7 ms·

We did night CTF (~9 pm) at our local grade school campus. Easily 40-50 kids. We just rode our bikes to the gathering. Similar rules to what this article had, e

by Hayvok 2y ago

We did night CTF (~9 pm) at our local grade school campus. Easily 40-50 kids. We just rode our bikes to the gathering. Similar rules to what this article had, except no out of bounds. We had kids making huge circuits around a nearby corn field to evade detection. It was indeed someone of my best childhood memories. Unfortunately it was all brought to an end because people kept calling the cops. They’d see kids after dark at the school and just assume we were up to no good. No property was ever damaged, the principal knew what we were up to, etc. Wholesome fun. After the fifth time of coming home with a “the cops showed up” story, our well-meaning parents asked us to please find another game to play.

LtWorf 2y ago
And that's when you started to do armed robbery for fun instead? :D
emptyfile 2y ago
>hey’d see kids after dark at the school and just assume we were up to no good. That sounds totally crazy to me, did these people get into any trouble or fined for just calling the police like that? I assume you're american, in my eastern european country they would NOT be happy about getting called 5 times for this...
- creer 2y ago
  It's not entirely impossible to get fined or arrested for calling the police in the US but you have to go extremely far out of bounds. Calling the police because there are kids near the school (hehe) is completely acceptable. If anything it's the opposite: if you do anything slightly out of the usual - all the way to walking through a neighborhood that doesn't know you - there is a good chance someone will call the police. And that some patrol car will check it out just for breaking the dullness of the day. Some of the cops who respond (because they might ALL head there, if it sounds fun enough), some will be smiling and relaxed and civil, while others will be very much looking for trouble and aggressive from the start. Such that for example, using plastic pistols in dark or day in public is a serious bad idea in the US.
  - __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
    Can confirm. As a high schooler, I used to meet up with friends in the middle of the night at an elementary school playground. Mostly we would just swing on the swings and chat. Occasionally we'd share a 6-pack of beer, shame on us. One night, somebody called the cops, who called school district security. When they drove up we left without saying hi because we get it, we're not wanted here. Well they called the cops back, who chased us down (we ran, 'cause we were stupid). I was apprehended and from the back of the cop car I counted six other cop cars and a helicopter all looking for my friends for the crime of being near a school at night (the cops never mentioned the beer).
    - creer 2y ago
      Some cop noticed the beer, most likely - and they were one of the good guys. Another one might have taken this opportunity to start an in-depth "investigation" (read "bullying spree") to figure out who sold the beer and who bought it and passed it on (if anyone in that bunch might plausibly have been underage.)
      - __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
        Seems likely. It's still weird to me that it was worth all of that taxpayer money to keep the helicopter in the sky while they searched for my friends (most of whom took to the storm sewer and were not caught).
        bongodongobob 2y ago
        They need to justify having it in the first place, that's why it'll get dispatched for less than needed situations. Use it or lose it.
        creer 2y ago
        Once when it happened to me and the whole gang responded, the "lead responder" was clear that he considered that this was a bullshit call and that WE totally had the right to do what we were doing and HE was sorting out a nuisance call to the police. He may also have been playing "good cop" - it's not like I was trusting him. While one of his buddies had parting words for me: "Do you realize what it looked like <insert saucer eyes>?" and "It could have been XXXXX, so of course police has to respond." About a helicopter, the problem is compounded because that whole outfit needs some quota of flying hours to remain certified. It might be a boring area, and any opportunity to take it out and fly then counts as training, if nothing else can be written up for that flight. That there is a helicopter guarantees that it will be used. And same for SWAT and such.
- pineaux 2y ago
  Yeah. I cringe that this mentality is also exported from the US to other countries. I firmly believe that breaking a leg, getting lost in the woods for an hour, being able to play somewhere without any adult supervision, really made me a stronger, more capable, stress-resistant adult.
- psychlops 2y ago
  The more calls the police get, the more money they are able to justify by pointing to the amount of calls received. And, I think, generally it would be a much more enjoyable call to go talk to some parents about a few kids, than to respond to more demanding complaints.
- whimsicalism 2y ago
  oh definitely american. i’ve had the cops called on me frequently for stuff like breaking into my own house?? they’re also really on edge, i’ve had them shout at me to take my hands out of my pockets which… fair i guess? not to stereotype, but America just has lots of SAHM busybody types
