Facebook Parenting: For the Troubled Teen

[bassin_bug]

This article and video was recently posted by a tv station and on Facebook. It has had over 13.5 million hits. Personally, I like it. What do you think?

http://www.k5thehometeam.com/story/1..._facebook_post

Be sure and watch the video.

[DJD]

I watched it off a Facebook post and liked it. Only thing I said about it was that I would have made her give the laptop away so she would really feel the pain.

[Big Gills]

I saw it on facebook too and strongly supported the dad, mim and stepmom who have reached their limit with their spoilt brat of a daughter. He was so mad he was shaking. His daughter needs a new attitude and I think she will hopeful get one after this. The gunshots to the laptop was a nice touch. lol Loved it.

[jcb]

My feeling after watching that video was that it's no wonder his daughter has issues. He's doing exactly what he's mad at his daughter for. Venting to other people. That's not how to parent.

[waterdog101]

I think the dad should have started 15 years earlier being a parent. if you are a parent and teach your children the meaning of love, by the way you show them love. then they will never disrespect you. children are always watching what their parents say and do. and they will copy you. she was doing just what dad taught her to do.

[Tim_T]

I loved it, it is refreshing to see someone parent without having to read Dr. Spock.

[jcb]

There's nothing Dr. Spock-ish about going to your teenager if there is a problem instead of trying to play Chuck Norris on her Facebook wall. The biggest challenge in parenting teenagers is not being tough on them, it's communicating with them. What he did was a lot easier than actually sitting down with her.

[Tim_T]

There's nothing Dr. Spock-ish about going to your teenager if there is a problem instead of trying to play Chuck Norris on her Facebook wall. The biggest challenge in parenting teenagers is not being tough on them, it's communicating with them. What he did was a lot easier than actually sitting down with her.

How do you know he didn't already sit down with her and have a talk? My guess is, other steps had already been taken and he decided to send a message.

As for it being hard to communicate with a teenager, I disagree. Anybody with 3 I.Q. points and a slight interest in their teen can communicate with them. The problem is that most parents are not tough on their kids and let them get away with too much, because it is easier than parenting.

[jcb]

I don't think we're far apart, Tim.

As to the parent, I don't know whether he had a previous talk with her or not. I do know that no matter how many he had, he needed another one. If he had one, he needed two. If he had a dozen, he needed 13. "Sending a message" via Facebook is the coward's way out. He just made her an object of ridicule to millions of people. I seriously doubt if that is going to help his daughter, or his relationship with her.

I agree with a lot of your second paragraph, except I think the reason there are so many troubled teens is deeper than just "parents are not tough enough on their kids". My experience is, the reason many parents are lenient is because the parents themselves haven't yet grown up. They can't hold their kids to a standard they themselves won't live by. Teenagers are the best hypocrisy detectors alive.

[kygorski]

My wife believed in the talking to them approach.In cases where she didn't believe they heard clearly, she would repeat. And then all hell would break loose!A few years ago, my son and I were bringing up "old times", he said" I thought Lifeboy was somekind of bad dessert"

[jcb]

LOL yeah I had the soap once or twice myself.

The best way to be a good parent is to be a good person. Kids are most likely to imitate whatever behavior we model for them. My two are already better people than I am.

[roadrunner]

I never shot a lap top however when my son and daughter were young and my wife had told them repeatedly to pick up their toys and she was not going to tell them again and they ignored her, I told them pick up your toys now or I will pick them up. After about a minute of no reaction I got up went over and picked up one of each of their favorite toys went to the kitchen with them following me and begging me to give them their toys back I opened the Trash masher dropped the toys in and pushed the button they fell on the floor crying while the trash masher was making this terrible noise. I then opened the trash masher for them to see their favorite toys smashed again they fell to the floor crying, I headed to the living room to pick up more toys however they beat me to it and all I had to do was tell them that they need to do what they were told and usually got good results. My son is 38 and Daughter is 40 and I am very proud of both of them.

All of us can remember to this day the noise that trash masher made crushing those toys and that was about 32-34 years ago