Dad shoots daughter's laptop

[ChrisMC]

As a father of a whining teenager, and having been one, I know that they make pronouncements about how their life is AWFUL and are being treated very unfairly (doesn't sound like she was) and she did complain to everyone on her page about how her parents sucked. We all did this. The difference is that this generation feels the need to put their entire life on Facebook. So, bad on her. Publicly humiliating your kid seems childish to me. I know kids today are pampered, but as a parent, reducing yourself to that level just seemed like he failed. I have a couple of kids going through difficult phases but I would NEVER humiliate them in front of their friends. I know how tough school can be, and having everyone know your dad is a nutty guy who shoots laptops doesn't help.

Just the opinion of someone who has 4 kids, so I'm not some uber-liberal telling others how to raise kids.

[Rico]

Well said Chris.  This certainly is far from the way things should be handled. 

[billybob476]

Well said Chris.  This certainly is far from the way things should be handled. 

But it's damn fun for us to watch! :)

[ChrisMC]

Well said Chris.  This certainly is far from the way things should be handled. 

But it's damn fun for us to watch! :)

Yeah, that was my initial reaction, until I thought about my own kids and how we handle difficulties. My oldest son is grounded from internet and gaming. We changed the wifi password. Remove the stuff he can't use from his room and lock it up. Cellphone privileges revoked and so on. Kids are hard to get to, I know that for sure. Teaching them a lesson and completely alienating yourself from them are 2 different things.

[Rico]

Well said Chris.  This certainly is far from the way things should be handled. 

But it's damn fun for us to watch! :)

Oh, definitely!  That's why I posted it. 

[Feathers]

Oh wow! (I got to watch the video now I'm at home)

[X]

I think it was handled perfectly. She lied about the family and was corrected in a way that not only hurt her pride, but it took away the tool she used to attack her parents.

Here's the thing. I don't think that any parent just randomly escalates the punishment of their child. She had done something similar before and was warned that there would be consequences. She chose to write a letter to her parent and post it on the internet. I think that his response was more than fair.

I threaten to throw away my daughter's crap all the time when she acts up. I even take it away until someone (usually the wife) caves and restores her stuff when she shows a bit of respect, but the punishment is never fully met. Destroying the laptop shows that he means business and a few hours or days of good behavior isn't going to bring it back.

My father would ground me for months at a time when I failed to uphold my role in the family. It's getting harder and harder for grounding to be as successful as it was when computers needed for school become tools to circumvent your punishment.

He didn't beat his kid and he took her to task for attacking the family on the internet. She challenged authority and failed.

Better still, what other course of action should he have taken to address the lies that she created in public?

[Rico]

In my view as an adult and parent, you certainly don't deal with issues like this (or any problem) in public.  And before you say someone else made it public, you are naive if you think anything you post online can stay private.  I talk to my kids and try and set a good example for them.  I would never do something like this to them.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I can definitely say I would have lost respect for my dad just as much as I lost respect for this guy had he done the same thing.  Parental punishment doesn't need an online audience.  Heck, it doesn't need a real-life public audience.  I get really uncomfortable around parents when they discipline their kid in front of me.  Sometimes its unavoidable sure, but in this case, he didn't need to post that on the Facebook page.  He easily could have shown this video in his house and maybe to the immediate family.  It didn't need a worldwide audience which lets face it, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, those all can potentially go viral.  Its happened a million times before and it'll happen a million times after this.

King

[KingIsaacLinksr]

As far as the response to her public lies....that's a tricky one.  I can't say because I am no parent.  Someone else will have to chime in, I can't say because its not my place.

King

[Rico]

There's a good phrase I've always kept in mind for a variety of times...

"Praise in public, punish in private."

[ChrisMC]

There's a good phrase I've always kept in mind for a variety of times...

"Praise in public, punish in private."

As a manager of people, it is a principle I live by. Same goes for being a parent.

[moyer777]

There's a good phrase I've always kept in mind for a variety of times...

"Praise in public, punish in private."

Very, very good.

[Jobydrone]

I saw today that child protective services and the police showed up at this man's house but left congratulating him.

[X]

I saw today that child protective services and the police showed up at this man's house but left congratulating him.

He didn't abuse the child, so why would it concern them? She didn't pay for the laptop and it's well in his rights to both remove the laptop and fire his gun. Shooting a laptop where your daughter is nowhere around and then presenting the corpse isn't a traumatic event. It's not like she's watching the post.