Father Teaches Daughter Lesson About Facebook

[fireheart17]

One question: if the kid isn't getting paid for the hours she puts in at her family's clinic, then I have to agree, she does need to vent. And what happens when she ends up going through Grade 12? are they going to lump more chores on top of her until she's their maid?

And at this point, I am reminded of a story I once heard.

13/14-year-old twin girls were arrested for shoplifting at a store. They thought they were going to get off so easy since they were underage and therefore couldn't be prosecuted. Instead, their dad had a horrible surprise waiting for them.

When they got home, all they had in their bedroom was a mattress, a set of clothes for the week and a hairbrush. Each. They had to earn back EVERYTHING that had previously been in their room by doing chores and helping dad out.

Alternately, if daddy didn't want his child to rant on Facebook, he could've set up a KeePass at home that prevented her from accessing Facebook (i.e. set up a parental filter and use KeePass on said filter to prevent child from cracking it) and then severely grounded her: no friends, only school and clinic and he could also talk to the school to prevent her from accessing the Internet in any way, shape or form. (If you're thinking "what about research assignments?" there are things called books, magazines, microfilms, newspapers, videos and so on)

[Lace Neil Singer]

Yeah I'm torn about this.

She could have been a spoiled brat, but it sounds like she was just venting. She was expected to do a lot of chores around the house and with school that means very little time for fun. And getting a job? Assuming she even has time to fill out appplications, she would have been even more stressed out than before. And really, even if the rant was just teenage angst (which I doubt it was), does it really merit having your laptop destroyed?

Hard to tell, but I'm betting on overly demanding parents.

I'm betting on spoiled brat exaggerating. When I was a kid, I had to do chores too; I laid the table, stacked the dishwasher, occasionally did some hoovering/dusting, walked the dog and had to keep my room reasonably tidy. My brothers also had chores to do, like unstacking the dishwasher, unlaying the table, mowing the lawn, taking out the rubbish, picking up the dogshit from the garden... and yeah, once we got jobs we had to pay our parents rent. This bitch should just stop whining and feel happy that she's got so little to do, cuz once she grows up and leaves home, she'll have to do a hell of a lot more chores and pay for everything, too.

[DrFaroohk]

I'm reminded of when my wife reads something on here that upsets her. I'm reminded of what I tell her - IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT, DO NOT READ IT.

It was a private post, and she was venting. Obviously parents have power over their kids, and I'm all for parents checking out their kids online activities, but a simple post venting about some probably valid frustrations is not worth shooting her laptop and getting all pissy.

I would imagine that dad has had negative things to say about his boss before. Maybe he'd like someone to invade his privacy and read it out loud to the boss.

[Rageaholic]

What is it with parents posting their punishments online? Reminds me of this (WARNING LANGUAGE) Uncle posteds his "ass whoopin" of his nephew online over some facebook gang stuff. Sadly, this didn't end well because I hear the boy ended up getting killed by a gang (though that may not have been the uncles fault).

With that said, at least the laptop video was funny. He was kind enough NOT to force his daughter on camera.

[shroo]

Personally I liked the guy's style.

If she learns nothing else from this experience she will, hopefully, at least have a better understanding that you can't hide anything online and more often than not it will come back to bite you in the ass.

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[AdminAssistant]

I just don't understand why he would destroy the laptop. Ground her from it. Confiscate it. Wipe it and sell it. But to destroy a $500 piece of machinery to make a point is so blatantly stupid that I can't even comprehend it.

[Rebel]

I'm reminded of when my wife reads something on here that upsets her. I'm reminded of what I tell her - IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT, DO NOT READ IT.

It was a private post, and she was venting. Obviously parents have power over their kids, and I'm all for parents checking out their kids online activities, but a simple post venting about some probably valid frustrations is not worth shooting her laptop and getting all pissy.

I would imagine that dad has had negative things to say about his boss before. Maybe he'd like someone to invade his privacy and read it out loud to the boss.

I have to respectfully disagree here.

On Facebook, unless your profile is set to a very restrictive private setting, then anything you write on there is practically open for anyone to read. What she had written, if read by the wrong sort of person, could have lead to serious consequences for the dad if someone had interpreted it as child abuse (could happen).

