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Good parenting, or not?


USVirgin

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This is not related to Thai life, but it was the most relative folder I could find. It has nothing to do with Thailand, but it's about disciplining your own children.

 

[color:blue]Dennis Baltimore Jr. was caught vandalizing school property at Long Beach's Wilson Classical High School.

 

He was sentenced by his dad to walk the streets of Long Beach and Signal Hill on Tuesday for five hours in two locations wearing a sign saying, "I am a juvenile delinquent who should be punished. I have wasted your tax money with dumb acts of vandalism in the public schools."[/color]

 

You'd have to read the article and see the pictures to form an opinion.

 

Personally, I think that, although I might not have the balls to do it as a parent, the dad was right. If he can separate the kid from bad influences in his peer group who might not have proper guidance, or even a father in the home, then he's done a good thing.

 

Local responses to the father's actions were mostly positive.

 

What do you think?

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Humiliation as a method of reasserting lost control. It says more about the parents upbringing and current psychological functioning than anything else.

 

Most people will read this as getting the child to accept responsibility. It isn't. It's about the parent.

 

The lad will remember it, but he will experience great rage and that rage will go somewhere...later on.

 

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Not cruel in my opinion. :thumbup:

 

I'm trying to imagine the conversation with Dad when he got busted for this. Over the dinner table, picture this:

 

Kid:

"Dad, I'm really sorry, it was really stupid and I'll never do it again. Really!" :(

 

Dad:

"I don't believe you. You need to prove that you are genuinely apologetic for this." :hmmm:

 

Kid:

"How can I make you believe IM SORRY Dad?" :(

 

Dad:

"I have an idea, but apologizing to me and your mother is not enough. You need to apologize to the people who pay for this. The public." :hmmm:

 

 

I bet he doesnt do it again. Positive end result.

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Don't judges also do this to teens who do similar crimes?

 

They do it to adults as well, e.g., community service. This kid's school also included painting over graffiti in off school hours as punishment in addition to suspension and billing the father for damages.

 

Im my hastily written OP (my old man was on my ass about something, seriously;) I said I wouldn't have the balls to do it as a parent. The truth is, I'd never consider it, just not my style at all. Even if I were to put myself in the father's shoes, there's a decent bar across the street from where the pics were taken, and I'd have watched my kid out the window from there. Maybe even take bets from the other barflies on how long the kid could stand it before removing the sign. :drunk:

 

Generally, I think it's the wrong way to handle things, but if it gets the kid away from gangs or something profound like that, it's worth it. In this case, at appears the kid was just acting out, tagging fake gang graffiti in order to gain attention. So maybe the parents weren't doing such a great job in the first place.

 

Thanks for your comments. The reason I posted the article here was in order to hear comments from a more diverse community than the newspaper's.

 

 

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