If you haven’t seen the youtube video of the dad shooting his daughters laptop because of disrespectful comments on facebook, head on over here to watch it. I’ve seen a lot of posts about this on truu over the last week. Some people think the dad was borderline abusive, others think he was awesome. My opinion?
Laptop Dad rocks.
Could he have donated the laptop to a school instead? Certainly. Do I think his daughter watching a video of her laptop getting shot will scar her for life? Not likely. I might have a different opinion had the video been of him discovering the post, yelling at her, and whipping out his gun and shooting the laptop in front of her, on impulse, in her room, but he didn’t do that at all. He read the post the day before. Spoke with her mother and her step mother, thought over what he was going to say, and then said it to a camera, well aware he’d have witnesses. This was not a rash decision, nor a violent one.
Should the girl have gotten in trouble for venting to her friends about how her parents are using her as a slave because she has to do her own laundry, and “isn’t that what the cleaning lady is for?”
Absolutely. It was disrespectful, and facebook is a public sphere, no matter what her settings are on. Clearly, as he mentioned her getting in trouble for the same issue before. Had it been in a diary, or an overheard conversation with friends? Maybe not. Everyone vents. Everyone has the WORST job ever, even though everyone knows there are tons of people worse off. Complaining is a part of life. Just because she sounded like an entitled brat, didn’t make her feelings of frustration any less frustrating to her.
And let’s be honest here, since this is a confession site, every word I ever said about my mother was certainly not complimentary. And it retrospect, it really should have been. I was a spoiled brat of a teenager. However, I was also intelligent enough to know that had any of my vents been overheard, I would have gotten in trouble. It’s a given. Everyone gossips, or complains about other people. It doesn’t change the fact that there are consequences when your words reach the wrong ears. She didn’t just say it, she typed it. Learning that what you put online can be viewed by people you weren’t expecting is a valuable lesson. And one my generation had to learn on the fly. I live in a county that recently fired a teacher because two years before she began teaching, she had a glass of wine at a wine tasting overseas, and put the picture on facebook. It was set to friends only, but that didn’t seem to matter. Employers search facebook before hiring you. It may not be right, but this is the world we live in. Best to learn it from parents rather than worry about losing your job.
I saw several posts addressing his desire for his daughter to get a job. That I don’t really agree with, but it’s also not my kid, so it’s really not my business. I had a job in high school because for some reason I can no longer fathom, I really really wanted one. But looking back I have no idea how I managed an eight hour school day, an afternoon of homework, family commitments, and yes, a social life, teenagers should be allowed to have them, while working even part time. I won’t be making my daughter get a job, but again, that’s me.
Age is also an issue, fifteen year olds are not often hired, but I think people missed the point. He said if she wanted a new camera, laptop battery, ipod, and extra stuff she should get a job. Not if she wanted food and shelter. These are all non essentials, and parents do NOT have to purchase everything their children want.
But again, this is all my opinion, and in the end, my opinion has absolutely no bearing on how this random guy raises his daughter.
But whether you’re a fourteen year old girl venting about her unfair parents, or a stay at home mom blogging about how someone else is raising their kid, it’s fun to talk about people. So go ahead, confess. Were you cheering this guy on? Or calling CPS?
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