[Closed] School - parents and their parking...

Nope no problems at all. Why did you think they would be blokes by the way?

I suppose statistically I should have presumed 1.6 of them were men and 0.4 of them were women.

Oops 🙄

#everydayoddscalculation.

The solution seems obvious - simply construct the double yellows and zig-zags out of yellow-coloured spike strips. 😈

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Regardless of gender, we're talking about Police Officers acting in an official capacity. I don't understand how that could cause problems. Worst case scenario might be that someone got the wrong impression, but they would then either call the Police, or confront the individual (who could then explain what they were doing and back it up with I.D.). How is that so terrible?

It's not even an issue if they weren't feds, but are there for a reason. No law against taking photos in a public place. Far too much paranoia.

My kids are grown now but for the 20 years we had kids in school this was a problem, it used to drive me mad how some parents cannot walk 50m or 100m to the school or ask their kids to do the same. I honestly believe the only way to address it is to persuade the police to come and give out tickets. In the US they are very aggressive about doing that and "no parking zones" around the schools. You can try a name and shame approach too, take photos of badly parked cars with the faces of their owners then put them on facebook or post them up at the school. Like the cycling vigilanties you can forward to the police too.

aracer: true, but the sort of people who are prepared to resort to threats and violence over parking are quite likely to be the same kind of people that burn down a paediatricians. 🙂

it rains and can be cold in the winter

Brilliant! Whatever did we do before cars? Wear a coat, maybe?

They can't let their kids walk to school, because of all the cars and dangerous parking.

The exact and only reason I won't let my youngest cycle to school on her own. She can cycle with me, or walk. Too many parents driving and parking like morons.

it rains and can be cold in the winter

They have the kids playing out during the day. Do these parents know this?!!! TBH though its NOT for the kids benefit is it.

Without sounding elitist as I am a chubber most of the parents in the badly parked cars don't seem to be in prime condition either. So I don't think its to protect the children from the weather but more the 'stressed' parent who has probably always had an element of anger/stress about them.

Interms of photographs- our kids school allows parents to take pics in events etc with only the proviso that you don't publish the pics on FB/public media.

Ring the local neighbourhood policing team. They will send someone down.

ROFL 😀

Parents at my lads primary school park on the zig-zags, the double yellows, across driveways etc. I asked the head to put a note in the monthly school newsletter but she wouldn't, asked the local traffic wardens to do something, they said it was a police issue. Asked the local policing team and they just replied to say that they're too busy.

More than 1,000 children a month are being injured on local roads around British schools, but hey school-run-mums can't walk...... 👿

More than 1,000 children a month are being injured on local roads around British schools, but hey school-run-mums can't walk......

and Trafford Council have just withdrawn the Lollipop men/ladies from around the schools in our area due to funding shortfalls.

The same council that is going to lend a private company £4m to build a hotel on private land.

In our area- where there are speedbumps to calm traffic where you can witness cars kicking up and over them at speed.

How could I forget this little detail ^

The area I live is popular, there's been a lot of development recently, new housing etc that in itself is no bad thing the house I live in was once new and me new to the area.

I do sometimes wonder how we managed to get so many blinkered inconsiderate people though, our road is a cul d sac with a footpath to the school so has now become a car park for manic parents who drive at speed as near as possible before dumping their cars.

There's fantasitic(genuinely good) cycle paths with tributary paths feeding in for a mile or so all around the school yet still parents use cars and make it worse by parking on the pavements stopping people who would rather walk.

Last week I had to ask a BT workmen who parked his van completely across the pavemnt 10yds from the school gate to park on the road, it made no differnce to road traffic which would still be single file.
He did but only after huffing and puffing I mean how does someone like that's brain work!

I just feel surrounded by ****s and can't wait for the kids to grow up we can move.

It's not even an issue if they weren't feds, but are there for a reason. No law against taking photos in a public place. [b]Far too much paranoia.[/b]

That was kind of my point.

Paranoia causes problems when it fuelled by a perceived issue

Try standing outside a primary school where nobody knows you and take pictures for half an hour. It may be paranoia that causes the problems I suspect you may encounter. But that make the problem you could find yourself in any less real.

Parents punch headmasters for asking them to park responsibly.

