Facebook has done a great deal in highlighting examples of horrible parenting to the rest of the world. Incidents which were once conducted behind closed doors are going public.
Video posted to Facebook is causing outrage in many circles, and Missouri’s Department of Social Services may be investigating it. The images show a fist fight between two small children, with the mother of one of the kids egging them on, even offering instructions to the tiny combatants.
“Got some action! Got some action!” the woman can be heard yelling as she shoots the video. “Y’all better ball up some fists!”
The video was posted to Facebook on Sunday. An acquaintance of the mother in question alerted FOX 2. She asked not be identified, but spoke in an interview Tuesday.
“It’s just sickening and I feel like there should be some kind of criminal action taken,” she told us. “I couldn’t even watch the whole video. I had to stop it and look again. It was sad.”
She says the urging of the mother was as disturbing as the pictures themselves.
“Ball up your fist. It’s like she’s training her before she starts school or something. It’s sad because today’s society in the black community its really sickening that these kids are learning how to fight, get guns and stuff, and it shouldn’t be going on.”
“Wow,” was the initial response of St. Louis child psychologist Russell Hyken after we showed him the images.
“That’s pretty overwhelming. Those are small children that really don’t even understand what is going on. I mean one child is screaming and the other child continues to go after her. I mean what is going on here?”
For some reason people feel they have the right to inundate an expectant mother with parenting tips and strategies. Some appreciate the concern and interest whilst others find it invasive and suffocating (especially since a lot of it is contradictory).
There is so many rewarding aspects of being a parent. There is a myriad of wonderful surprises associated with being a dad – I absolutely recommend it! One such benefit that I never knew about is resistance against getting a cold:
Being a parent reduces your risk of catching a cold—possibly because of unknown “psychological or behavioral differences between parents and nonparents,” according to a study in the July issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
The risk of becoming ill after exposure to cold viruses is reduced by about half in parents compared to nonparents, regardless of pre-existing immunity, according to research led by Rodlescia S. Sneed, MPH, and Sheldon Cohen, PhD of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. The study suggests that other, yet unknown factors related to being a parent may affect susceptibility to illness. The researchers analyzed data on 795 adults from three previous studies of stress and social factors affecting susceptibility to the common cold. In those studies, healthy volunteers were given nose drops containing cold-causing rhinovirus or influenza viruses.
After virus exposure, about one-third of volunteers developed clinical colds—typical symptoms of a cold plus confirmed infection with one of the study viruses. The analysis focused on whether being a parent affected the risk of developing a cold, with adjustment for other factors.
It’s school holidays and there isn’t one G rated (General Classification) movie at the cinemas. I would understand how that could happen during the school year – but during holidays?
Movies like The Brave and Ice Age 4 have violence and course language warnings and are intended for families rather than children. Unfortunately, some adults are so selfish that they would refuse to go to the movies with their children unless the film proved entertaining for them too. I am all for adult in-jokes and films that entertain both myself and my daughter, but not at the expense of a good, wholesome, non-violent movie experience. I would gladly suffer through a children’s film as long as it was appropriate for my daughter.
Yesterday my daughter and I watched Annie together. Annie, although still a hit stage musical, would never have gotten made today. Neither would have other child friendly films like Mary Poppins. These films don’t have enough crude toilet humour, adult themes and violence.
It’s important to be aware of what your children do online. To achieve this one must also be aware of the “tricks” they pull in order to hide their activity.
A recent survey entitled, Teen Internet Behavior study released last week by McAfee, the online-security tech company, found that children are really good at covering their tracks.
1. You’re living in a 24-hour cycle.
The news never stops, and neither does parenting. Disaster can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone. Breaking news! Flash pee flood causes two-hour laundry pileup. This just in! A new tooth erupted on the Southern Gum Coast at 3 a.m. Details at 11 — kids on bedtime strike stall negotiations until opposing forces are given chocolate pudding and an American Girl doll. And just think about it — Wolf Blitzer doesn’t live in his “Situation Room” 24 hours a day, but you sure do.
2. Sometimes, you have to throw away the script and wing it.
Every parent knows the best-laid parenting plans are just like that generic footage of pills being spilled out on a formica counter that every local newscast uses for medical reports: out of date and out of focus. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a magic teleprompter cuing us all day long? “Up next, Baby struggles with important developmental milestone. Stay tuned as I, her mother, handle it with class, grace and appropriateness.” Sadly, this is not the case. We’re all constantly writing and re-writing our own script, day after day.
