I've made a request recently on mamasource regarding unsupervised kids at my complex pool and got lots of good advice. I live in a condo, not an apartment complex so we have no apartment manager on site.
There's approx 14 kids daily ranging in age of 4-11 that go swimming W/OUT any adult supervision! (DAILY)
I finally called the Garland police and an hour later when all of the kids were still down there, I called back to see if an officer had come and the operator said an officer had come and said the kids were fine so he just left!!
How is this not breaking the law that kids so young are unsupervised at a POOL??
Is this legal and is there anything else I can even do if our own police dpt can't help??
It's not only these kids are unsupervised, their behavior is CRAZY and they're down there screaming so loud all day that's all I hear pretty much the entire day in my upstairs unit!!
I really don't want to hear and deal with this all summer long....
Thanks for any help or advice!
That is soo scary! You are doing the right thing!!!! I don't live in Garland or know if there are specific laws, but keep trying to get answers & keep calling the police when you see the kids out there. Obivously their own parents aren't watching out for them. As a former lifeguard & swim lesson instructor, I am so dissapointed when I see or hear of children in such a potentially dangerous situation!! There needs to be more people like you!
I have seen similar issues at our community pool but it's usually junior high that is overly active/loud etc. I have gone over to them corrected them on behavior and they respected my wishes. It might be good to have a group of moms to take shifts (different times of day to be at the pool) to keep the peace. Ultimately your HOA should help out but my guess is these kids are home alone, parents have said you can't go to the pool and they do anyway.
N. O,
I hear a couple of issues. One is whether these children can "legally" swim without adult supervision. There is the possibility of two types of "laws" or regulations governing this issue. One is state CPS laws. You can look these up under stateoftexas.org (or some version thereof) and go to CPS guidelines for supervision. This will indicate whether you have a CPS complaint (once you determine the ages of the children involved).
The second possibility is bylaws governing the complex through the condominium board. There should be a governing body with representation of the residents and the developer. This would be the organization where you could probably get best results.
The third possibility would be to go to other parents and attempt to form a "grass roots" level of support from all parents to come up with a solution to the problem of unsupervised children at the swimming pool. This could bring about awareness and community relationship building to solve the issue.
In any case, you are to be commended for your concern. Good luck in solving the issue.
D. H.
Get others parents involved and have them call and complain and voice their concerns as well. They need to see it's more than one person that is having a problem with all this. We had neighbors that would have pool parties late at night and just too loud. We all teamed up and called and called again. Our neighbors got the hint and finally respected those that live around them.
I think you are doing the right thing. UN-supervised kids should not be at a pool.
IF there is nothing the police can do about that.....how about a Disturbing the Peace call???? There are noise ordinances for things like barking dogs, loud music. Maybe loud kids would fall into that category.
There might be someone who works the night shift that needs rest, babies need naps, etc.
Good luck
If you hadn't mentioned Garland, I would have said that we live in the same complex! As one other mom said, you should have an organization in charge of the complex that takes care of these matters. Our HOA, while not the most effective group in the world when it comes to repairs, takes issues of safety and disturbing the peace very seriously.
My neighbors and I have made phone calls or sent emails about various things and the board addresses them with the owners involved, (generally the people breaking the rules are not owners but renters, so I presume the owners of the condos give the tenants some type of ultimatum.) Anyway, find out who your property manager is and contact them - they have the responsibility to take care of this. Good luck!
Whoa! Before you take the drastic step of calling CPS be sure of your facts. Do you think the children are home alone?
Did you ask the police what the law is pertaining to unsupervised children in a pool? What constitutes disturbing the peace in Garland?
Personally I can't imagine letting small children go to a pool unsupervised. Every summer we have stories of children drowning---usually in apt pools!! It is one of the leading causes of death in children. Makes SIDS look like a pussy cat and yet most mothers take SIDS seriously. I feel there should be some laws pertaining to these pools and maybe there are. Maybe you could do some investigating.
Good luck and God Bless you for your concern.
D.
You can always call CPS if you think the children are being neglected.
