Ding Dong Ditch

[AustinTink]

You asked for my opinion, and that's what I gave. It wouldn't be wrong of you to let the parents know what their kids were up to at 2 am, but especially if this is the first time, I wouldn't.

They hit at least 100 houses over the last two nights. Not the first time hitting us and definitely not their first rodeo.

 

[AustinTink]

You live in TX where people are able to have guns. Leave a BIG sign up at night with florescent paint stating you have one and that you have no problem shooting all Ding Dong Ditchers for target practice and that their parents can ask questions once they've picked up their cold dead bodies.

So many of our neighbors have guns, it’s prevalent here. Last night two neighbors were outside with baseball bats! People are fed up!

 

[kdonnel]

Occasionally it happens in my neighborhood and ends up being good fun to observe the posts on the neighborhood Facebook page.

The originally poster will generally be of the mindset that it is a major infraction. Then someone who thinks it is good clean fun will respond and the fun for me begins.

Eventually it usually gets nasty enough that the thread gets deleted.

As for me I am in the camp that it is annoying but in the grand scheme of things a child could do it is not the worst.

 

[anniemae]

I am surprised kids still do this, as others have said, since cameras are so common these days.

Our neighborhood does the "Boo" thing at Halloween where you anonymously leave a bag of candy for someone on their doorstep by ringing the doorbell and running. Then that person makes a treat bag and "Boo's" someone else by leaving treats on their doorstep, ringing the bell, and running away before they answer. With all the doorbell cam's people now dress up in masks and hoods to hide their identity. LOL. Its fun.

That's not the same as a good old fashioned ding dong ditch though. Yes, I would be very annoyed if it happened at that hour. If they did it before 9:00 I would be irritated, but would get over it. Are you sure it was kids? that seems really late for kids to be out. Do you have a doorbell camera? If so, are they hiding their faces. If not, somebody's camera may have picked them up

 

[nene0182]

I don’t particularly care if it’s during the day but would if it was the middle of the night. I also don’t answer my door unless I know someone is coming.

This reminded me that a few years ago on a Saturday afternoon, I heard my doorbell ring and since I was waiting for a delivery I figured that’s what it was. I opened the door and found two preteens laughing hysterically and saying “Ha! You’ve been ding dong ditched!!” I informed them they forgot the ditching part and shut the door.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I would be very annoyed and even scared if someone rang the doorbell at 2:00 a.m. You don't know if someone is drunk or high or trying to get you to open the door for some nefarious reason. I would want to know if my kids were out doing that in the middle of the night. It's unsafe in so many ways, for both the kids and their targets. It's also immensely disrespectful. Is it really funny to disrupt someone's sleep and sense of safety in their home? I think it's an outdated "prank" that isn't safe or funny anymore.

 

[anniemae]

I would be very annoyed and even scared if someone rang the doorbell at 2:00 a.m. You don't know if someone is drunk or high or trying to get you to open the door for some nefarious reason. I would want to know if my kids were out doing that in the middle of the night. It's unsafe in so many ways, for both the kids and their targets. It's also immensely disrespectful. Is it really funny to disrupt someone's sleep and sense of safety in their home? I think it's an outdated "prank" that isn't safe or funny anymore.

I agree. I would also panic if the bell rang at that hour, kind of like a phone ringing in the dead of the night. Stops your heart. My thought would be burglars seeing if anyone is home or someone who is impaired in some way. Either way, not safe to answer.

 

[AustinTink]

It's also immensely disrespectful. Is it really funny to disrupt someone's sleep and sense of safety in their home?

This is the part for me, the absolute disrespect to upend my sleep and leave me feeling uneasy in my own home. I got one hour of sleep last night. How on earth could that be funny to anyone?

 

[AustinTink]

I agree. I would also panic if the bell rang at that hour, kind of like a phone ringing in the dead of the night. Stops your heart.

I can chest pains afterwards for 2 hours I was so startled and mad.

 

[nancipants]

In the middle of the night? Hell no. If my doorbell rings at 2 am I think someone is dead or trying to rob my house.

During the day/evening? I never answer my door unless it's someone I'm expecting, and I'd just use Ring to ask what they want.

