If somone wants to destory his/her own property that's their business. Moronic yes , but it made a hell of a statement
I'm not clear it was his, although he probably bought it for the family or his daughter. When I give people things I don't take them back, unless I specify that as a qualification for receiving the gift, there are guidlines for its use and those guidelines are explained. Seems like mutual trust is an important thing to teach children rather than have them feel they had to hide something from you. The article didn't get that detailed, but if the guy worked in IT and was an honest person, mature parent model for his daughter, what was he doing circumventing the privacy settings of a place like Facebook and based on that, why wouldn't she want to try to find some place to discuss her thoughts and feelings? Good example Dad!
Why didn't he say the computer is yours as long as you keep your grades up and get your chores done and offer an allowance in exchange for some chores also pointing out that a part of being a family is pitching in and all in a family do a certain amount to pitch in without anything in return, but for the light work many hands can make. Just to make her also understand she is not mom and pas' personal slave or child laborer, suggest some things she could do for pay as another lesson that she should not go out into the world and work for nothing either. In that way she might have gotten some understanding of how family units work and the world outside of family. Instead, it looks like a teenage power struggle and big daddio the big strapping male couldn't bear to have his teenage daughter defy him so he "showed her" who was big and powerful and brave!
When kids threaten or piss you off, stomp on'em, pull out a gun and shoot their stuff to render it useless to anyone. Nice mature "family values" lead by example there dad.
Is there no middle road anymore? Can't parents teach their kids something without somehow feeling threatened that their children are their competition, not beings that haven't been on this earth long enough to know how to handle a lot of things and look to and need parents as their guides, not as someone who's going to act as immature as they or feel threatened by their child and not know how to handle a situation in a manner more mature and parentlike than their child?
Kids have always been kids, testing what is new to them all the time. I don't believe in extremes, so it seems those who think saying no to their child is a sin are no better than those who act no better than their children. I think people should be able to recognize who the parent is (at least when they are dealing with their children) and the children should be able to know who the parent is and look to them for guidance instead of feel they need to keep things from them for fear of having something done to them like having their or the family computer filled full of bullet holes by a tantrum throwing dad.
Sorry.
