With so much emphasis on social media and technology these days, it seems like people have resorted to some very, uhh, unconventional disciplinary actions for their kids. The latest bizarre stunt pulled by a parent? A dad posted an ad on Cragistlist looking for a broken PS3 game console, which he was planning to use to fool his kids into thinking he was the one who ruined it! What?!
The ad went viral after a user saw it and posted it on online forum Reddit. It reads:
I am in need of a broken PS3, even just the shell would work. My two sons are in need of a lesson, their mother and I are absolutely sick and tired of repeating ourselves to these boys and I want to make them believe that I broke their PS3 in hopes of them learning to clean up after themselves.
The dad, who remains unidentified, goes on to explain that he knows many will disagree with his methods, but instead of spanking them, as he says others would urge him to do, he wants to "smash their PS3 in front of them, then ground them for a month."
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Okay, am I the only person who finds this completely ridiculous? Why on Earth would this guy believe that the only two options of discipline are to fake-smash a toy or spank his kids? Um, I have one very obvious solution that is not either of those choices: just take away the damn Playstation until they start behaving!
Why resort to plotting this entire scheme instead of simply using a tried-and-true method that basically every parent has used since the beginning of time–which is, "Do XY, get Z." In this case, clean up after yourselves, get your PS3 back. It's not rocket science! The only thing this dad will be showing them if he does go through with his plan is that lying and destroying things in a fit of anger are acceptable actions and they're not. Period.
Amazingly enough though, some parents who caught wind of this dad's methods actually believe it's a good idea, which I don't understand at all. To me, it just seems like plain lazy parenting to resort to staged temper tantrums, instead of teaching your kids that there are real consequences to their behavior and that they get what they earn.
Images via Thinkstock, imgur
