taltamir said:
That is horrible parenting... And I strongly suspect it isn't real but just a joke.
Quaade said:
As long as no physical or mental abuse is taking place let people raise their children as they damn well please.
Isn't this mental abuse though? But honestly such a thing does not warrant outsider intervention because of this wonderful thing called "moving out" and "not answering your crazy parent's phone calls".
Unless the child is very young or the "mental abuse" is severe (this is pretty mild).
... I can't help but thinking how if he played on a PC he could undo all the damage using the console is a matter of minutes.
No, it's not, it's good parenting, learning that there are consequences to your actions or lack there of is one of the most important things you can teach someone. Without knowing there can be consequences there can also be no responsability and without learning about responsability you are going to end up in a very bad place, either physically or emotionally as an adult. That's not speculation, that's a fact.
Kids, especially teenagers like to push the boundaries, if they didn't, they'd never grow up, or seperate themselves from their parents and be able to make their own life, it's in our biological makeup to do that.
However, a lot of parents today are trying to be friends with their children first and parents seconds. This means they shield them from the consequences of their actions, which is fine if you want your child to be your best friend (which is all kinds of wrong in the first place) untill one day the kids become old enough to be let loose on the world.
Then when the kids who presume themselves adults are out in the world they are met by a harsh reality that noone has prepared them for, least of all their parents.
A lot of young people today are facing real problems fitting into a work environment, relationships and general life because their parents weren't parents first and their friends second.
And from the lasseiz-faire attitude I see expressed in this thread I have a great fear that they belong to this very generation and will only impart their own experience into their own children and make it worse.
Look, I don't remember half of the shit I did as a kid where I showed a distinct lack of respect, responsability or just generally misbehaved, I do remember my parents coming down on me when I did though and explained and/or punished as necessary so I learned from it.
Allready now I can almost hear people who read this go "Oh, he was punished as a child, he must be screwed up" and yes, my dad did slap me once, and I resented him for it untill I got older and realised that the thing I got the slap for really did warrent it as it was a -very- bad thing I was doing. And no, I'm not screwed up, I have the most loving and supportive parents in the world and I don't resent them for teaching me when I was wrong, I'm glad they were my parents first and friends second, I had friends when I grew up, I didn't need my parents amongst them.