How do you think they will react to a "dirty peado taking pictures of kids!!"

It's appalling on the road of our school, police routinely patrol at school opening/ closing times and will take issue with drivers, driving or parking inconsiderately or flouting the law. There are a good few too. The area is now 20mph but makes no difference. And some parents don't care either, blocking pavements, driveways etc. We've had near misses when cars have driven half on the pavements and if not for quick thinking parents children would have been injured or killed.

Parents punch headmasters for asking them to park responsibly.

How do you think they will react to a "dirty peado taking pictures of kids!!"

Quite happy for them to punch the plain clothed policeman, in my opinion. Then let the full force of the law descend upon them....

[quote=nealglover ]Try standing outside a primary school where nobody knows you and take pictures for half an hour.

er, strawman? I doubt I'd have a problem standing outside the school my kids go to where the majority of people know me (and I'm an associate governor) - though fortunately whilst parking can be difficult (it has been more of an issue in the past) most people are fairly well behaved and we certainly don't have the issues discussed here.

Parents punch headmasters for asking them to park responsibly.
How do you think they will react to a "dirty peado taking pictures of kids!!"

Ah, so we should stop doing any enforcement because some people are violent? I'm assuming that nobody knows the plain clothes officers who did actually do this and not really sure how that is any different from a civvy doing it. Maybe I'm a bit naive in thinking that if parents are going round punching other people then they should be up on assault charges.

My son walks to school and back on his own, rain or shine. 1.02km each way with 52m of ascent on his way home according to Strava... He's nearly 7 now but started just after his 5th birthday. Residential roads with 30kph limit and no pavements.

(Well he sets off on his own but usually meets some of his friends on the way - all kids make their own way to school here in Switzerland) Life is good.

nealglover - Member

How do you think they will react to a "dirty peado taking pictures of kids!!"

With a prison sentence, from the sounds of it.

it rains and can be cold in the winter

They have the kids playing out during the day.

Now there is an assumption. I would say about 1/10 of 'our' schools at work (most Scottish schools) have a TOTAL aversion to break times in wet, snow or cold. I would say a further 4/10 a moderate aversion to rain and cold (and they still do not do snow), and a further 2/10 avoid snow, ice and rain where they can. That leaves 2 in 10 schools that actually boot the kids out, almost no matter what for a break. Secondaries are even worse IME.

I would also say that in 9 out of 10 schools there are a minority of parents who regularly (read: every week) object to their child being sent out in cold, wet or if they are a little tired.

I would also say that many parents do not equip their child for being outside at break - no waterproofs or hats, shoes that are pretty or cool rather than grippy and hardwearing. I would say nearly half 'my' schools this year (200+) see clothing as a fundamental barrier to getting outside at break or for learning.

And don't even get me started on the parents that don't do dirt or damp, that write letters to us about sand 'invading' (underlined three times in red) their new faux by four when they 'have' to collect 'filthy' children in it, as we installed a sandpit or similar.

And then we have the parents who withdraw their children from a school because there is a 'muddy slope' and 'trees the paedo can hid in' and 'sticks that could poke my childs eye out' in the hands of another child.

Mind you, if this did not happen, I would be out of a job... 😆

er, strawman?

Not even close.

My point was, sending an unknown person, not in an obvious official capacity, to take pictures outside a primary school is a bloody stupid thing to do, as it's quite likely to cause issues.

Why send plain clothes officers to solve a Parking issue ??

What is the point.

Just send uniformed officers, or PCSO's, or Traffic Wardens, or anybody else that is recognisable as working in an official capacity.

Far more sensible approach to solving the problem of Parking, and far less likely to create an entirely new and unrelated problem.

If you can't see that, or pretend you cant, then you are clearly just looking for an argument.

Why send plain clothes officers to solve a Parking issue ??

What is the point.

Just send uniformed officers, or PCSO's, or Traffic Wardens,

Because, as detailed several times here, everyone behaves when there's a visible presence and goes back to doing what they like as soon as there isn't.

That must be why Traffic Wardens never get the chance to write any tickets out then.

They probably wouldn't write many tickets if the people being ticketed were sat in their car waiting for Tarquin and Hermione at the time.

Ok. Must be just me that thinks strangers hanging around outside schools taking pictures for no apparent reason is a bad idea then.

