Father makes Son destroy Gaming Systems with Sledgehammer due to Bad Grades

[BBGuy5240]

This is from about a Month Ago, but I saw this yesterday.


It looks like this Kid is in Middle School.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS5sFP0dd2I

Apparently, the dad gave his son 3 Weeks to lift his grades back up, and the son failed to do so in that time.

I've had Gaming Systems removed before because of Bad Grades, but I've never had to destroy them. They were just simply locked away. I went months without them when I was a kid.

My issue with this is more the fact that he only gave him 3 Weeks. If you're really gonna have something like this as a punishment, I think you should at least give him an entire Marking Period to pull up his Grades. Because unless you do a shitload of Extra Credit, it's difficult to make a dramatic change in a Grade or Grades in a 3 Week Period. Unless you have literally the Easiest Grader in the World when it comes to a Teacher. Then again, if that was the case, failing grades would be pretty shocking.

Now I've heard of Parents Selling their Kids Gaming Systems in situations like this, but I don't see the point in literally destroying them.

And something I want to know, why did the dad feel the need to:

1. Do it in their Front Yard?
2. Film it?
3. Upload it to the Internet?

Thoughts?

 

[BellyFan]

It wouldn't shock me if this is staged. Nowadays people will post anything to get Internet Famous. Whole Families can be in on it.

But it also wouldn't shock me if this is Real. A couple years ago, there was that Father who Shot his daughters Laptop over Facebook Comments.

If this is real, my response is just.........damn.

 

[kopfhorer]

Some kids' parents are bigger bullies than any of the ones the kid might encounter in school.

 

[WriterOfSin]

Nice to see someone's got cash to burn on 'disciplining' their child. Taking away a console and locking it in the garage works pretty well in my experience, tends to be a few hundred quid cheaper too.

 

[BBGuy5240]

Nice to see someone's got cash to burn on 'disciplining' their child. Taking away a console and locking it in the garage works pretty well in my experience, tends to be a few hundred quid cheaper too.

An XBOX 360 and an XBOX1, both of those combined probably cost around $800-$900. And that's not even factoring in the Games.

At least if you sell them as a punishment, you get some money out of it.

But when you do something like this, unless you offer to buy everything again if the Grades improved, the son now has nothing to lose.

Which leads me back to, JUST LOCK THEM AWAY. The son won't have the games until his Grades improve, and when they do improve, he gets them back. And it doesn't cost anyone a Dime.

 

[Angel_2]

If the parent had just locked the game systems away that would of been a clear enough message to either improve the grades or don't allow the kid to play until the grades improve.

 

[Alliekat]

As a parent I see no valid reason to embarrass a child in such a public manner. I have had to restrict privileges from my children in the past, but to me, this seems a bit much. Like someone already said, this whole thing seemed staged to begin with.

 

[Mitchell]

I think this is excessive on the parent's part, not to mention wasteful.

As someone who was not a good student until his later years of HS. I had some experience with this.

My parents were.. well off, and my dad, even with how his personality can be at times, never did this.

When my grades went bad.. my allowance would be gone.. and specific games he thought were distracting me would be taken away.

Yes., three weeks is too short. My mantra from my parents would always be.. "We better see improved grades by the next report card" (Usually 3 months).. or X, Y and Z is gone"

I think this father went completely overboard.

 

[CallMeRed08]

sometimes you gotta hammer the point to kids or they just walk all over ya.

 

[sonnymadler]

I can't help but feel bad for the poor kid. Wrecking his gaming system with a sledgehammer is the equivalent of destroying a kid's childhood. Firstly, as the OP said, 3 weeks is too short a time to lift one's grades, depending of course on how many subjects needed lifting. And he could've simply put the damn thing away in a closet or somewhere. Children's psyche is very vulnerable and such extreme actions risk eventually making the kid violent and resentful in his actions when he grows up.

He even filmed it in full public view and uploaded it online? Damn...now I definitely feel bad for the kid. What kind of parent does that?

 

[C.A.B.]

Horror. Next thing you know, this tyrant will ask the long-suffering boy to take out the garbage. Someone call social services.

 

[SamuelKhan]

Horror. Next thing you know, this tyrant will ask the long-suffering boy to take out the garbage. Someone call social services.

