I know you didn't mean to degrade stepfathers but that strikes a nerve.
A lot of us have taken the job on voluntarily and worked very hard at it. I took on four and love them all. I lost a good friend last year who took on two. His daughter said at his funeral “He was my stepfather- he stepped up, he stepped in, and he stepped over anything that got in the way of being a great father.”
I know what you mean.
My mother ran off with her 2 small children decades ago, which the kids were OK with. A couple years later she met my dad and very shortly they were married. My dad adopted the 2 who asked “can we call you daddy?” when they announced the news to the 6yos. He did everything for them and bio dad had nothing to do with it.
Recently my sister’s best friend revealed before my sister died that she asked if sis ever told her bio dad about her cancer. She said she doesn’t know him and doesn’t care. My dad had a nice breakdown when my sister was actually dying. He loved those kids and worked hard with them.
You're right, I didn't mean to degrade step fathers. A child, be it a girl or a boy, needs both a strong mother and a father figure in their lives.
In reading the article, it looks to me like this particular child has neither. The quotes in the article are telling. "You might think Michael's parents would be furious with the kids who were bullying their son, but then that wouldn't be in keeping with the show at the center of what they were teasing him about...."It teaches the most basic moral values to a lot of complex thoughts," said Michael's step-father, Shannon Suttle.
A)I'd not look to cartoons for lessons in parenting. and B) I think that a little outrage is called for in a situation like this. However, it's likely that if the parents were the type to follow tenets A&B, this situation would never have happened.
Too bad for all concerned.
I also thought that it was interesting that the article blamed the school for the bullying situation, rather than the children doing it, or any of the other players involved.