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Parenting win! Parent shoots kids laptop with a .45 as punishment.

Kids this day and age have no clue. I have 2 daughters the oldest one moved out (18) and she still has no clue keeps telling us all that she can't hold down a job and go to school at the same time (boyfriend buys it) Oh the rude awakening these kids are in line for. Makes me so thankfull I'm not a child anymore.
 
Just saw this on the news. Awesome. So glad I when I was in high school not everyone had a cell phone, no one was on Facebook and Twitter didn't even exist. I can't imagine what it's like now.
 
Seems like a slight overreaction. The flip side, glad he didn't put up with it and that he put a stop to it!

Man... If if I got in trouble each time I ever vented to friends though... I would ebbs up having to shoot a LOT of my own laptops. :p
 
Kelmar said:
Seems like a slight overreaction. The flip side, glad he didn't put up with it and that he put a stop to it!

Man... If if I got in trouble each time I ever vented to friends though... I would ebbs up having to shoot a LOT of my own laptops. :p
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I have to agree. However with this generation it seems you need to be a bit more drastic just to get there attention.
 
There is too much of an element of "firearms solve problems" in the background of this incident, for me to be comfortable with it.

What did the kid learn that she would not have learned if the dad had just taken the machine away and offered the kid a reward or two for doing other activities?

I'm a strong advocate of responsible, legal firearm ownership. But I don't think what this person did was even legal, let alone responsible or good parenting.

There is also a certain ironic hypocrisy in the making of a video of the incident.
 
Frisco said:
There is also a certain ironic hypocrisy in the making of a video of the incident.
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This! While I think this guy is pretty badass (casually holding a cig while filming it gave it some nice southern charm :cool:), it was pretty childish to do it.
Like you said, take the computer away from her, don't shoot it! I'm sure he'll look back at this once she's grown and think it was a huge mistake. Teenagers suck, but they're not going to be like that forever.
 
Well I've got some family that lives in the same city that this happened. I'm quite certain what he did was legal :rolleyes: but I also think that parents reap what they sew IMO this lets us see his parenting style and when I hear his daughter lashed out in rebellion online it comes as no surprise
 
Personally I think this was funny!

And while I agree that putting .45 rounds into a laptop is likely a rather extreme response, depending on the child, it might be a necessary one to get their attention. If the parents paid for the laptop then it's theirs to do with as they please. And I'd imagine that emptying a clip into the laptop would be satisfying in that particular circumstance.

Personally, however, I think it would have been more financially prudent to simply donate the laptop to charity...
 
Frisco said:
What did the kid learn that she would not have learned if the dad had just taken the machine away and offered the kid a reward or two for doing other activities?
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I think the dad did mention that this was not the first incident and that privileges had been revoked before. It obviously wasn't getting the point home. Agreed, positive reinforcement is always more effective than punishment.

There is also a certain ironic hypocrisy in the making of a video of the incident.
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I am a huge fan of ironic hypocrisy. I think it was intentional so that his daughter would discover the video, the way he discovered her Facebook post. Unfortunately, from the demonstrated family dynamic, it probably will miss the mark in terms of a lesson learned and only escalate the ill will.

OfTheDamned said:
If this is how the parents act, I'd be afraid to meet the kids. What a drama queen this guy is. I agree with teaching kids a lesson, but I don't agree with harming defenseless technology. Why shoot the thing and not just donate it to someone?
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I took it as the whole point of it was the drama. It could have been equally dramatic if he took her laptop and handed it to a nun (ie. Whoopi in Ghost).
 
By "reward" I don't mean privileges. A real reward for a kid that involves turning around a behavior has more to do with finding out what the kid wants via the behavior in question. ;)

Does she want to write? Play music? Interact with friends? Play games? Those activities all have a "real life" corollary that the dad needs to provide as a reward for remaining off the computer.

Blowing a hole through the laptop with a firearm gives me a pretty good idea how this guy deals with issues that require more thought than pulling a freaking trigger:rolleyes:.

OTD labels him "drama queen." Yep.
 
I'm sure all parents have lapses in judgement or need to vent their frustrations with their children's behavior. It's not easy being a parent, specifically to teens (glad I'm through with that). I've been witness to many a father/daughter stand-off or mother/son tear-fest. I recall in a room full of non-relatives a friend's daughter screaming the f-word at him repeatedly over some minor infraction, and meaning it. They are one of most well adjusted loving families I've ever had the privilege of knowing. She was 17 at the time. Now she's married, holds a graduate degree and works in education.

(cue the ironic hypocrisy) Where this family went awry was choosing a social media venue for their dirty laundry. All kids bellyache about chores and, especially at that age, feel they already know everything they need to know with an arrogant sense of entitlement. The daughter's great transgression was to publish it publicly. Likewise the parents of bratty children need to discipline them as they see fit, whether or not the rest of the world agrees with the method. The father made it about him when he chose to use a public forum to administer punishment for the world to judge ... which is what we are all doing.

BTW, is there such a thing as a "drama king"?
 
Personally I see the debate over this parents choices as a "tempest in a tea pot". We do not know the home dynamic. We do not know the childs perspective outside of a rather harsh Facebooking posting. And, most importantly, we do not know what disciplinary challenges the child presents or the things that the parents have tried in the past.

