Quick Three - Bad Parenting or a Joke?

WGN reports the case of a father who posted a picture of a gagged and bound child on Facebook. His defense is it was only a joke. I take this to mean either the dad was a poor sense of humor or he has a great sense of humor. It will all come down to how he is as a father the rest of the time. Currently though, he is granted supervised visits, which is a fair chance to show he is a good father.  All the best to him.

A blast from the past and the main reason why I am not quick to condemn the above mentioned father. No link to this one so I will relate what I have from memory. An American family calling Scandinavian relatives got the answering machine, which told them the family was kidnapped, the kids were bound and they needed help. Well, help was called, the police showed up at the front door and the family was in good health. It seems the answering machine recording was a joke fitting in with the regional love affair with irony and sarcasm. This happened some ten years ago, I think.

Filling this one under bad parenting because bullies need to be put in their place by their parents before someone kills themselves. KATU reports on the suicide of a 14 year old school girl. She had attempted to convince the girls to stop pushing her around, to no avail. It is a sad day when we only step in and do something when someone already has died. But why are we so focused on the kids themselves and not the parents of these kids? I think it is time we started shaming the parents of bullies in proportion to how bad the bully is. Maybe then kids will start behaving themselves.

That was your quick three for today. Next article might be an infographic about the energy market. See ya.

- Servus

Parenting Gone Wrong - Boot Camps

Anyone who watches day time TV and talk shows such as Ricky Lake will know about the Boot Camp edition of behavioural adjustment in problem children. Drill sergents will yell at kids to do push up, pick up messes, dress in a uniform and do long hikes or hard runs. You will see a short time compressed version where there is a lot of yelling and tough love. A lot of people see these kids turn around and support the idea. When we hear about a death related to these boot camps, we think 'the drill instructor is at fault' and not 'this was a bad idea through and through'. Sometimes, people think they can do a better job and make sure their kids wont suffer the same fate. Well, not in Alabama.

Quick Three - Parenting

 I posted this in the wrong blog by mistake. I will post a continuation in connection to a new case.

Abuse is a pretty touchy subject. The line between doing what is best for a child and what is worst for a child can be pretty thin. Sometimes, it is just a matter of perspective that separates the two. This topic came up recently when a New Yorker from Eastern China made his son run nearly naked through the snow. The son was born prematurely and it seems the actions of this dad are premeditated, directed, pointed. From his perspective, this is was is best for his son and seen through the perspective of Eastern Chinese Philosophy, it just may be true. The Western perspective is quick to condemn this kind of behavior and may even question the Chinese ability to parent a child in the Western world.

But freedom to decide how one raises one's own child has not always been universally agreed upon, demanding decisions from the Supreme Court. Education, what kind of or if there should be any at all, is a child welfare issue taken up from time to time. In the United States, parents have a great degree of control over what their children learn. However, in Europe, education is stricter. Some commentators have questioned if teaching religion to a child is a form of child abuse by it self.

Then there are cases where the government insists on presenting a picture of a parent that doesn't match up to what the rest of the world sees. Kerry McDougall fled the UK at night for Ireland because social workers claimed she was too stupid to marry or care for a child. That kind of ruling happens...often enough that it would make more sense to ask you to Google it and pick a story than link to all of them. One would expect a judgment in one country to hold up in another country, however, the social workers in Ireland disagreed with the UK and Kerry has recently given birth to another child and seems to be doing well. Child abuse doesn't always means abuse at the hands of the parents and government systems that have the power to take children away are supposed to do it right the first time. If the Western world can screw up and traumatize kids by taking them away or by not (Baby P), what right do we have for judging a dad who makes his son run through the snowy streets of New York City if there is a specific point and benefit for the child?