What are good ways to annoy a 12 year old?

Itching powder .
—I was gonna say other things , but they cause harm—
How do you know the guard didn’t watch him ?
Edit : You could mess with his locker , move his clothes and whatnot soak them and stuff .

Stay out of the way of this kid. Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t do with everybody else. You have a situation where you are vulnerable to litigation, if not criminal accusations. Document and memorialize all exchanges with this kid, preferably with witnesses, and above all, do not try anything cute. You will regret it.

The kid is there with no parental supervision? To me, this seems odd if this is allowed. Why isn’t parental supervision mandatory? If it is, next time Mom comes to pick up the kid, you need to have your supervisor explain to her that you are not a babysitting service, and children are required to have adult supervision while at the pool. Tell her that he will not be allowed in any longer without someone there to watch him.

pdworkin gives good advice. I think you should listen to him. I think the most you can do is talk to his parents and tell them you will not tolerate his bad behavior, and if it continues he will be banned from the pool altogether, after calling the authorities to document everything. that should get both the mother and the kid’s attention.

Use the rule that Doctors ans nurses follow to protect themselves- Never be ALONE in a room with him. Always have a buddy to witness interactions.

Also I would tell your boss what he said so the boss can deal with this- the kid is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I worked for a counseling center. My job was specifically to take children, often with this type of behavior, into the community. The point was to get them to act more appropriately when out in the community.

You know what we were told to do? You won’t like this. But you absolutely do not focus on the negative behavior. It is attention-seeking behavior and even by punishing (or annoying) the child you are rewarding him.

Instead you reward the positive behavior. Get a big bag of mixed candy. Anytime you see him do something remotely positive give him a candy. If he doesn’t like candy get a roll of nickels. If you see him walking by the pool instead of running give him a candy/nickel. If he says something nice (instead of annoying) to someone give him a candy/nickel. You have to give it to him immediately and say why you gave it to him. If you can’t find anything at all that is good then you give him a candy/nickel for doing something ‘less bad’. Eventually you only give him candy/nickel randomly when his behavior starts to improve. I am telling you this really honestly works. Try it out. (but don’t expect it to work the first day, give it a week at the very least).

Constant time out, in full view of everyone. Without fail, when he acts up, set him against the fence, away from everyone else, over and over and over and over and over and over again. Ignore him and everything he says during that time. When you’ve deemed he’s done enough time, have him come over, and if he can’t explain what he did wrong, send him back to time out until he CAN explain.

@Les Parental supervision? Maybe for little kids, like six and under, but not needed for bigger kids. That’s what life guards are for.

@Val123 – No. Lifeguards are there to save lives. They are not babysitters. If the kid is being a brat, he needs supervision.

—this is reason number 256 in my soon to be published work “500 Reasons to Not Have Children”~

Try not seeking revenge on a 12 year old.

Are you really asking how to torture a 12 year old kid? Come on. You sound more immature than him! Kids that act out like this have deeper issues and underlying reasons for their behavior. Instead of seeking revenge, try reaching out and helping him. Talk to him. Let him know you understand. If you’re not interested in offering help to the kid then I’d suggest just ignoring his behavior. But whatever you do, don’t stoop to his level and get revenge! Be the bigger person.

Try repeating everything he says.

First I would try to talk to him and find out why he’s being the way he is – and if it could be controlled. If he was still uncooperative, I would talk to his mother about his behavior.

He’s a minor – she’s responsible for his behavior. If he’s not listening, go to her.

None of our public pools allow anyone under 16 to be there without an adult present. You should ask your supervisor to have this problem child supervised, because he’s interfering with your life guard duties.

@Les Yes, life guards are not there to supervise the children’s behavior, but if a 9 year old still needs mommy and daddy around to tell them how to act, then there’s a problem, IMO! As far as that particular 12 year old…I’d ban him from the pool. End of story. Editing: Yes, they are there to save lives, but they do a lot of minor monitoring. When I was a kid, I spent all day, everyday at the pool, and I just HATED it when the guard would blow his whistle and OH NO! I was the one clocked for…splashing or dunking or hanging on the ropes or whatever evil thing kids do! A 12 year old is plenty, plenty old enough to know how he or she should act without Mom or Dad hanging around, watching his every move. It would be a total mad house if every kid at the pool had a parent there hollering at him, as well as life guards trying to control them! I’d ban the kid,really.

Problem solved. My manager has written his mother a letter explaining the problems we have had with him. If he continues, he will be banned.

Right on. But I betcha she comes back and tries to blame the staff!

Use reverse psychology. ALL the time, non stop.

@Gruz06 So….whatever ever happened with the kid?

@Val123 I actually haven’t seen the kid in a couple of months. Thank God.

Damn! I had over 12,000 lurve before I changed to Dutchess_III.