I think this says it all

Published on November 24, 2005 By dharmagrl In Misc

I don't take what The Sun says as the gospel truth.

However, when I came across an article this morning about a 10 year old girl who has been suspended from school 10 time in the past year - well, my curiosity got the better of me.

So, I read the article Link and what the mother had to say about the situation really stuck me as epitomizing the attitude of some parents towards their children:

“Because I work I don’t have time to be strict.”

Yes, you read right. Because she works, she doesn't have time to be strict. And, she says that the school is at fault for not controlling her daughter.

“Because I work I don’t have time to be strict.”

I understand that women have to work in order to provide for their children. I understand that being a working parent is an incredibly hard job sometimes. I understand that there will be times when a parent who has just come home from a long day at work will feel like they're overwhelmed with providing for the family AND taking care of/being responsible for children and everything that comes with them.

But this girl is HER child. HER responsibility. Not the school districts responsibility, HER responsibility. A responsibility that she agreed to take on when she got pregnant and chose to keep her baby. That the child is now in school full time doesn't diminish the parent's responsibility any, in fact it increases it in a way because the child will be interacting with other people and if it misbehaves or acts up, the parent will ultimately be held responsible.

What part of 'it's YOUR child, YOUR responsibility so YOU need to raise it' don't people get?

Comments

MasonM

on Nov 24, 2005

It's awlays someone else's fault and responsibility, isn't it?

Spc Nobody Special

on Nov 24, 2005

And Happy Thanksgiving to you too.

Personal accountability. Live it. Love it. Yeah.

Locamama

on Nov 24, 2005

The saddest thing about the mom's attitude is that she isn't alone. There are so many who act the same way. Basically it's the school's problem not mine, you deal with it I don't have the time, energy or motivation to be a parent.

And when I went to the linked article it said she had been kicked out of school 30 times. I think that is definately a girl who needs to go to one of those boot camps to straighten her up. Don't they have some kind of alternative school for her?

Gene Nash

on Nov 24, 2005

“Because I work I don’t have time to be strict.”

What an incredible non-sequiter. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other. It's about passing your beliefs and morals on to your child. You can make it clear to the kid what is acceptable and what is not no matter how much you work.

Couldn't it occur to the dumb twitch that placing work above her child could be one of the reasons the child is acting out? No, of course it couldn't.

That sentence says, "My job is more important than my child. What I want is more important than this thing I shot out."

An Ofsted report in September found the school was badly run.

It has since been placed under special measures.

Gotta love the way the report ends by blaming the school.

I heard something earlier this week like that which blew me away. It's on my to blog list. (Maybe I'll move it up now.)

It's an astounding attitude.

These people clearly don't want to be parents. I wonder if they'd scream bloody murder if the governement took it to the natural extreme and actually took the child.

I remember reading decades ago in one of Plato's conversations where they decided the government should raise all the children and how vehemently I disagreed with them. That's exactly the attitude these people have: It's the government's job. Heh, maybe the government should start taking the parents. "You want to burden society with your responsibility? We'll be happy to raise the kids! But you have to work on this chain gang to pay for it."

MarcieMoo

on Nov 25, 2005

I think its interesting that people think that their life is just so absolutely horrible and that it's everyone else's fault--i.e. this mother.

I take Gideon, for example. His life hasn't been a cake walk. But he still takes the time to manage his family. He shows his kids what to DO instead of what NOT to do. He doesn't blame other people for his hardships or whine because he has to work. He makes the best out of what he has.

Lots of parents work. Does it detract from the parent-child relationship? In some cases, yes. But working is a necessity for single parents. I think alot of problems have to do with the "need" to live beyond our means.

Does this make sense? I hope so. lol:)

Dr Guy

on Nov 25, 2005

There are parents that work, that need to work to provide for their children. Yet they have time to be strict. As Mason said, that is pure and an unadulterated copout. The mothers that work have a harder time of it, but then the responsible ones still find the time to raise their children right.

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