The Internet has changed everything. The other day my daughter was asking me about how someone got pregnant, and I managed to avoid the question, because, well, I had not prepared myself to have the birds and the bee’s speech and I needed more time. That night I hopped online and watched YouTube videos of people giving the birds and the bee’s speech so that I could feel better prepared the next time she asked me about something like that. But the Internet is full of horrible parenting advice as well.
Have you seen the video of the dad shooting holes into his daughter’s laptop? Facebook parenting: for the troubled teen.
It exploded on Facebook about a month ago (then died out, as most one hit wonders do). Nonetheless, it has been sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. All of my friends who posted the video glorified this dad; saying that he was showing tough love and more parents should be like him. I could not disagree more. This dad is an example of why our youth do not respect their parents. How can he do exactly what he is scolding his daughter for doing and expect her to respect him for it? He is upset because she posted a Facebook post about what a terrible parent he is, so his response is to make a YouTube video about what a terrible daughter she is, and he uses a gun to prove his point. It doesn’t make sense to me at all. I agree that parents need to put their foot down with their children, and that there are many children who are too spoiled these days, but I simply do not believe that this dad is amazing. I think he is a hothead and immature and should not use the Internet to punish his child. I am a firm believer in an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.
If you are interested, here is an interesting article entitled “Father Shoots Daughter’s Laptop: Now What?” that critiques this dad’s parenting style.