This is an open letter to all parents, but especially to those in the Rosemount area. I live down the street from Rosemount Elementary School so I see a lot of your children coming and going to the schoolyard after school and on the weekends. I am more than a little concerned by their behavior at times.

I'm willing to bet that you don't know what your children are doing when they say, “I'm going to the schoolyard to play.”

The area they are referring to as the schoolyard includes a large wooded area of private property which affords them enough cover to do what they wasn't without being seen.

I've had to get up on an extension ladder to wash the paint off my house because someone's child used my house for target practice with their paintball gun. I consider that a nuisance, but kids will be kids and it really didn't hurt anyone. However, something that occurred last week prompted me to write this letter.

My wife was walking up our front steps onto the porch and heard something hit the house. She wasn't sure what it was but she said it was loud and it was close. She looked around but didn't find anything at the time. She mentioned it to me, so I looked around and found what she'd heard.

Someone shot our house with a pellet or BB gun which put a hole approximately one-half inch in diameter in our vinyl siding. The part that really angers me is where the shot landed. I had my wife stand at the top of the steps and the hole is just inches above her head. Can you imagine how painful that would be? If she had been facing the street, it easily could have put out an eye.

You have the right to give your child a weapon and call it a toy, but I have the right to be reasonably safe on my own property. I'm not asking you to take these toys away from your child; I'm asking you to make them aware of the damage they can cause. I also don't advocate spying on your children, but you might drive by the school sometime to see what actually goes on there when school is not in session.

Some of these children seem to be oblivious to the traffic that travels well above the posted speed limit on Rose Valley Road. Many of them are riding motorcycles and four-wheelers while looking over their shoulders to see where their friends are.

Recently, a car ran off the side of the road into the drainage ditch and required a wrecker to get back up on the pavement. This happened in an area where your children often congregate because it's the beginning of the “drag strip” up to the school for dirt bikes.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against off-road vehicles. I just think you need to remind your kids that they are off-road vehicles.

All I ask is that you talk to your children about safety and responsibility before I have to witness their injuries from a completely preventable incident.

Andy Roberts

Portsmouth