If you have not yet seen the most recent home video gone vial, you probably should. I am talking about the Youtube video entitled, “Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen.”
The video features a fuming dad sitting in a lawn chair and smoking a cigarette as he reads and responds to a nasty letter that his 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, posted on her Facebook wall. The letter, titled “To my parents,” is nothing more than a long list of complaints about the chores that Hannah’s parents require her to do. With a lot of attitude of course.
In the letter, Hannah writes things like, “I’m not your damn slave,” and “We have a cleaning lady for a reason.” She offers a solution to the problem which was, “You could just pay me for all the sh** I do around the house!”
Prior to finding the letter online, the father had just spent time and money updating her laptop. After his response to her Facebook letter, he then took his pistol and shot 6 rounds into her computer.
While this method of punishment may have been extreme, I firmly believe the dad’s spoiled, disrespectful daughter definitely deserved that. Since the video, several opinions have sprung up. Some say that the punishment was ineffective and sent the wrong message. Others congratulate the man for taking a stand and giving his daughter a taste of her own medicine.
In my opinion, that father had every right to be mad at his daughter. After all, her father gave her that laptop and only asked for chores in return. She repaid him by writing nasty messages on her Facebook about her parents, not once, but multiple times! Clearly this girl is a spoiled brat who did not appreciate everything that her parents provided for her.
But was gun use the proper way of solving this particular problem? In this case, sure! Come on, the video was funny. The dad didn’t threaten to shoot any people, just an inanimate object. Happens every day.
No, I don’t “like” guns, but they exist, and they are legal in some states. If shooting animals is okay, then shooting laptops is definitely fine.
The point of the laptop shooting was to prove a point. He gave his daughter a laptop, and he has every right to take it away if she disrespects him, (which she did several times.) It wasn’t necessarily good or bad parenting; it was permanent fix to a reoccurring problem. This doesn’t mean we should solve all problems with guns, I just don’t think shooting a computer did any psychological damage on this man’s daughter.
Yes, there were definitely better ways of disposing of the laptop. He could have donated it to someone more deserving or appreciative. But in the end, it was his laptop to do what he pleased. The overall message was a good one. I’m sure Hannah will remember this punishment and think twice before bashing her parents who give her everything. I highly doubt that the daughter will “fear” her father for using his gun on something that wasn’t moving. He could have easily used a hammer, a shovel, a rock, or a bathtub to ruin the computer.
There are too many children who have this “entitlement” mind set, as if their parents are obligated to give them a computer, an iPhone, a television, etc. It is perfectly fine for a teenager to have to do a few chores in return for all these nice material items that are handed to them. Most parents would be livid if their child was that unappreciative! Kids deserve to be punished, especially if that kid has an attitude and continuously fails to comply with their parent’s rules. Nowhere in this video was the child harmed in any way. There may have been “better” ways of solving the issue, but hey, it made a good video. Hopefully Hannah learned a lesson in respect and appreciation.