What we do know is that the parent emptied a clip into the laptop... and filmed it. Was it an extreme response? Absolutely! But maybe the specific circumstance required an extreme response. At this point all we are successfully doing is "Monday morning quarterbacking".
 
Martimus said:
Personally I see the debate over this parents choices as a "tempest in a tea pot". We do not know the home dynamic. We do not know the childs perspective outside of a rather harsh Facebooking posting. And, most importantly, we do not know what disciplinary challenges the child presents or the things that the parents have tried in the past.

What we do know is that the parent emptied a clip into the laptop... and filmed it. Was it an extreme response? Absolutely! But maybe the specific circumstance required an extreme response. At this point all we are successfully doing is "Monday morning quarterbacking".
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I have to agree with you here and after some time of mulling it over and thinking about it (I have kids) I'm going to give a honest take on this. While I do not know the full story I do know that which I have seen. So hopefully I wont be coming across as a Monday Morning Quaterback.

Having just had a teenage daughter whom just recently moved out (december) and having a preteen (11) I can definitely relate the the anger this father has from what he considers disrespect. I have never met a teenager who didn't have some kind of disrespect for their parents nor have I ever met one who didn't vent against their parents in some form or fashion.

Most kids are going to go through something like this. I do stand by what I stated earlier that we have to be a bit more drastic to get their attention it would seem. However this video was really not done with a respecting love for the child. Never once does the father say "I love you" and we are concerned about what is really going on where you feel you need to lash out like this. Obviously the girl is not feeling appreciated for the work that she does. My kid has chores and yes I have to get on to her all the time to do them. However when she does them I make sure to say Thank you. I give/gave them praise for the good things they do/did, I praise them when they accomplish or they just do out of the goodness of their heart.

What I see is a Dad reacting to what was done and not acting on what was done. I don't know the dynamics of the family and I'm not going to speculate. What I have stated above is what I saw or did not see. Having been a parent who has taken a laptop away from his teenager more times than can be counted on all hands and toes of both Humans and animals in the house, I think that Its unrealistic to shoot the computer. The lesson this parent has taught me is that it is ok to overreact. What I see for this parent and for this teenage daughter is a very long road to anykind of relationship when she reaches adulthood. I do not know that their wounds can ever be mended or if both parties are going to be willing to mend them.
 
that was just awesome!!!

but... i see a downward spiral...
it only going to get worse before it gets better...
teens rarely learn quickly from parents instructions..
 
Me personally I would of used a wood chipper . Sad to say you want to get a kids attention in this day and age you need to take the tech away.

You may not agree with the fathers actions but I bet one thing he got her attention. Plus I bet he got her friends attention too.

People are slowly learning you put something out on the net. You better hope its not nothing that will bite you in the ass down the road. Look at that guy from CNN that lost his job over what he tweeted.
 
It wasn't that bad. Did u hear the stuff she was complaining about? Really. Exaggerating everything. How would u feel if your 15 year old daughter whom youve never heard curse, uses obscene language and blantly disrespects everyone in your household? It would be different. Better bullets in a laptop then girl found drowned in tub.
 
Dwayne22 said:
It wasn't that bad. Did u hear the stuff she was complaining about? Really. Exaggerating everything. How would u feel if your 15 year old daughter whom youve never heard curse, uses obscene language and blantly disrespects everyone in your household? It would be different. Better bullets in a laptop then girl found drowned in tub.
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I lived it and I did it with out shooting anything. Not to say I didn't want to shoot something or her. Maybe that is what she needed to wake up I really don't know and neither does the rest of us.

Martimus said it best with out knowing the full situation we are just playing Monday Morning Quarterback.
 
SUroot said:
What an idiot?!!!! Couldn't he just confiscate the PSU?
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Sure he could have. In a way he did "confiscate" the laptop.. permanently. ;)

But in that method of "confiscation," he seems to have been expressing exasperation and bravado, along with a huge dose of the immaturity he's apparently been passing on to his daughter over the years.
 
Meh, I see no difference between this and any other destruction method. Lots of parents destroy things they don't want their children to have.
 
IOWA said:
Lots of parents destroy things they don't want their children to have.
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Well, I can see destroying a bong or potato gun etc, but not a computer because that is true "destruction" in a wanton sort of way, in my opinion, and that is what makes it the opposite of a "parenting win."
 
Frisco said:
Well, I can see destroying a bong or potato gun etc, but not a computer because that is true "destruction" in a wanton sort of way, in my opinion, and that is what makes it the opposite of a "parenting win."
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Just because you think he should of did it differently doesn't mean your right and he's wrong. Just like his actions doesn't mean he is right or wrong. Every parent will react differently to the same situation. Like they say kids don't come with an instruction manual. We parents have to wing it as we see fit.

I maybe stricter than most parents but when I snap my finger my son listens quickly.

One thong I gathered was his daughter was a spoiled little brat and he was at his whits end. I can bet you that he tried grounding and so on. He didn't seem to be flying off the handle. He just wanted to get his daughters attention and this was the best way. As she couldn't do the well ill be nice until I fool him in to giving my computer back. She now knows there's no getting that one back. Maybe she will think twice before posting stuff about her parents for the world to see.
 
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