Do you remember your mother or father trying to explain to you the complexity of raising a child; you in fact? Do you remember being angry at the restrictions they placed upon you? Maybe the minimal amount of responsibility you were given to begin with?
I watched a kid have a tantrum in a restaurant today and it took me back to when I was a child. That sort of shenanigan would have gone exactly NO WHERE in my family. If it wasn't my mother putting me in my place, it was one of my surrogate parent's in the form of an aunt or uncle. My sister and I were well behaved because we knew the consequences. This child, the one having the tantrum, pretty much ran the show in the restaurant. All I could think was beat that kid's ASS.
I travelled across Texas with my friend this weekend and she told me a crazy story about her young cousins. These two young girls are both behaving in an alarming way on Facebook. One is posting pornographic photos of old men and the other is exercising a vile pornographic vocabulary. Both of the girls are under 15. Where on earth are the parents?
Where is the line? Isn't it the parent's job to teach their children where the line is? It is part of "nurture", and helps control "nature"... right? So, why do I see so many parents trying to reason with their small children? Is it simply that corporeal punishment is so frowned upon? I don't have any problem with a parent swatting their kids behind in public, most people don't. I do have a huge problem with a poorly behaved child in public. Those children that run amok and disturb your peace. That kid is likely to be headed to a disturbed and disappointed adolescence and young adulthood.
Kids need to know where the line is that they aren't supposed to cross. A parent teaches them a good line, you know, like drawing in the sand, "Don't cross this line over here, okay?" The kid may push, toe the line occasionally, but they aren't going to run the family show; they aren't going to cross the line without knowing they are doing something that will have consequences.
So, parents have to lay down the line, and show their children where it is. That way, when your 13 year old screws up, the conversation you have with them goes something like this, "Why did you pick the cereal with colored marshmallows, instead of Raisin Bran, when you know that the Raisin Bran is nutritious..." and not like this, "Where the hell did you get that orgy picture of the gay octagenarians, and why on earth did you post it on your Facebook wall?"
