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Dude, I apologize for the slam.
My whole point is that it's up to parents to regulate what their child is exposed to.
You make the point that you can't control evertything, and you're right, but when your eight-year old is playing GTA in Johnny's basement, then there's nobody to blame but yourself and Johnny's parents, that is, as long as you spoke with them and they assured you that he wouldn't be playing X-rated video games in the basement.
You either tell him not to, and then shrug your shoulders and say "oh well" when he ignores you (bad parent), or you forbid him to go play at Johnny's (good parent).
Simple as that.
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Well, okay. How about we restrict the discussion here to people who actually are parents of eight year olds?
Having spent my evening watching my seven year old and the rest of his eight-and-under soccer team win yet another game, from the sidelines with all the rest of the parents of eight year olds, well, I guess I have a different perspective.
When you actually have an eight year old, then you'll actually know a whole bunch of other eight year olds, and that's when you'll start to find these generalizations annoying. Because you'll know what a whole bunch of eight year olds are actually like, here in the real world.
Do some kids run wild? Sure. Are they everywhere? No. Are parents today generally doing a bad job because they want to be buddy-buddy with their kids? No.
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Well, I simplified my contention in the post that preceded yours, removing the genralizations that "annoy" you so....(since I guess generalizations are suddenly never true :roll: )
But I see you just glossed over that.
And I guess since I don't have a seven-year old, my thoughts on parenting one cannot be valid. 7-year-old nieces & nephews don't "count", I suppose.
Damn. There goes all the validity from my opinions about marriage, because I'm just a single guy. And I guess I can't comment on trucks either since I drive a car. And I thought I was helping a friend the other night when I advised her on her lecture plans for English class, but since I've never taught in a classroom, I'd better call her and tell her to scrap all my suggestions.
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Neices and nephews don't count, unless you happen to be raising them and dealing with their friends daily.
Nice try, but no cigar. I'm not saying your views on how to raise children aren't valid, I'm saying that your opinions on what most parents, or most kids, are like these days aren't valid. And that's because they're pulled out of thin air, instead of being based on actual experience with kids and their parents.
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Fine, whatever. Believe what you want, skip. No skin off my back...
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Right, well, you admit that you have no statistics or facts, and you admit that your actual experience is limited ... but I'm the one who's believing what he wants to believe.
Okay, then.
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My parents let me play any video game I wanted and now a leprechaun tells me to burn things.
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Douglas? Is that you? Come home this instant, young man!
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I am in the position where my eldest is starting to test his boundries with what he can say/do/get away with. He is 3, so I only have a parenting certificate from 0-3yrs so far ;-)
IMO You have to balance your parenting between trusting them to follow your guidelines (which I know for me are based on how my parents brought me up, my own opinions along with that of my partner and our life experiences, as well as too many 'nanny 911/Little Angels' shows) which you hope they will follow, as well as steering them away from bad influences.
My boy doesn't watch Power-rangers/Wrestling/Teenage Turtles, and knows when he catches shows like that, that hitting is bad, but at times he still hits, because he is testing his boundries as an individual. I have made an attempt to direct him away from that, and been quite strict with it, but he has his own mind (something I certainly want to encourage!) and will rebel at stages, so does that make me a good or bad parent?. All I can do as a parent (or rather half a team of...) is try to explain why something isn't right, or isn't appropriate for his age, and hope for the best.
At the end of the day that is all us parents can do.
Or best, and hope it turns out OK. None of us are experts, and we all have different views on parenting, and each can be just as valid as the next for that child, and at the end of the day all we can wish for is a kid who will say more than 3 words a day to us when they get to 13, not grunt too much at us, not ask for too much money/the car/a room for a pregnant girl or the baby they are about to have, or have the police at our door too many times. That and listen to manufactured pop!!
I just want my kids to respect me as a father, like me as a friend, and put me in a nice home when I start to drool too much.
D
Still picking up the elderly from the floor, still dealing with the drunks, now wrestling seals and posting it on twitter.. @richardilderton
'Whoops' is not a word the patient wants to hear...apparently
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I also play GTA SA, but when the kids are in bed. :oops:
I will also be limiting how long they play when they are old enough as I had a kid in the back of the ambulance yesterday who had a fit after possibly playing too much on his handheld gamer thing (the stories are true people!!!)
D
Still picking up the elderly from the floor, still dealing with the drunks, now wrestling seals and posting it on twitter.. @richardilderton
'Whoops' is not a word the patient wants to hear...apparently