...or grow the fuck up and be a man because the world doesn't owe you shit. Want a good job, kid? Maintain a high GPA and get a scholarship. What if your toy was stolen or destroyed in a storm? Dad was proving a point. The world isn't fair and never will be. I've seen it, and I now know what it takes. My dad was abusive, but this was discipline in comparison. The dad cares.

 

[Sodahead]

I'm still waiting for Jimmy Kimmel to reveal this as another one of his pranks.

 

[Bohemianne]

It's an amateur showbiz...

 

[The Listening]

I would've waited until he went to school and then cleaned his room out. No television. No Xbox or Computer. All of it would be locked away until his grades improved. And if no improvement. One by one, I start selling each item. Next time, same thing? Sell something else.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

If the goal is to hurt the kid and piss him off so badly that he may never recover from it, this would be a good way to go about it. However, it wouldn't do much good in terms of motivation. I mean, how does Dad expect this kid to react? "Well shit, no games, I guess I'll just manufacture an interest in school!"

If I had raised the kid, I can almost guarantee it would never come to that. I would spend a lot of time with him and be involved in his homework and assignments. I would take him to cool places and all the while talk to him and instill the values of hard work paying off, starting with school. I would reward him for good grades.

If on the other hand I married a women who had a total shithead for a son who was constantly sarcastic and disrespectful to his mother, then I might consider doing something like the article described. And that would only be the beginning of the hell I'd put him through.

 

[Sodahead]

Maybe the dad should have to get a raise at his job within the next three weeks, and if he doesn't someone gets to smash his car up (or TV or whatever) and post it on YouTube. If you think the kid deserved what he got, then this would only be fair, right?

Obviously, that would be an absurd scenario but it seems for all of the chest pounding from those supporting the dad, basic compassion and understanding are weak and antiquated notions, rather than traits (along with hard work and integrity) we ought to be instilling in our youth

Beyond that, simply making good grades for the sake of t is useless at that age. I am getting to the point where I am starting to do pretty well for myself professionally, and not once have I been asked to produce evidence of any kind of academic prowess from my grade school days.

 

[duderino84]

Maybe the dad should have to get a raise at his job within the next three weeks, and if he doesn't someone gets to smash his car up (or TV or whatever) and post it on YouTube. If you think the kid deserved what he got, then this would only be fair, right?

Obviously, that would be an absurd scenario but it seems for all of the chest pounding from those supporting the dad, basic compassion and understanding are weak and antiquated notions, rather than traits (along with hard work and integrity) we ought to be instilling in our youth

Beyond that, simply making good grades for the sake of t is useless at that age. I am getting to the point where I am starting to do pretty well for myself professionally, and not once have I been asked to produce evidence of any kind of academic prowess from my grade school days.

Sometimes I do wonder if it makes me weak because I show compassion.

In my opinion, the kid is a shitty son because if he were forewarned, then he allowed himself to be sucked into Xbox land, then he deserved it. If he were on target, he wouldn't be forced to destroy two Xbox consoles, right? The dad was harsh, that's for sure. Making your son smash consoles he loves has to make you feel tough. It's not enough to save a buck (unless he instilled ways for the kid to earn money, doubtful but possible) because I doubt the kid bought his own consoles.

When I was younger, it was about the guitar. I knew friends whose fathers threatened "they'd smash the guitar if _____ happened/didn't happen". That sounds like a jerk move (I'm a musician, what do you expect me to say? ) considering my friends cared about learning, just not the right things.

Xbox and gaming in general is designed to be addictive. The games, DRM issues, DLC, everything about it is a true escape from the world. I'm not saying it's right, because what is "right". I'm just saying gaming (or making your son smash his device of fantasy) is somewhat .... destructive. Especially if judging from the face of the kid if the idea of it not being around was painful.

So everybody is shitty, everybody suffers, and everybody involved walks away now with the knowledge that about a million people watched that video so they know for a fact you (those in the video) suck.

 

[Redmage]

I think the lesson I'd take away from this was never to let my father know what I really care about.

 

[tickle gamer]

and, two. That seems wasteful.

I mean, has he [the dad] saw the price of gaming systems lately.

I think for a punishment like this, he should have gave the kid at lest a year.