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How it started?

Last weekend, I had a little Halloween party in my house, all the theme ornaments brought the children from the neighborhood attention to my house. Especially because it's not a common celebration where I live (Brazil).

That night, like every kid in the world, they needed to do something stupid, so they turned off the electricity of the house.

You can do that just by turning off the switch that stays in front of the house. Usually, this switch is protected by a padlock, but not in my house until that day.

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So, next day I went out and bought a padlock...

  • 1º Day - Children tried to break the padlock with a rock that they have found. No damage, just a few scratches on the paint. I've tried to run after but I couldn't find anyone, just some guy entering a house and I cant have sure that was him.

  • 2º Day - Children starts to throw rocks into my house, still no damage, but with a little of accuracy (or lucky) they can break windows or my motorcycle.

I really do not know what to do, I can not stay outside waiting for them to show up, because they come in some random times, and I can't afford for some kind of surveillance equipment.

I tried what einpoklum suggest and here is the results:

When i meet the first parent he said that those children deserve to get shot, so i took an step back and stopped worrying about them and a few days later they just stopped attacking my house.

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    "I can't afford for some kind of surveillance equipment." Are you sure about that? Did you checked the actual prices for cheapest cameras? They are amazingly cheap this days. You could also just buy some used Android phone, tape them into windows and stream from them.
    – Hex
    Nov 14, 2017 at 20:15

3 Answers 3

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  • Water sprinklers around your yard might be worth a try, especially near your power "off" switch. The switch has to be water resistant since it's outside, and your Halloween decorations should survive rain too.

    If you wanted to go all out & get motion activated sprinklers they would keep working overnight whenever someone/something walks alongside your house. Or just use a water valve you can reach quickly & turn on for a minute anytime you even think someone's outside.

  • A fence is always good to keep people (& animals) out of your yard. If you don't have one yet, consider getting a good tall one. If you do have a fence, close & lock the gate, or consider decorative "pointy" things on top of it if intruders are climbing it.

  • A motion activated security light tends to deter crime, and would alert you too. Even a couple light, like one further out in the yard for anyone who gets "too close", and another very very bright light for anything very close to your house.

  • And look for a cheap security camera, or old phone, to see what's really going on (Like Hex's comment says). With a little evidence it would be much easier to go to the police, since this is really criminal trespassing & maybe vandalism. Most countries have special laws about damaging utilities too. And definitely ask your local police what else to do, they have much more local experience than virtually anyone else reading this!

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(I'm assuming these children live in the surrounding buildings.)

Let's try the social approach: Go talk to some parents and children in the neighborhood whom you already know (at least casually), explaining your predicament. "Humanizing the target" for these children may get them to dissuade their friends from trying to attack your home. Also, if you can get these kids to put you in touch with a couple of their more popular friends - by promising you don't intend to have them punished - you might be able to contact the ringleaders directly. It's quite likely they will be satisfied by something other than stoning your house.

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Fight back by throwing rocks at them or things they dont like. Beating them in what they excel can make them think not to do it again. You are a grownup, just intimidate them into leaving you alone.

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    Now you could be looking at parents who know where you live, and you've hit their kids with rocks. The police knocking on your door might be a "best case scenario" especially when first parent he talked to said that "those children deserve to get shot"
    – Xen2050
    Nov 30, 2017 at 8:30
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    Please don't throw rocks at children, even if they've been violent. THat will likely not end well as @Xen2050 suggests.
    – einpoklum
    Mar 25, 2020 at 19:20

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