  - paulddraper 2y ago
    To clarify, you would prefer the cops not be called if someone is breaking into your house?
    - rvba 2y ago
      It sounds that the neighboirs doing those calls, did it to cause problems for the poster above, not to be helpful (basically harassment via fake calls to the police). I bet they would NOT call the cops if real thieves showed up. Some people try very hard to be assholes.
    - whimsicalism 2y ago
      i think i would prefer if people had a little more evidence. i wasn't even entering my house, let alone breaking in, just outside with a flashlight
- Hayvok 2y ago
  American, yes. Can’t speak for the whole country, but in the Midwest, rural community I grew up in, people had a “better safe than sorry” attitude, and would call police on mere suspicion that you were up to no good or that something was amiss. Even told them afterward how wrong they were, they’d probably shrug and say it was still good for the police to check.
IncreasePosts 2y ago
We just told the cops we would be out there on certain nights and they were cool with it.
sircastor 2y ago
One time in Highschool at a party we played a game of “Fugitive” across a few miles of neighborhood. I don’t think anyone crossed any private property, but the police showed up and told us “You’re scaring the heck out of some people”. We’d basically finished up anyway. It’s tragic that this kind of fun gets quashed. Arguably avoidable with a little community communication. I generally think it’s a product of fear-mongering. People being told that their neighborhoods are under attack from nebulous “others” who don’t look or sound like them. A ghost story.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  It’s super sad how much childhood joy and fun is being sucked out if the world purely due to nosy busybodies. And the fact that police even respond to these (when they won’t even show up if you’re actually robbed) is also ridiculous. Mind your own business, people.
  - therockspush 2y ago
    Seeing a lot of similar stories here. We used to do a game of hide and seek on our massive dead end street. Wed use peoples bushes and cars to hide. I still remember the sound of crotchety old mr peabody chambering a round in his shotgun behind us one night. Pitch black. Never saw his face, just heard him let us know we were about to die if we didn't leave. Pretty sure he knew it was 2 little kids
    - wumbo 2y ago
      So a pretty good seeker
  - coffeebeqn 2y ago
    The suburbs “cities” have their own very bored and well funded police forces.
  - dugmartin 2y ago
    I’m not sure it is such a new thing. In the 1970’s we had ann old lady across the street that would call the cops when anyone rode their skateboard on the street or the sidewalk.
tw04 2y ago
We did this at boyscout camp until one year my buddy shattered his ankle hitting a hole running in the dark. One ambulance ride, several surgeries, major issues with morphine withdrawal, and that was the end of that.
- jvm___ 2y ago
  We played it in the fall at a campground. Our cadet group had the group camping and we played in the 50-100 campsites that weren't occupied for the season. So lots of running between campsites through the pine trees. The only problem was that the roads were blocked off at the end, with picnic tables, with chains from the picnic tables to the trees beside them. Our fastest guy found a chain in the dark with his waist. Fortunately he just got turned over and not injured.
  - leoqa 2y ago
    I did the same thing except it was a barbed wire fence, cut my neck, shoulder and stomach up- had to get stitched up by my friend’s mom but worked out okay.
- cdaringe 2y ago
  Woof, major bummer. We did similar games. Once i was sprinting at max speed and i leapt… but my dangling foot caught a very low hanging chain. My body began to rotate rapidly. Instinct kicked in and as a nearly crashed down I miraculously turned it into the highest speed tuck n roll of all time. As I finished the roll, almost completely unscathed, i leapt again to free my friend from “jail”. I think we were playing manhunt vs ctf. Such a vivid memory because it was so frightening but ended up so positive. Running in the dark is reaaaal risky
beardedetim 2y ago
We played tag or hide and seek at a school one time after dark. We were probably 16 or 17 since at least some of us could drive by then. Cops called all of our parents and said we'd go to jail if it happened again. The funniest thing to me was my parents just straight yelling at me about it as my only rule at that time was "don't get in trouble with the cops". I tried explaining it was just tag, the cops were over reacting. They didn't buy it. I told them "I was with Friend A and Friend B. I'm telling you the cops were being ass holes". They immediately changed their tone to "oh, if A and B were there, those cops were ass holes"
mtnGoat 2y ago
One time in about 8th grade we had a cap gun fight around a school around dusk. It didn’t end well when a person driving by saw flashes, heard bangs and kids yelling at each other. The local police showed up, sirens blazing and couldn’t figure out what was what, we ended up talking to them and things got sorted. We got a firm warning about how that could have ended poorly and to pick other activities to entertain ourselves.
leoqa 2y ago
I remember playing on the Texas State capitol lawn at night with a bunch of UT students.

