There was a shocking twist to the first day of school in the quiet Virginia neighborhood of Sanston, as police were called about one man's dangerous home improvement project.
Homeowner Bryan Tucker said he was fed up with children walking over his lawn and leaving trash on his property.
There's a bus stop nearby, so naturally the neighborhood kids have been gathering there in the mornings since the school year started on Tuesday.
But Tucker's method for keeping children off his lawn - an electrified fence - is drawing a lot of criticism.
Parents called the police on Tucker after discovering their children were waiting for the bus just inches from his fence.
One of the major concerns from parents is that there is no warning on the fence itself that it is electrified - except a sticker on the fence's solar panel (15 feet from the bus stop) that reads "Solar Intellishock."
"What if there's a little kid, 2 or 3 years old riding their tricycle and they fall and they get shocked?" a neighbor told NBC 12. "That's not going to be OK."
"I'm not in charge of other people's children." Tucker told 11 News. "I'm not directing people's children what to do. All I can do is protect myself and that's why I've got a fence up."
County police called in the local public works department, who ordered the fence to be moved because it was too close to the county's property. But they couldn't do anything about the fence itself, as long as it stayed on Tucker's land.
In his defense, Tucker says he put up signs warning trespassers would be prosecuted, but it's not surprising that children didn't take them seriously.
"This morning children were trespassing and vandalizing and nothing was done," he said. "We've been warning people for years."
After this week's brouhaha, Tucker said he thinks "the message has gotten across," and may not put the fence back up if the littering stays under control.
What do you say? Was Tucker right or wrong to put up the fence? Answer below:
