Monday, April 12, 2010

Parenting

Funny things kids say:

http://www.parentdish.com/2010/04/07/my-daddy-had-a-hysterectomy-and-other-things-kids-said/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl4|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parentdish.com%2F2010%2F04%2F07%2Fmy-daddy-had-a-hysterectomy-and-other-things-kids-said%2F

A couple from my childhood. Barry was my friend that I grew up with in Pocatello, Idaho. We always played together. He was a cute kid. One time we came home in a break from our playing for some snacks. My mom cut a banana in half and gave us each a half of banana. Barry looked puzzled and said to my mom "Even monkeys get whole bananas."

Then there is my brother. At dinner time we always got "clean your plate there are kids in China starving." My brother once said "Name one."

Any funny stories about you or your kids that you would like to share?

Now on to another mother. I'm not sure if I agree with what the mother did but I certainly don't think it rose to the level that charges should have been filed. Read the story here:

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/facebook-hacking-mom-faces-harassment-charge/19432640?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Ffacebook-hacking-mom-faces-harassment-charge%2F19432640

What do you think of the story? Mother right or wrong? Charges or no charges?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, the mother did not make a good choice in hacking into her son's personal cyber space. All parents worry about their children but need to nurture a trusting relationship with them or what's the point. I would have confronted my son face to face after receiving the phone call from a friend and taken it from there...of course reckless driving means he loses his driving privileges right? I hope. It's hard enough to raise a teen (I hear, not there quite yet) with a trustful relationship, I can't imagine how this mother will manage now :(

Pat said...

I'll agree with Anonymous. Big Mistake, mom! I can understand wanting to get a look at the kid's Facebook page, and am not sure what I'd do if I were suspicious, but I would never, ever, change the kid's password, nor would I write things that might embarrass him. She should have talked to him about it and perhaps assigned some punishment. The article doesn't say what she'll face for a misdemeanor charge, but I think she deserves to get her hands slapped.

Kids do say funny things. There was one time when my daughter was invited to a friend's home for dinner. She told them something like it was fun to have a "real dinner", which she didn't get at home.

WHAT??? I provided balanced and nutritious meals and I was horrified. It turned out that she meant a dinner where things were in serving bowls and got passed around the table. With just the two of us, I mostly prepared a plate for each of us and that was that, no serving bowls to clean up. I do hope the friend's parents didn't continue to think I fed her on pop-tarts and ice cream.

Lady DR said...

Given the information in the article, I agree with Anonymous and Pat. The whole thing was handled badly, from start to finish. The call from the friend sounds like a cry for help for her son. There's just a lot of information missing here. Why is he being raised by his grandmother? How often does he see/visit his mother? What type of relationship do mom/son have? Is this maternal or paternal grandparent and could there have been some "encouragement" for him to file charges? Why would the mother post negative/nasty things on his Facebook page and why the devil would she change the password to his email and why can't he change it back?

Technology hasn't made things a lot easier. I asked my youngest nephew to be my friend on Facebook. His page is largely fiction, regarding where he lives and what he does (which he's very good at, having read some excerpts from books he's started, but never finished). That's fine. He's protecting his privacy. But, the point is, you can ask someone to be their friend and then read their wall or whatever. Why didn't she do that first, for example? Or, as the others said, sit down with him and tell him she'd gotten a concerned call from one of his friends? If she felt she had to "hack in" and get the lowdown, why not stop there and talk to him?

Is it worth a misdemeanor charge? I think not. More like, it's worth a trip to a family counselor or maybe a family court.

William J. said...

Hi Anonymous

Thank you for posting, it is appreciated,

I'd never hack inton anyone's cyber space unless it was a case of life or death or the child was missing. Short of that the mom way over steeped you bounds.

I like the way you would handle it better than the way this woman did!


Hope you post again!

Bill

William J. said...

Hi Pat

Changing the password and posting things about him, what was this Mom thinking?

I love the story about your daughter!

Bill

William J. said...

Hi DR

Hope the blood test wasn't to painful today.

I'm guessing once he filed charges he moved out and into his grandmother's home.

There is one thing protecting your privacy on Facebook, and it is another thing to create fiction.

I love your idea of family counseling vs. tying up the legal system!

Bill