by Hayvok 2y ago

LtWorf 2y ago

And that's when you started to do armed robbery for fun instead? :D

emptyfile 2y ago

>hey’d see kids after dark at the school and just assume we were up to no good. That sounds totally crazy to me, did these people get into any trouble or fined for just calling the police like that? I assume you're american, in my eastern european country they would NOT be happy about getting called 5 times for this...

creer 2y ago
It's not entirely impossible to get fined or arrested for calling the police in the US but you have to go extremely far out of bounds. Calling the police because there are kids near the school (hehe) is completely acceptable. If anything it's the opposite: if you do anything slightly out of the usual - all the way to walking through a neighborhood that doesn't know you - there is a good chance someone will call the police. And that some patrol car will check it out just for breaking the dullness of the day. Some of the cops who respond (because they might ALL head there, if it sounds fun enough), some will be smiling and relaxed and civil, while others will be very much looking for trouble and aggressive from the start. Such that for example, using plastic pistols in dark or day in public is a serious bad idea in the US.
- __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
  Can confirm. As a high schooler, I used to meet up with friends in the middle of the night at an elementary school playground. Mostly we would just swing on the swings and chat. Occasionally we'd share a 6-pack of beer, shame on us. One night, somebody called the cops, who called school district security. When they drove up we left without saying hi because we get it, we're not wanted here. Well they called the cops back, who chased us down (we ran, 'cause we were stupid). I was apprehended and from the back of the cop car I counted six other cop cars and a helicopter all looking for my friends for the crime of being near a school at night (the cops never mentioned the beer).
  - creer 2y ago
    Some cop noticed the beer, most likely - and they were one of the good guys. Another one might have taken this opportunity to start an in-depth "investigation" (read "bullying spree") to figure out who sold the beer and who bought it and passed it on (if anyone in that bunch might plausibly have been underage.)
    - __MatrixMan__ 2y ago
      Seems likely. It's still weird to me that it was worth all of that taxpayer money to keep the helicopter in the sky while they searched for my friends (most of whom took to the storm sewer and were not caught).
      - bongodongobob 2y ago
        They need to justify having it in the first place, that's why it'll get dispatched for less than needed situations. Use it or lose it.
      - creer 2y ago
        Once when it happened to me and the whole gang responded, the "lead responder" was clear that he considered that this was a bullshit call and that WE totally had the right to do what we were doing and HE was sorting out a nuisance call to the police. He may also have been playing "good cop" - it's not like I was trusting him. While one of his buddies had parting words for me: "Do you realize what it looked like <insert saucer eyes>?" and "It could have been XXXXX, so of course police has to respond." About a helicopter, the problem is compounded because that whole outfit needs some quota of flying hours to remain certified. It might be a boring area, and any opportunity to take it out and fly then counts as training, if nothing else can be written up for that flight. That there is a helicopter guarantees that it will be used. And same for SWAT and such.
pineaux 2y ago
Yeah. I cringe that this mentality is also exported from the US to other countries. I firmly believe that breaking a leg, getting lost in the woods for an hour, being able to play somewhere without any adult supervision, really made me a stronger, more capable, stress-resistant adult.
psychlops 2y ago
The more calls the police get, the more money they are able to justify by pointing to the amount of calls received. And, I think, generally it would be a much more enjoyable call to go talk to some parents about a few kids, than to respond to more demanding complaints.
whimsicalism 2y ago
oh definitely american. i’ve had the cops called on me frequently for stuff like breaking into my own house?? they’re also really on edge, i’ve had them shout at me to take my hands out of my pockets which… fair i guess? not to stereotype, but America just has lots of SAHM busybody types
- paulddraper 2y ago
  To clarify, you would prefer the cops not be called if someone is breaking into your house?
  - rvba 2y ago
    It sounds that the neighboirs doing those calls, did it to cause problems for the poster above, not to be helpful (basically harassment via fake calls to the police). I bet they would NOT call the cops if real thieves showed up. Some people try very hard to be assholes.
  - whimsicalism 2y ago
    i think i would prefer if people had a little more evidence. i wasn't even entering my house, let alone breaking in, just outside with a flashlight
Hayvok 2y ago
American, yes. Can’t speak for the whole country, but in the Midwest, rural community I grew up in, people had a “better safe than sorry” attitude, and would call police on mere suspicion that you were up to no good or that something was amiss. Even told them afterward how wrong they were, they’d probably shrug and say it was still good for the police to check.

