to the trees while the children are on them and showing them the damage and encouraging them to assist in the repair? You need an extra pair of hands dont you?

Perhaps not all the trees can be repaired, but it might just be enough to show them what they are doing without making them feel they are being chastised? Here's hoping.
jaki

[Beryl]

I was always climbingtrees ,always up until I was about 11 years old.
We never did any damage and we certainly didn't tresspass in other peoples gardens or property, we had Hampstead Heath.
I do think parents should teach their children respect for other peoples property though.

[Gill Catton]

I felt someting similar when I saw the local kids clambering up old over grown hawthorn in a remnant hedge within a nearby park, I was a little dismayed, but I decided that well this was the only greenery for miles around and I'd rather they were up and about in it getting a feel for it than behaving indoors but developing no value or positive association with trees or wildlife.

[mim]

Hi flowerofedin, I am a bit confused you say it is a communal garden, then you say about coming into peoples gardens, perhaps you could clarify these points, because if it is a communal garden then surely it is for all in the flats to use, unless of course the children you refer to do not actually live in the flats?

You do not say how old the children are, because to be honest, really how many of us when we were younger climbed trees to say get conkers etc or anything else that took our fancy really thought about the long term damage we may have been doing. Plus it does not sound like they are not deliberating vandalising them, just normal childhood activities that sadly too many of today’s children miss out on.

[flowerofedin]

Originally Posted by mim

Hi flowerofedin, I am a bit confused you say it is a communal garden, then you say about coming into peoples gardens, perhaps you could clarify these points, because if it is a communal garden then surely it is for all in the flats to use, unless of course the children you refer to do not actually live in the flats?

You do not say how old the children are, because to be honest, really how many of us when we were younger climbed trees to say get conkers etc or anything else that took our fancy really thought about the long term damage we may have been doing. Plus it does not sound like they are not deliberating vandalising them, just normal childhood activities that sadly too many of today’s children miss out on.

Hi mim, the children climbing the trees do not live in our block of flats. The trees are small trees, possibly hornbeam. Therefore they are weak and not likely to withstand the rough handling of kids aged 7 or 8. I am not responsible for these children, their parents are. If the children were to have an accident from breaking a branch, who would call the Ambulance? Better not climbing the trees in the first place, don't you think? Also there is the issue of tresspass.

[brainfarmer]

i hope this isnt taken the wrong way. i live in flats we have a large carpark and council maintained green area to the rear of the flats. this is a public access area with a path that connects between two roads, its used by many members of the public. occaisionally we get young and not so young kids using it as a meeting place and yes they can be noisy and yes at times they play football in the car park. i find myself intensley annoyed when they do this, i think i see it as an invasion of 'my' property and i really find it hard to stop myself shouting out of the window ' go play somewhere else'. im sure other residents have complained but ive not because i remember being a kid and the honest truth is the kids have no ill intent. they may destroy the odd plant retrieving the football but they dont mean any ill will. if the kids climbing your trees are causing u distress then approach the council or landlord and voice your concerns, councils these days are pretty quick to respnd.

[mim]

Thank you Flowerofedin for your reply, and explaining about the children, for myself I would definitely be more annoyed about the trespass.

They really are very young and probably do not realise the damage they are causing, I am sorry to say I am never going to agree to the bit about not climbing trees in the first place as I think this is just something children do, and also have been falling out of said trees for years and hurting themselves, it is what children do and have done since forever, albeit normally not on someone else’s property. I agree with brainfarmer, if the land is council/landlord owned your best bet is to contact them, plus sadly children have so little greenery etc around them nowadays, it may just be a case of ignorance of not realising how fragile the trees are.

Is there no other designated play areas for them, that maybe you could point them towards? Out of curiosity, how long have the trees been there, and is it only recently that the children have started playing there? I just ask this because if it so, where did they go before and why did they stop, was it a safety issue, redevelopment issue?

[ron1863]

Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon

I climbed up and fell down many a tree in my youth but it was in the woods not peoples gardens. And I have to admit my main reason for climbing trees was to collect birds eggs and although in the wrong sort of way thats what got me interested in birds, but that was over 40 years ago and in my defence there was not much talk about conservation then.

Dai

I agree with you Dai. I too climbed trees and did all the things you did. It's only with age and maturity that you come to respect other peoples property, the environment and nature.

[flowerofedin]

Thanks for your responses everybody, and I hope you had a good Easter. I certainly did.

These childrens' parents should undoubtedly be held responsible for their childrens actions, but they probably didn't know (or care) where they were in the first place as the majority chuck them out to roam where they will while they cook dinner or whatever. I find that hard to take as I just simply call that bad parenting. All my children are grown up now (almost) and I never had a problem with them playing quietly outside where I could see them. One day they went missing , and believe me, when I caught up with them, they never did that again.