In the spirit of honest debate, you can't raise kids in Narnia. To me, this is not disgusting, this is jubilantly wonderful.
First: Teenagers are not supposed to be rebellious. In my book, that is a false assumption. Teens are only as rebellious as parents allow them to be. You see, I did the touchy-feely parent thing, believing that if I set a good example and taught my kids correct principles, they would walk the path that they were shown. Sadly, while my kids are good people at heart, they've certainly not adhered to the principles that they were taught, and one of them has done things that made my blood run cold. It's a miracle that she's still alive. No, I wish I had been more like this dad. In the end, it may not have made any difference to my kids, but it would have made a world of difference to me - I would not be constantly second-guessing myself as to whether I should have been strict instead of permissive.
Second: This is not about control, it's about consequences. This punishment is exquisitely adapted to the crime. The child - a spoiled, ungrateful, entitled, foul-mouthed brat - decided that she would take her insulting and degrading monologue public, thinking that mommy and daddy would never see it. It is only appropriate that the consequences of her action should be public as well. A lot of fathers would have taken this kid out to the woodshed and whaled her black and blue... I find this father's response measured, calculated, and immensely appropriate - and much more effective that a beating, which would have been disgusting, and only engendered more resentment.
Control? Does not our society control us? I can drive 140 km/H on the freeway in Quebec, (at 2:30 AM, when the road is deserted,) hurt no one, cause no damage, and still be pulled over by two revenue-hungry flics, escorted to an ATM, and be forced to pay $240.00 on the spot, or go to jail. Yet I was guilty of nothing under common law. Oh, our societies are all about control. And as we have seen, teenagers need to be controlled want to be controlled, and are begging to be controlled. They are crying out for parents to keep them in strait paths until their brains have matured enough to keep them from being a danger to themselves and others. If parents do not, this (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/12/5dba69456d6bfa8e613bd24430ac8b1a.png) is the result. Now that is disgusting.
Do you remember the "Ching-Chong-Ling-Long" girl? In today's world, if you want to be supremely ignorant in front of the world, you had better expect to be pilloried by the world. What I find interesting about this whole event is the number of teenagers who are stepping up and saying, "Right on. Dad got it right." It buttresses my thesis that kids want to be kept in check and permitted only to do things that will be beneficial to them, until they have the world experience to make their own choices.
I repeat: the child now has a choice. She can think about what she did, be grateful that she has a dad who cares enough to teach her what's right and what's wrong, and learn from the result, which would be a step toward responsible adulthood; or she can whine and complain about how unfair and ugly and vicious her mean old daddy was with his big .45, which will basically lead her to a life of entitled wretchedness.
This is how I feel, not a condemnation of the views of anyone else. Fortunately in this world, there is room for civilized debate.
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First: Teenagers are not supposed to be rebellious. In my book, that is a false assumption. Teens are only as rebellious as parents allow them to be. You see, I did the touchy-feely parent thing, believing that if I set a good example and taught my kids correct principles, they would walk the path that they were shown. Sadly, while my kids are good people at heart, they've certainly not adhered to the principles that they were taught, and one of them has done things that made my blood run cold. It's a miracle that she's still alive. No, I wish I had been more like this dad. In the end, it may not have made any difference to my kids, but it would have made a world of difference to me - I would not be constantly second-guessing myself as to whether I should have been strict instead of permissive.
Second: This is not about control, it's about consequences. This punishment is exquisitely adapted to the crime. The child - a spoiled, ungrateful, entitled, foul-mouthed brat - decided that she would take her insulting and degrading monologue public, thinking that mommy and daddy would never see it. It is only appropriate that the consequences of her action should be public as well. A lot of fathers would have taken this kid out to the woodshed and whaled her black and blue... I find this father's response measured, calculated, and immensely appropriate - and much more effective that a beating, which would have been disgusting, and only engendered more resentment.
Control? Does not our society control us? I can drive 140 km/H on the freeway in Quebec, (at 2:30 AM, when the road is deserted,) hurt no one, cause no damage, and still be pulled over by two revenue-hungry flics, escorted to an ATM, and be forced to pay $240.00 on the spot, or go to jail. Yet I was guilty of nothing under common law. Oh, our societies are all about control. And as we have seen, teenagers need to be controlled want to be controlled, and are begging to be controlled. They are crying out for parents to keep them in strait paths until their brains have matured enough to keep them from being a danger to themselves and others. If parents do not, this (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/12/5dba69456d6bfa8e613bd24430ac8b1a.png) is the result. Now that is disgusting.
Do you remember the "Ching-Chong-Ling-Long" girl? In today's world, if you want to be supremely ignorant in front of the world, you had better expect to be pilloried by the world. What I find interesting about this whole event is the number of teenagers who are stepping up and saying, "Right on. Dad got it right." It buttresses my thesis that kids want to be kept in check and permitted only to do things that will be beneficial to them, until they have the world experience to make their own choices.
I repeat: the child now has a choice. She can think about what she did, be grateful that she has a dad who cares enough to teach her what's right and what's wrong, and learn from the result, which would be a step toward responsible adulthood; or she can whine and complain about how unfair and ugly and vicious her mean old daddy was with his big .45, which will basically lead her to a life of entitled wretchedness.
This is how I feel, not a condemnation of the views of anyone else. Fortunately in this world, there is room for civilized debate.