Also I would NEVER let my kid do that because there are lots of people with guns who don't think it's just a fun prank.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There also was a recent post on Nextdoor in my area about being woken up by someone ringing doorbells. The cameras do not seem to be deterring them but it can be good for evidence. One of the kids was caught starting with the ringing of the doorbell that escalated to vandalism of the property-primarily things that were on the porch they were picking up and smashing them, kicking them and some items were stolen. Maybe decades and decades ago kids just stopped at ringing the doorbell or the random tp-ing a house but that has long since been what kids stop at. Plus you have porch pirates so much these days which includes teens too.

I think I was a boring kid because we didn't ding dong ditch. But I was also taught to not go on someone's property which was a big thing since we used to ride bikes all the time.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Never heard the term “ding dong ditch”. We just call it ring and run, although it’s not something I ever did, nor have had done to me. I can understand it being annoying, especially if more than a one-time thing. If you know the kids, I’d tell the parents, otherwise, not sure what can be done to stop it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

seems really late for kids to be out

IME it's not usually young kids late at night/wee hours of the morning but teens and yes they are out late (my neighbor's daughter sure is). And 2am may seem late for a Sunday night but it's also very possible they are now on Thanksgiving break.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If you don't want it to happen again, the best way to make it stop is not reacting. Don't turn your lights on, open the door, or go outside. The houses we did over and over were the ones where somebody would come outside and yell.

I don't think that's how the kids do it now. Based on the numerous posts I see the homeowners aren't reacting in the moment either because they are asleep or otherwise busy but nearly all of them have it captured on cameras. Some houses may have motion lights but not necessarily porch lights on. Some def. don't have any lights on. Some have specific spotlights. In general there's not really anything the homeowner can do to lessen it happening which is probably why they are so frustrated with it. People just want to be unbothered and they can't control the behavior of those doing it.

 

[mjkacmom]

I am surprised kids still do this, as others have said, since cameras are so common these days.

Our neighborhood does the "Boo" thing at Halloween where you anonymously leave a bag of candy for someone on their doorstep by ringing the doorbell and running. Then that person makes a treat bag and "Boo's" someone else by leaving treats on their doorstep, ringing the bell, and running away before they answer. With all the doorbell cam's people now dress up in masks and hoods to hide their identity. LOL. Its fun.

That's not the same as a good old fashioned ding dong ditch though. Yes, I would be very annoyed if it happened at that hour. If they did it before 9:00 I would be irritated, but would get over it. Are you sure it was kids? that seems really late for kids to be out. Do you have a doorbell camera? If so, are they hiding their faces. If not, somebody's camera may have picked them up

We have ghosting here too in October, plus the usual tp’ing, house across the street still has toilet paper in the top of their tree. Do not ring my doorbell at 2 am, I’d panic thinking it was the police informing me one if my kids was injured or killed.

 

[lisaviolet]

I was all What the heck is Ding Dong Ditch? And then I realized it is Knicky Knicky Nine Doors.

 

[monsterkitty]

They are so dumb they were ringing doorbells with Ring cameras. We and so many neighbors all have them on camera.

BTW: Don't think they care if its on ring and I think its one of those TikTok challenge things so they are posting it anyway.

Our entire neighborhood has Ring Doorbells because they came with the houses. The kids don't care if they're caught on camera because to them it's a fun TikTok challenge.

What used to be a fun game for many of us as children has become dangerous and destructive. How many of us DDD at 2 am? Probably not many.

We're lucky the kids just do the Ding Dong Ditch in our neighborhood. The development next to us is having an issue with the kids smashing items in the yards, like holiday decorations and garden decorations.

Two kids under 10 were finally caught after they rang doorbells and kicked the front doors or screen doors hard enough to damage them. They kept going back to the same houses and didn't care those also had cameras catching them in the act. Their parents also said the videos were edited to make it look like their children were the culprits. They tried to press charges on the group of homeowners who caught their children and followed them until police arrived.

 

[AustinTink]

I was all What the heck is Ding Dong Ditch? And then I realized it is Knicky Knicky Nine Doors.

I learn something new every day on the Dis.

 

[snowwite]

They are so dumb they were ringing doorbells with Ring cameras. We and so many neighbors all have them on camera.

Like making crank calls with caller ID!
Billy I am calling your mother! But Mrs Smith, how did you know it was me?

 

[snowwite]

I was all What the heck is Ding Dong Ditch? And then I realized it is Knicky Knicky Nine Doors.

Never heard of that in my life!