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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Shooting Laptops and Tough Love in General

Everybody has seen the gun-wielding Facebook dad by now.  Almost everybody has offered their two cents on the subject, so I might as well follow suit.


My own reaction to her Facebook rant was almost the same as his.  I had my fair share of moody teenage years, but I would never have dared say anything like that, online or otherwise.  I don't really feel it is my place to comment on his parenting methods, since I really don't know anything about the background of the situation.  I will say that if he provided the privilege of the laptop, and his daughter chronically abused that privilege, it was his to revoke.  Whether he chose to sell it or put hollow-points though it is really his business.

My thoughts, whatever they're worth, are that children who have not begun to shed this selfish worldview by the age of six need to experience some hard and fast consequences in order to prepare them for the adult world.  Teenagers who learn to manipulate their parents may end up shocked to find they can't manipulate law enforcement.  A ruined laptop is a small price to pay compared to jail time.

I know comic book movies should not be the measure of good parenting, but my husband and I were watching "Thor" last night, and we were struck by the parallel.


The moral of the story is that this world is bigger than any of us, and the sooner we realize it the better it will be for everyone.

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