Fair enough.

Ok. Must be just me that thinks strangers hanging around outside schools taking pictures for no apparent reason is a bad idea then.

Fair enough.

Thing is, surely a power-peado could source a PSCO uniform? How do you know that that traffic officer, or indeed TEAM of traffic officers isn't a highly organised 'nonce-offensive' orchestrated over radio from the peado hive?

Until we ban radio and cameras the little ones will never be safe!

Can we also say the parents may be waiting for Jaydon and Stacee (sic) just for balance?

Until we ban radio and cameras the little ones will never be safe!

I think you may have missed my point slightly.

I'm not saying that people are correct in their assumptions.

I'm just saying that rightly or wrongly, some people won't like strangers taking pictures for no apparent reason, around schools/children, and may react badly if they see it as a potential threat to those children.

And it seems (to me at least) unwise to create that situation, to solve a parking problem.

I dread riding past one local school it's on a tight blind narrow corner and the cars parked for the school force the on coming traffic into your lane with no where to go as on your side is a 8ft stone wall right upto the road. And they come flying round the bend and try an force their way through, stress levels always rise when you approach.

I live by a bus stop, the only bus that uses it goes to the school about a mile up the road. Some parents park/abandon their cars in the road by the bus stop, wait for the bus with their precious little ones then drive off. What the hecky decky is that about? If their precious legs can't get them to the bus stop then why not go all the way to school with them? They're usually stopped for longer than it would take to get there and back.

What the hecky decky is that about?

[i]Being generous[/i], perhaps the parents are easing their precious angels into the idea of getting to school independently?

Start off by taking them to the bus stop and waiting with them.
Once they are comfortable then start dropping them at the bus stop and leaving.
And once they can handle that trauma then start suggesting they make their own way to the bus stop since it's a nice day...

A BMW X3 pulled up 5yds from the school gate, parked on top of the no parking sign on the tarmac.

create a facebook page for the school and then post video's of the offenders 😀

I live almost right next door to a private school. It seems that the parents feel that delivering their off spring right to the door of the school on time no matter what the risk to other road users is the only thing that matters. The driving and parking is appalling; its as if driving within a hundred metres of a school causes them to loose all common sense and courtesy.

I've found that since swapping from a car to a battered old white van for work the Audi and Mercedes driving elite of North Devon move out of my way far more readily.

GrahamS that was my theory too, but 3 years later and it's still going on. That's one insecure kid...

Worked in a cul de sac in chester a few years ago, school at top of road, no other vehicles parked on road when i arrived, so parked on road, neighbour shouted best to park on pavement, that afternoon it was like car wars, fat unhealthy people parking everywhere to pick up their brats, got screamed at by a few mothers for blocking the road and having a van, never understood that, a few months later saw a pcso, told him about problems in that area, a year later school closed down and was demolished then the council workmen came and painted school signs and zig zags outside the derelict site.

http://www.chesterfirst.co.uk/news/122405/road-signs-in-newton-for-the-school-that-isn-t-there.aspx

[quote=nealglover ]Ok. Must be just me that thinks strangers hanging around outside schools taking pictures for no apparent reason is a bad idea then.

Yep - you've got caught up by the paranoia even if it's not your paranoia, which was kind of my point when I first used that word. Why does it matter if some stupid people don't like somebody taking photos there? If they react badly, then that is an issue with their behaviour not the person quite legitimately enforcing parking issues.

Or should we not enforce anything to do with motoring because people tend to react badly when they get behind the wheel?

Or should we not enforce anything to do with motoring because people tend to react badly when they get behind the wheel?

No. I believe that might be classed as "Reducto Absurdum" ?

But finding a way to enforce any rule, that's effective, and unlikely to cause additional, and unrelated problems seems like a logical way to go about things.

[quote=nealglover ]No. I believe that might be classed as "Reducto Absurdum" ?

Not really, because much the same principles apply - it's hardly a wild extrapolation. Though if you want to get specific, should we not enforce illegal parking using this (apparently effective, totally legal and perfectly reasonable) method because some people have behavioural issues and might react badly?

But finding a way to enforce any rule, that's effective, and unlikely to cause additional, and unrelated problems seems like a logical way to go about things.