3. You have a top-secret list of sources.
Everyone knows a good journalist never gives up her go-to sources. I never claimed to be a good journalist– ergo, my sources are the jumperoo, a pacifier and puffs. And you can quote me on that.
4. It’s all about keeping the talent happy.
Temper tantrums, poopy diapers, nap time. Good grief — those primetime anchors are high maintenance! Sure, you might be doing all the hard behind-the-scenes work, but if the star of the show ain’t happy, mama ain’t happy.
5. Ratings are everything.
That big grin from your baby? A hug and kiss from your kiddo? Makes it all worthwhile.
Don’t change that channel.
Two Californian brothers have been arrested after allegedly making a video showing two young children punching, kicking and choking each other as a group of kids and an adult watch.
Gabriel and Agustin Gamboa, 23 and 24 respectively, were arrested on June 29 and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after Los Angeles TV station KTLA saw the footage and alerted police.
Agustin posted the video on his Facebook page last Wednesday under the title “My nephew messed him up for picking on his home boy”.
The two-minute video shows two boys aged four and five wrestling on the ground and kicking and punching each other.
At one point in the clip Gabriel can be seen moving some cheering children out of shot so his brother can have a clear view as he films.
I am of the opinion that one shouldn’t need to discuss ‘weight’ with issues with your children. I prefer a more positive approach where healthy food and exercise is promoted rather than “negative talk” which is likely to make the child even more self-conscious.
A new report says parents are concerned that talking to their child about their weight will lead to an eating disorder.
This figure rises to 65% of parents who identify their child as being overweight or obese.
More than 1,000 parents with a child aged 5-16 responded to the Let’s talk about weight survey on Netmums and shared how they feel about bringing up the topic of weight with their child.
I do understand that the problem is more complicated than just advocating health over weight loss. I also realise that children are too smart not to realise that healthy lifestyle measures are a result of their weight issues.
What is your opinion? How should parents discuss weight issues with their children?
Hapuku had been left alone with his partner’s child in a Flaxmere sleepout in January last year. Prosecution lawyers argued Hapuku was intent on beating his high score in a PlayStation game called Scarface.
When the toddler interrupted the game, Hapuku struck him so hard he died from his injuries. But rather than rushing the child to hospital, Hapuku continued playing. When Mikara’s mother returned she found her partner playing PlayStation and holding Mikara over his left shoulder.
But just wait a minute! This is an isolated case, right? I’m afraid not:
Dr Eleanor Carmichael, from Waikato Hospital, said she frequently sees cases where a young man has abused a child because a game was disturbed. “You sit down, take a bit of P, start your PlayStation game, the baby starts to cry, you’re in a hurry to pick it up and settle it down before you lose your place.”
Shame! Shame! Shame!
Click here to find out if you are addicted to the internet or here to read about kids and technology addiction.
Are parents derelict in their duties if they refuse to buy their children the latest gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, game consoles and i-pods?
Absolutely not!
On the contrary, it can be argued that any parent that buys those items when they can’t afford to, is derelict in their duties:
IT was dubbed the “digital divide” – the gap between the haves and the have nots in the computer age.
But far from missing out on the electronic essentials of modern life, new research shows children from poorer families are keeping up with wealthier counterparts.
High-tech ownership is consistent across all income levels, research by insurer GIO reveals, with the average teen owning $1882.06 worth of equipment.
And tech-savvy teens are much more likely to own computer equipment than sports gear or a musical instrument.
About 42 per cent of kids own a laptop, while half own mobile phones and more than three in five own an MP3 music player such as an iPod. But less than a third of kids own sporting equipment or a musical instrument.
Sociology expert Dr Michael Bittman said most of the devices were essential for teens to function socially.
I disagree vehemently with Dr. Bittman. Teens do not need the latest devices, they need to understand that money doesn’t grow on trees. They need to respect the volatile nature of the economy and the hardships their parents face in ensuring that they have the necessities.
Teens would be best advised to worry less about their social standing and more about how they could contribute to their family, rather than run their family budget dry.
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