Sunday
Dec272009
The stay-at-home-dad question
Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 2:29 AM 
Will American kids act much differently in the years to come? I'd wager heavily on 'yes'.
There are now millions of stay-at-home-dads tending the nest, while mom is at work. Will they raise children differently? I do.
How many moms teach their children this...? (3:51) Share
Reader Comments (1)
An attack is an attack. Verbal, physical, psychological, it all has a generally similar effect on someone. Especially a young kid.
I remember being told by teachers, "If you ignore them, they'll go away." Know what happens when you ignore them?
I was walking home from my 7th grade class, where people in the hallways routinely tried to trip or push me because I simply refused to fall. I had decent balance, after all. About 1/4 of the way, a group of kids were following me, and kept it up. Shortly after failing to knock me over (and I, being the good kid, ignored them), they started hitting my legs with a wiffle bat. Yeah, no big deal, it's just light, hollow plastic.
Then they filled it with rocks.
Problems don't go away on their own, nine times from ten. My kid is sure as hell going to know that if he starts any trouble, he's getting more trouble from me. But if trouble finds him, he deals with it in a just, proper, and equitable fashion. Name-calling and such are one thing, but if a kid lays his hands on my boy...
Suffice to say, I'll see to it my son knows whether to lay off, or lay the sucker out.
...Sort of got personal there, didn't I? Oh well. Regardless, defending one's self is a more important lesson than most people care to address. A "good kid" doesn't have to be the same as a "kid that just takes the abuse."
Especially if they're pushed to the snapping point.