This morning I drove to work listening to the radio. A commercial came on talking about a new app soon to be discussed on the Connecticut News that's specifically made to alert parents to every single text, pic and article they send on their cell phones.
I LOVE this idea. But the commercial was not to advertise the app, but to discuss the controversy surrounding the privacy or lack there of for the child.
My first thought? What privacy? They are KIDS. They don't get to have privacy until they turn 18 and MOVE OUT. As far as I'm concerned, anyone stupid enough to think that they need to give their child as much privacy as necessary deserves the jail sentence they may get when their child sends someone a death threat or perhaps sends another minor pornographic images.
Again I'm falling back on an age old question: How far is too far?
If we keep making all these laws and policies and rules that give our kids more rights than us, then its no FRIGGEN wonder society is falling apart! Do you know what the national statistics are for juvenile violence? http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/youthviolence/stats_at-a_glance/index.html How about our graduation rate? Hmm? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decreasing_graduation_completion_rates_in_the_United_States
Our society as a whole is suffering greatly. I believe that poor leadership is at the helm. First and always first, is our government. We are governed by greed, closely followed by freedom. But when I say freedom, I don't mean it in the sense that you think. WE are not free. We never were. But our government is. They are free to do whatever they want and they want money and the options to get it whenever and however they wish. In this same paragraph I add the freedom for children. Children are free to say and do what they want and we as parents are handcuffed and shackled so as not to punish them when they do wrong.
Might I add, what the hell is with this 18 or 21 bologna?? Hmm?? I don't understand. You're free to do as you please at age 18 but you cannot legally DRINK until you're 21? What?? Am I right to say that the reason kids cant drink until they turn 21 is because they simply are NOT mature enough to make good decisions until then? But if that's so, then how the hell are they old enough to go to make their own decisions at 18? Again, our government doesn't know what the hell they're doing.
This is just the beginning. Lets say your 14 year old daughter decides to go to the mall with several of her friends and shop lift. Who has to pay for her crime?
How about your 17 year old son? If he decides to sneak out of the house, steal your neighbor's car, get into a high speed chase and wreck it, who is responsible for that?
What if your 13 year old son and 16 year old daughter decide to team up and rob the neighborhood variety store? Who's going to take the blame?
Who gets sued when you're kids hurt someone? Who goes to jail when your kids break the law? Who gets punished when your kids skip school?
YOU ARE!!!!
Its the parents responsibility to make sure their children are being raised with structure and morality. If the parent cannot accomplish this, they are punished. BUT.....its also against the law to use profanity, hit, punish, yell.....hell, even time outs have caused controversy!
Now....I know there are many of you reading this who absolutely agree with not doing any of the above things to punish your kids, but you need to pay attention to detail. If you tell your child 'No' and that child looks you in the face and says, "Psh! I'll do whatever I want!' What would you do? I really want to know. Don't hesitate for a second to comment.
I will say right now, if I tell my son NOT to hit anyone and he hauls off and whacks the kid from down the street, I'm ganna show him what it feels like. THEN I'm going to explain to him that THAT is why we don't do that. Because it HURTS. Everyone is entitled to their own personal space. And everyone has the right to NOT BE HIT.
I can also tell you, there are a great many kids out there whose parents really try. The kid does something stupid and mom takes away his/her technology. Did it work? NOPE. You make them do chores (my favorite) or maybe even ground them. Did THAT work?? Nope. Kid doesn't care. The kid will find something else to do while brooding over how much he/she hates you.
So what the hell are parents to do if we cant use that handy dandy old leather belt dad used to hang on the door? If kids aren't listening when we take away their Xbox, what the hell are we supposed to do? Just sit back and take the ASS WHIPPING we get for their crimes?
So any way you look at it, we're all bad parents? Society, if you agree with policy and the currently child abuse laws, you need counseling. YOU need to have your cheeks reddened. When you cannot punish your kids, they will run amok. When children grow up without rules or structure, or with everyone else taking the fall for THEIR wrong doings, does that make you a good and responsible adult? HELL NO.
The current child abuse policies, btw, are ridiculous. I'm not saying smack your kids senseless. I'm just saying, you cant tickle your kids anymore. That's abuse. You cant tell your child they're being a fuck up. That's abuse. You cant slap your kids hands when they touch things that they cant touch. That's abuse. You cant ignore your child when they're acting out. That's abuse. You cant even restrain your child when they attack you! That's abuse too! So really, pay attention. Screw the laws and all these stupid 'contriversial' issues between adults and kids. Do what you think is right in your heart. No one knows your child better than you. And if worse comes to worse, seek professional help.
(Having said all that I MUST add that I don't want to be misunderstood. There are true definitions of abuse. There is absolutely a 'too far' moment as far as physical abuse goes and I would NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS support sexual abuse of any kind. Just be a decent law abiding citizen and do your damnedest to make your child one too.)
So as far as this new app goes for spying on your kids, I agree 100%. We HAVE to spy on our kids. Hell, make it known! Tell them you're watching them. Put tracking devises on their cars. Read every text they write, send and receive. Go through their rooms every chance you get. Its the only way!
Parents, we need to help each other. Protect yourselves!! Watch your kids like a hawk! Its like Judge Judy says, "How do you know when your teenager is lying? When there mouth is moving!" It really doesn't matter how wonderful you think your child is, they make mistakes. Its up to us to nip it in the bud before they get out of control. Otherwise, WE will suffer.
You don't want your child to grow up thinking they can do anything they want and get away with it. And I'm sure you don't want to see what happens to them when they find out the hard way that they will NOT get away with it. So as I said before, be AWARE of what your kids are doing.
Like they say on Channel 22 News every night at 10..... "It's 10:00pm. Do you know where your kids are?"
No comments:
Post a Comment