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Post by Crouton on May 17, 2014 16:52:58 GMT -6
Why the hell do children scream!? Why can't they just speak? I don't understand, when I was young I was shy and quiet, yet this new wave of children seem to see screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs as the only form of communication.
I live in a big apartment complex, which is made up of three apartment buildings facing each other, which a large courtyard in the middle with the pool, gym, tennis court, grass areas etc. EVERY SINGLE MORNING I am woking up my screaming children in this area. So is my roommate and she's sick of it. They scream so loudly that you know you would be able to hear them from all apartments in all three apartment buildings.
And what's worse? The parents are usually with them! Doing nothing. No matter how loudly they scream they don't tell them to shut up. There are literally hundreds of apartments within ear shot, all full of people you are disrupting. I can actually hear them through my earplugs, that's how loud they are. It's not the same kids every day either, it's like, 6 or 7 different lots but all of them scream. I don't understand. I need to buy earplugs to put over my earplugs. Or like, sleep in those big earmuff things construction workers wear.
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Post by Firiath on May 17, 2014 17:52:42 GMT -6
I often ask myself whether some children are simply unable to communicate silently (silently = anything that's more silent than screaming), because every time there's a group of children on the bus it sounds like they're shouting at each other instead of talking. Maybe it's because they still have so much energy and this is one way they use it, I don't know. However, I don't remember how loud I was a a child, especially when playing with my brothers or with friends, so maybe I'm just one of those kids that annoyed the hell out of their neighbours and that learned to be quiet in their teenage years. D: I have to admit that when I read the first few sentences of your post I thought you were talking about children of all ages, including those that haven't learned to speak yet, and I still agreed with you ranting about this. I'm easily irritated by noise, so I really really dislike hearing babies crying. I know what that sounds like. Every time I use public transportation and I hear a baby crying I get really annoyed, and only realise much later how stupid this is, because I know babies are simply not able to express themselves in any other way. But still, I hate it. (Could be one of the reasons I don't want any children - I'd probably be a horrible mother anyway.) And I think I'd go crazy if I was woken up every day by the sound of screaming children - or of loud people in general. But let me stop here, before I drift off topic, because I could rant about loud people for hours.
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Post by Crouton on May 17, 2014 18:02:03 GMT -6
You think you'd go crazy if you were ever woken up by screaming children? Try every. single. morning. I was almost in tears the other day, I was so tired but they were screaming so loudly. It was horrible.
Babies crying annoy me too, but not as much as young kids. Or older kids. I feel like babies don't know any better, and that it can't really be helped, but when they are older their parents should have taught them not to scream.
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Post by Taliesin on May 18, 2014 6:55:24 GMT -6
This is why I'm glad I am deaf. I HATE it when children of any age scream. I mean, why? WHY? What's so God damn important that they have to shriek like they're being eviscerated by a velociraptor? Holy mother of Cthulhu! Someone find the off switch on squealing kids!
So, yeah, when I'm on public transport and kids are making too much noise, I switch my hearing aid off. In most cases, that takes care of it completely. In some cases, it doesn't. But, hey, it's bliss when it works!
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Post by sjfaerlind on May 18, 2014 22:58:45 GMT -6
lol you guys! I hear you about the screaming being annoying but in the end that's what kids do. It might help you to know that they're not trying to be annoying really. They scream when they get excited: they simply don't realize how loud they are. Sometimes I think adults inadvertently train them to scream too. We do it because it can be hard to place value on what they say, so we ignore them a lot of time. I'll give you an example: my daughter will interrupt me during a phone call to tell me that she found a bug on the floor. Kids are very egocentric when they're young and this is a BIG deal to her. It's such a big deal in fact, that unless the bug is dealt with right away, she's absolutely convinced that the world is coming to an end. Sounds like something you better tell Mom about, right? Clearly this can't wait!!!! Unfortunately, these crises happen to little kids all the time, so as adults we tend to just ... tune them out or dismiss them. I think that's why kids learn to yell so much. Otherwise, adults just don't hear them. This is maybe why the parents don't always remind them to be quiet too... they probably don't even hear the volume anymore. Having said that, excessive screaming drives me around the bend too. I let my kids be kids and get excited sometimes, but when I've had enough I make them do it in their own space. My line is: go be kids...just go do it somewhere else. My other favourite line is "I need your sleep!!!".
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Post by Crouton on May 18, 2014 23:09:50 GMT -6
It may be what they do, but I still think it's unfair to let them disrupt three 11 storey apartment buildings, with hundreds of people living in each one every single morning just because two little kids are "excited". I don't care how excited your kids are, hundreds of people shouldn't suffer because of that. If they are that noisy in the morning then keep them inside. I've taken to keeping a huge pile of ear plugs next to my bed. A lot of the time they work but sometimes I can still hear the children screaming through the plugs.
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Post by sjfaerlind on May 20, 2014 20:43:23 GMT -6
Wow... they must be loud then...lol. Were they outside at a park or something? I think there's a fine line between allowing kids to be kids and making sure they learn to be considerate of other people. I don't let mine be disruptive in places like libraries or church or at weddings or in stores and restaurants. I do let them scream in the backyard but never early in the morning or late at night. My neighbour's kids are just as noisy as mine are and so are all the lawnmowers that run off and on all summer. I don't think it's realistic or fair to expect kids to be perfectly quiet all of the time. They need to run around and let off some steam sometimes. As long as they do it at appropriate times and in appropriate places I'm OK with that. When I get annoyed is when parents let them do it at inappropriate times and in inappropriate places. There's no good reason why a kid should be allowed to scream through someone's wedding for example... for heaven's sake... take them outside!!!
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Post by Crouton on May 20, 2014 20:45:46 GMT -6
It's not a park it's just our courtyard, but there is a tennis court in there and they go in there and run around and sometimes play footy.
They usually start at about 7am or 7:30am which for a lot of people is still sleeping time.
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Post by sjfaerlind on May 20, 2014 20:58:25 GMT -6
Oh yeah... that's pretty darn early! I usually make mine wait to start yelling until 9:30 or 10...lol.
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Post by Crouton on May 20, 2014 20:59:24 GMT -6
I think I finally found some earplugs that work though. I've been keeping them neck to my bed and putting them in every morning when the kids first start screaming.
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Post by sjfaerlind on May 20, 2014 21:14:10 GMT -6
^^Good plan! If they're out there playing by themselves like that, they're probably older kids. I dunno any Moms who'd drag their butts outdoors with little kids at 7 am. If they're anything like the Moms here, they'd be making breakfast, doing dishes, getting kids dressed and sorting laundry around then.... ooorrrr they'd be on their way to work.
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