I live in an apartment building that shares a yard with some other apartment buildings. I'm guessing we're 30 apartments total, all with porches facing the yard.
I live in the first floor, which means there's a large paved area right beneath my porch.

A lot of the other apartments house families with children, and this is where the trouble begins. The children play outside in the yad and the paved area for up to 8 hours a day.
Now, I am aware that children can't always control their voices and can't help being loud. But the parents just stand there and watch, even when the kids scream their lungs out.
if this was for an hour a day, I wouldn't mind.

But is it too much of me to ask that they tell their kids to stop screaming when the kids scream roughly 8 hours a day?

I'm just saying, my mother has 4 kids and she managed to teach us to be mindful of our surroundings without hindering our sense of freedom.
Again, I'm not saying kids shouldn't be allowed to play and have fun, but I find it very rude that these parents do nothing to teach their kids to be mindful of their surroundings.

Another issue is that a lot of these apartments house dogs. I get it, dogs bark. But if your dog barks for 12 hours straight, is it too much to ask that you don't keep it on the porch? That you try to train that behaviour away or otherwise stimulate your dog so it doesn't get bored and bark for no reason?

I just feel like if people won't even do basic training with their pets/kids, they shouldn't have them.
And I get that when you live in an apartment, you have to tolerate some noise.

What I don't get is the blatant disrespect for other people these people are showing by allowing their kids and dogs to make incessant noise for sometimes up to 12 hours straight.

am I just being a grumpy old man here?

Is a little peace and quiet too much to ask?

@Totalanimefan: I suppose I could, but i just don't think it's fair that I should have to wear earplugs just to be able to tolerate being in my own home during the children and dog's outside hours :/

For what it's worth,I agree with you. One of my mom's dogs will set there and lick my mom's feet and legs for hours,and the sound drives me crazy. It's not loud,mind you. Just a constant lapping noise. Like,if you're gonna do that,could you at least do it quietly?