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Son Comes Home With Bad Grades. Then His Father Decides to Give Him Some Tough Love Motivation
PJ Media ^ | 05-16-2015 | Michael van der Galien

Posted on 05/16/2015 3:45:46 AM PDT by Michael van der Galien

[VIDEO AT THE LINK Provided below]

What do you do when your child comes home with bad grades? Do you cuddle him (or her)? Or do you get angry and tell them they should do better? Or do you go further than that? Do you punish him by, say, not giving him pocket money or by grounding him for a few days?

One father decided to take it a bit further than that. When his son told him he failed his class, he gave his son a sledgehammer, threw his most prized possession (Xbox) in the garden and forced him to — completely and utterly — destroy it.

Like IJReview, I’m wondering what you think? Did this father go too far, or was it a great — although perhaps saddening — way to motivate his son to improve his grades?

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: blogpimp; dad; education; parenting; xbox
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1 posted on 05/16/2015 3:45:47 AM PDT by Michael van der Galien
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To: Michael van der Galien

Why did the dad put it on the internet? “Hey look at me!”


2 posted on 05/16/2015 3:48:11 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: Michael van der Galien

He couldn’t just put it in the attic until his grades improved?


3 posted on 05/16/2015 3:50:51 AM PDT by Homer1
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To: Michael van der Galien
I'd take the x-box away for a while, until grades were brought up, but why destroy it? If the kid brings up his grades, stays out of trouble and does kind things— and all he wants for his birthday is another x-box than that was a pretty dumb decision.
4 posted on 05/16/2015 3:51:55 AM PDT by MacMattico
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To: Michael van der Galien

Good Dad!


5 posted on 05/16/2015 3:54:46 AM PDT by outofsalt ( If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: Michael van der Galien; EEGator

He should have made the child give it to Toys For Tots or a homeless shelter rather than destroying it.


6 posted on 05/16/2015 3:56:10 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You can help: https://donate.tedcruz.org/c/FBTX0095/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

That’s a good idea. I have a feeling that is an a-hole. What grown man does that, on tape, and posts it to the internet?


7 posted on 05/16/2015 3:58:14 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator

that = the dad


8 posted on 05/16/2015 3:58:40 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: Michael van der Galien

Second-guessing a father punishing his son, particularly in this coddling PC/liberal/BS climate, is something I simply will not do.

Kudos to him for caring and thank God the kid had a father that cares.


9 posted on 05/16/2015 3:59:23 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I say it was staged.


10 posted on 05/16/2015 4:00:51 AM PDT by Ken H (What happens on the internet stays on the internet.)
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To: EEGator

My thought is the same. Don’t know all the details but it seems more like the father wants to do something dramatic after the fact so he can be seen as a good tough father, rather than doing the work of being a father on a daily basis. Was he asking the kid at the dinner table how his test went? Was he checking whether there was any homework to finish before the kid disappeared for the evening to play XBox? Was he checking on the kids grades (At this age most schools let you see lots of intermediate grades)?

I see that several posters have already suggested taking the Xbox away until the grade is improved, which seems like a pretty good idea from a parenting perspective, although not as good a way to get the attention of trending on the Internet.

The idea of making the kid destroy his favorite toy and videoing it seems sadistic to me.


11 posted on 05/16/2015 4:06:49 AM PDT by CaptainMorgantown
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To: Michael van der Galien

effing moron. Just take it away until the grades come up


12 posted on 05/16/2015 4:07:06 AM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: Michael van der Galien

Well, it’s an ex-box now!


13 posted on 05/16/2015 4:07:33 AM PDT by MarDav
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To: Ken H

My first thought as well.

If it wasn’t staged, I’d say the father was just looking for a good excuse to do it.

Ephesians 6:4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.


14 posted on 05/16/2015 4:08:13 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you are not part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
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To: Michael van der Galien

“Look at me”, yeah, no.


15 posted on 05/16/2015 4:11:46 AM PDT by BlackAdderess ("Give me a but a firm spot on which to stand, and I shall move the earth". --Archimedes)
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To: AppyPappy

Great Bible verse. Discipline is a daily thing, as simple as saying “you know our rule. No Xbox until your homework is done”. A dramatic, humiliating gesture after the fact is more about making the father feel tough than fixing the problem.


16 posted on 05/16/2015 4:14:34 AM PDT by CaptainMorgantown
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To: CaptainMorgantown

“I see that several posters have already suggested taking the Xbox away until the grade is improved, which seems like a pretty good idea from a parenting perspective, although not as good a way to get the attention of trending on the Internet.

The idea of making the kid destroy his favorite toy and videoing it seems sadistic to me.”

Agree completely.


17 posted on 05/16/2015 4:16:18 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: Homer1

That’s my thought. My position is that everything of the child’s is either on loan from the parent or it can only be used conditionally. The kid could have bought it with his own money, but he can only use it on my say so as long as it is in my house.

I would have locked it away until he earned the right to use it.


18 posted on 05/16/2015 4:16:19 AM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: EEGator

What dad gives their kid an x-box in the first place? I didn’t give my son one and now he’s an up and coming Mechanical Engineer. He bought his own.


19 posted on 05/16/2015 4:17:06 AM PDT by Howie66 ("Tone down the tagline please." - Admin Moderator)
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To: yldstrk

If I were the son Id be less motivated.


20 posted on 05/16/2015 4:17:31 AM PDT by nikos1121 ("The enemy of your enemy is your enemy!" B. Netanyahu)
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