There is little evidence of yobbish behaviour and any problems relating to drugs and alcohol are mostly confined to the furthest end of the street.
The appearance would suggest that there aren't many problems, but once you get indoors it's a completely different story.
We live in a house that has been converted to 2 flats and as the building was probably built around the 1940's it isn't really up to modern day standards.
When our neighbours upstairs moved in they seemed nice enough, just a young couple looking for a place to raise a family. We got on with them, and everything was fine until their first child was about one and a half years old. He had discovered how to run and it seemed that it was all he did.
At first we didn't take much notice of it thinking he would somehow grow out of it, or that the parents would keep it in check. Any responsible parent would surely do their best to teach their children from young the difference between what is acceptable and what isn't. How wrong my thoughts were. I hadn't counted on their inability to do anything about the kids' behaviour.
When attempts were made to discuss the problem with the child's mother we were promised that something would be done. I must have been very naive to believe that. Instead of jointly trying to find a solution we were given false promises time after time.
Time passed and now we find ourselves 18 months after the problem first started and in that time another baby has been born who is now learning how to run. It's almost like we're back at square one, and still no resolution. No real help from the landlord, the council, and any other organisation we have contacted. The noise isn't even the only issue, the fact that these kids will grow up believing that if you are loud enough you can get what you want regardless of the consequences to others.
I was brought up in a way that taught me the difference between right and wrong, between what is acceptable and what isn't. If I had behaved in the same way as these children do on a daily basis I would have got a clip round the ear from my dad and if I dared misbehave in front of my Portuguese grandmother she would do the same. There was no ifs and buts, whatever they said was a law written in stone. There was no telling off and 5 minutes later laughing and joking. They made you feel and realize that you had done something wrong.
I really don't understand why people think that having children means having no responsibility or that it means an easier way to getting a council house. There are families where neither of the parents have ever worked a day in their lives and they just keep producing babies to get more benefit payments and a bigger house.
I strongly believe that prospective parents should get parenting lessons which prepare them for the reality of bringing up children. There are in the UK 12 year old girls whose ambition is to have a baby as soon as possible, because babies are cute. Yes, they are cute, but they are also very hard work, bring a lot of responsibility and do cause a lot of stress. I've been there with my own daughter in the first 2 years of her life. The sleepless nights before going to work, the endless dirty nappies, and everything that comes with having a baby. Both my ex-wife and I were as prepared as we could be and even then the reality was so much harder than expected.
I know we live in a noisy world, but the one place where you should be able to escape from that is in your own home. You shouldn't have to ever feel that you are being violated by noise inside your own home and for those that cause the noise to dismiss there is a problem is really not acceptable.
As is always the case, once you put a request to your god, your spirit guides, the universe, or whatever you want to call it, it will be answered providing the intent you place in it is right. You also have to get off your ass and actually do something to set the wheels in motion. This is exactly where my wife and I are at the moment and we know that work is being done on all levels.
