So apparently our new neighbors have been out of town because there have been some rather loud parties going on at their house over the weekend.

Friday night we returned home to cars parked all the way around the cul-de-sac and up the street. We could hear music and voices echoing on the deck but couldn’t tell which house it was coming from. The same thing happened the next night as well. This time there were more cars parked in the driveway so we figured out who was hosting.

I briefly met the parents and was introduced to a college-age son and high-school age son. Based on bumper stickers I think it was the college son’s parties. They were loud but not out of control and we decided that the next-door neighbors would intervene if they felt things were out of hand. We figured they knew the family much better than we did.

So my question is: If you knew the parents were out of town, would you intervene if their teens/college kids were throwing a party? At what point would you intervene: Loud voices, loud music, breaking things, apparently underage? When you walk over and tell them to reign in it or would you? Or would you be more inclined to call the police instead of personally intervening?