IncreasePosts 2y ago

We just told the cops we would be out there on certain nights and they were cool with it.

sircastor 2y ago

One time in Highschool at a party we played a game of “Fugitive” across a few miles of neighborhood. I don’t think anyone crossed any private property, but the police showed up and told us “You’re scaring the heck out of some people”. We’d basically finished up anyway. It’s tragic that this kind of fun gets quashed. Arguably avoidable with a little community communication. I generally think it’s a product of fear-mongering. People being told that their neighborhoods are under attack from nebulous “others” who don’t look or sound like them. A ghost story.

ryandrake 2y ago
It’s super sad how much childhood joy and fun is being sucked out if the world purely due to nosy busybodies. And the fact that police even respond to these (when they won’t even show up if you’re actually robbed) is also ridiculous. Mind your own business, people.
- therockspush 2y ago
  Seeing a lot of similar stories here. We used to do a game of hide and seek on our massive dead end street. Wed use peoples bushes and cars to hide. I still remember the sound of crotchety old mr peabody chambering a round in his shotgun behind us one night. Pitch black. Never saw his face, just heard him let us know we were about to die if we didn't leave. Pretty sure he knew it was 2 little kids
  - wumbo 2y ago
    So a pretty good seeker
- coffeebeqn 2y ago
  The suburbs “cities” have their own very bored and well funded police forces.
- dugmartin 2y ago
  I’m not sure it is such a new thing. In the 1970’s we had ann old lady across the street that would call the cops when anyone rode their skateboard on the street or the sidewalk.

tw04 2y ago

We did this at boyscout camp until one year my buddy shattered his ankle hitting a hole running in the dark. One ambulance ride, several surgeries, major issues with morphine withdrawal, and that was the end of that.

jvm___ 2y ago
We played it in the fall at a campground. Our cadet group had the group camping and we played in the 50-100 campsites that weren't occupied for the season. So lots of running between campsites through the pine trees. The only problem was that the roads were blocked off at the end, with picnic tables, with chains from the picnic tables to the trees beside them. Our fastest guy found a chain in the dark with his waist. Fortunately he just got turned over and not injured.
- leoqa 2y ago
  I did the same thing except it was a barbed wire fence, cut my neck, shoulder and stomach up- had to get stitched up by my friend’s mom but worked out okay.
cdaringe 2y ago
Woof, major bummer. We did similar games. Once i was sprinting at max speed and i leapt… but my dangling foot caught a very low hanging chain. My body began to rotate rapidly. Instinct kicked in and as a nearly crashed down I miraculously turned it into the highest speed tuck n roll of all time. As I finished the roll, almost completely unscathed, i leapt again to free my friend from “jail”. I think we were playing manhunt vs ctf. Such a vivid memory because it was so frightening but ended up so positive. Running in the dark is reaaaal risky

beardedetim 2y ago

We played tag or hide and seek at a school one time after dark. We were probably 16 or 17 since at least some of us could drive by then. Cops called all of our parents and said we'd go to jail if it happened again. The funniest thing to me was my parents just straight yelling at me about it as my only rule at that time was "don't get in trouble with the cops". I tried explaining it was just tag, the cops were over reacting. They didn't buy it. I told them "I was with Friend A and Friend B. I'm telling you the cops were being ass holes". They immediately changed their tone to "oh, if A and B were there, those cops were ass holes"

mtnGoat 2y ago

One time in about 8th grade we had a cap gun fight around a school around dusk. It didn’t end well when a person driving by saw flashes, heard bangs and kids yelling at each other. The local police showed up, sirens blazing and couldn’t figure out what was what, we ended up talking to them and things got sorted. We got a firm warning about how that could have ended poorly and to pick other activities to entertain ourselves.

leoqa 2y ago

I remember playing on the Texas State capitol lawn at night with a bunch of UT students.