Sterner stuff

MOVE over, Tiger Mum. Laptop Shooting Dad has just surpassed you as America’s toughest parent. The video, which Tommy Jordan initially posted on his daughter’s Facebook wall as a postmodern act of vengeance, has become a symbol of parental frustration in the digital age.

Jordan’s computer cide has generated tens of thousands of comments on his Facebook page alone, revealing a fascinating cultural divide. Some people see him as an infantile kook whose antics are bound to alienate his daughter even more. Others say he’s a refreshing throwback to a time when parents walked tall, meant what they said and took care of discipline with the back of their hands.

I certainly thought he was nuts the first time I saw the video. But after watching it a bit more and reading Jordan’s subsequent justifications, I felt an unexpected rush of understanding.

Now, don’t get me wrong: Laptop Shooting Dad is definitely childish. His daughter’s whiny, foul-mouthed lament about having to clean up around the house is the sort of thing a mature parent treats with laughter and extra chores, not a hail of hollow points. And documenting the payback in an online video is so junior high: I don’t think humiliating a teen on Facebook is the best way to teach her not to humiliate people on Facebook.

Once the smoke cleared, though, I started to sympathise. It became clear that Laptop Shooting Dad was angry about a whole lot more than his daughter’s rant.

In a posting on his Facebook page, where he has so far contained his public comments, he wrote that he was mad about kids who can’t write a sentence without a spell-checker. He was upset about schools that leave students incapable of performing even simple arithmetic by hand. He was just plain furious about child labour laws that, in his view, encourage teens to laze around instead of learning good work habits.

“‘Modern’ parenting,” he wrote, “raises ill-prepared kids who can’t do anything and have no skills because they’re protected from even learning them until 18 years old, at which time you want us parents to throw them out into the world, send them off to college and expect them to be productive members of society? You can take your ‘modern’ parenting and shove it.”

If you’re a mum or dad, you know what he’s talking about.

I know every parent sees his offspring’s generation as outrageously rude and lazy, forgetting that the same things were said about him. But seriously, this new bunch, with their constant texting, their zombie stares from endless screen time, the way they dare to say “five more minutes” after playing video games for six hours – why, it’s a wonder more of us don’t go all Tony Montana on their electronic devices.

But it’s not just anger that drives this reaction, I think. It’s fear. The world is growing more competitive by the minute, and kids with poor work habits, electron-stunted brains or an opportunity-killing lack of manners could be left behind. Any parent worth a hoot should be scared stiff that his kids might suffer that fate.

In that respect, I can’t help but admire Laptop Shooting Dad, seeing as how I can barely bring myself to punish bad behaviour by taking TV away from my children for a single day.

He could stand a little more prudence in dealing with his kid, no doubt about it. But many of us definitely need more ruthlessness in dealing with ours. – Chicago Tribune/mcclatchy-tribune Information Services