Two years ago, my younger sister did something similar on Facebook, though she was old enough that she should have known better. She has always had this martyr complex, and after a fight with our dad, she decided to let loose her thoughts on Facebook.
She wrote a 1 page note that essentially accused my dad and brother of beating her as a child, and my mother and older sister of allowing it as well as emotionally abusing her. I was the only one left out of the rant.
Trouble is, she left the letter open for anyone to read.
My father and older sister are both teachers. A rant like this could have caused them to lose their jobs and their reputation if the wrong person reads it. Same goes for my mother and brother. She could have ruined their lives, and still might as the note still hasn't been deleted, just because she was pissed at them.
The stupid thing was, my younger sister was never mistreated, in fact she had a tendency to punch and attack people without provocation. The idea of my dad or brother ever hitting a girl is simply laughable.
She lost a lot of friends after that.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that Facebook is VERY different from a diary, and it can have serious consequences. The internet is forever, paper is finite.

That said, I don't really agree with the father shooting up the laptop, but I kinda figured he was one of those crazy American "I loves me guns" type of people.

[Silverharp]

That said, I don't really agree with the father shooting up the laptop, but I kinda figured he was one of those crazy American "I loves me guns" type of people.

I think it's more like he wanted to make a point, which he did. Growing up in the country like I did, I can see why he chose to make his point that way, even if I didn'ty agree with it.
Me, I would have formatted the bloody thing and given it back to her saying "here you go, pay for your own software."
And if you listen during his reading of her rant, he stops once and says "well that much is true", indicating her "poor Cindarelli" whining isn't exactly accurate.

The main thing is, "My house, my rules, you've been warned before, now there's consequences". I can't argue with that one bit, and it's an attitude more parents need to have.

Just not to the point of shooting things up, but hey, maybe the family is well enough off to afford to make a point like that?

[DrFaroohk]

I have to respectfully disagree here.

On Facebook, unless your profile is set to a very restrictive private setting, then anything you write on there is practically open for anyone to read. What she had written, if read by the wrong sort of person, could have lead to serious consequences for the dad if someone had interpreted it as child abuse (could happen).

I believe it was stated that she specifically blocked her parents from reading it. And that didn't seem to be the dad's issue.

Maybe I'm just different I guess. If my kids were to my face being disrespectful like that, I'd probably issue some punishment. If I was spying on my kids and overheard them saying to someone else "My dad can be an ass sometimes." Well tough shit. I shouldn't have been spying.

[Andara Bledin]

He wasn't spying. The girl blocked her parents, but forgot to block the account created for their family pet and her dad found the comments while adding images to the pet's account.

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

If she learns nothing else from this experience she will, hopefully, at least have a better understanding that you can't hide anything online and more often than not it will come back to bite you in the ass.

...which could have been done perfectly well in private. Particularly if he didn't explain *how* he'd found it.

He wasn't spying. The girl blocked her parents, but forgot to block the account created for their family pet and her dad found the comments while adding images to the pet's account.

He may have *found* it by accident, but that doesn't matter. He *read* it intentionally and knowing it was not meant for his eyes. It amounts to the same thing.

I'm all for *teaching and explaining* about how online communications can spread where you don't want them to go, how you can never be certain they're truly gone, how this might have real-world effects if CPS or a future employer reads it, etc... BUT to punish someone for venting to their friends when they *thought* they were safe is simply wrong. I don't care if she exaggerated the whole thing out of one instance of having to pick up a sock, it's still wrong. And doing it publicly is all the worse.

Kids are reasonably expected to be immature. Adults are not.

[DrFaroohk]

I like how he was all like "I'm a big bad IT guy and I hacked thru the matrix to see it!" Dumbass.

[Rageaholic]

The main thing is, "My house, my rules, you've been warned before, now there's consequences". I can't argue with that one bit, and it's an attitude more parents need to have.

Ugh, I hate parents like that. Just because they have authoritah does not mean their are never wrong. This guy was clearly wrong.

[Seifer]

Want to rant and vent? Grab on of these:

Call me crazy, but I don't think daddy dearest would have any problems with picking up that bad-boy and having himself a book club meeting.

[firecat88]

I'm not going to say that the guy's frustration was unjustified. However, his reaction was over-the-top. And who's to say that, next time, it'll just be her cell phone or something that gets a few bullets in it? (Yes, I know that's a huge exaggeration, but that guy has shown that he has no problem at all playing the Horrible Overreaction game)