It seems one has been found. The enforcement isn't itself causing any problems which wouldn't result from any parking enforcement against such idiots.

How do you think they will react to a "dirty peado taking pictures of kids!!"

Probably crying, face down on the street being handcuffed after a face full of pepper spray, or twitching badly as the tazer does it's stuff.

And then having to explain why daddy/mummy is going to the big house for a couple of months to reflect on why acting like a **** is a bad thing to Jemima and Tarquin.

It's got better at our local primary since the young lad got knocked down due to the piss poor parking standards. Some of the kids police the zig-zags and they are clear every morning.

Ask to see the school's Travel Plan.

I can imagine the pitchfork sharpening that would be happening here if someone posted a thread about a bloke hanging around taking photos outside his kids primary school while they were dropping them off.

But yeah, fine, it's obviously perfectly normal behaviour that nobody would find strange at all.

Our school is the same, as is the local CO-OP, cars park on the double yellows just in front of the door rather than in a space twenty yards away. We have to pick our son up from Edinburgh's Commonwealth pool 4 times a week which has two car parks, the closest and smallest one is rammed full of cars occupied by solitary gym bunnies, the other one is half full and less than a hundred yards away. I've seen a BMW with a personal trainers name on the side parked in the yellow No Parking grid, whilst carers struggle to get a large group of disabled teens into the building because somebody is parked in the drop off zone. People are selfish and lazy t**ts who only think of themselves and need to save as much time as possible so they can spend it on Facebook, Twitter or playing candy crush. FFS.

When I had my suspected heart attack (it wasn't) the ambulance went to Manchester Royal Infirmary as its the dedicated coronary acute unit for the area.
There is a clear area outside the main doors where the casualties come, its clearly marked as a no parking zone with lots of paint & big eff-off signs everywhere.
As my ambulance pulled in a woman was in the process of parking there, the ambo driver was screaming at her and she was saying "but I'll only be a few minutes!"

What sort of mindset allows people to be so self centred as to think that blocking an ambulance from getting into a critical care facility is in any way acceptable?

I can imagine the pitchfork sharpening that would be happening here if someone posted a thread about a bloke hanging around taking photos outside his kids primary school while they were dropping them off.

But yeah, fine, it's obviously perfectly normal behaviour that nobody would find strange at all.

You do realise, of course, that there's a world of difference between taking photos of badly parked cars and loitering outside a primary school taking covert shots through the railings with a telephoto lens?

If people are going to get bent out of shape because someone is [i]perfectly legitimately and legally walking around with a camera[/i], then it's them who need educating. One of the nice things about this country is that there are very few places where hobbyist photography is verboten; you have the right to take photos pretty much anywhere where you're on public land, and you generally don't need the permission of your subjects (though of course, it's nice to ask).

And of course, that's all moot anyway if you're a bloody plain clothes copper.

There's also a wide gulf between doing nothing and stringing up an innocent bloke from the nearest tree.

Rather than jumping straight to a lynching a concerned parent could, y'know, ask what the person with the camera is doing. Then when they say "I'm a police officer, here's my warrant card, and I'm taking photos of people parking illegally" the situation is all clear and no one gets named and shamed as a paediatrician.

I know there is no laws or regulations preventing it, but I also know (and so does everyone else if they admit it) that it's the kind of behaviour that it fairly likely to cause an issue because of the paranoia surrounding children these days.

I'm not agreeing with the paranoia, but why antagonise someone into making bad decisions when it can be avoided?

Have you ever heard of plain clothes Police doing Traffic Wardens jobs before?

I'm not even totally convinced it happened come to think of it, everyone is always saying how stretched they are, how likely are they to deploy Plain Clothes Officers to monitor a school car parking issue.

pretending it's not asking for trouble to hang around outside a school taking photos, is just wishful thinking.

It shouldn't be an issue, but the reality is different and we all know it is.

Saying otherwise is like those people who pretend not to know what Facebook is whenever it gets discussed.

it's the kind of behaviour that it fairly likely to cause an issue because of the paranoia surrounding children these days.

So?

This is basically the 'offended' argument again. People want to be paranoid, fine, let them be. By pandering to their overactive nonce gland you're just enabling them.