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General discussion

Would you have done that to your daugther's laptop?

Feb 13, 2012 8:54AM PST

To give you some context to this poll, read this blog here:
Teen whines about parents on Facebook, dad shoots laptop

Would you have done what father Tommy Jordan did to his daughter's laptop?


-- Yes. (Shot the laptop? Or something else?)
-- No. (Why not? What would you had done differently?)
-- It depends. (Depends on what?)
-- I don't know; I'm not a parent yet. (Let's pretend you were, would you?)

Note: This post was edited by its original author to edit one of the selections on 02/14/2012 at 9:28 AM PT

Discussion is locked

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NO !
Feb 14, 2012 4:06AM PST

1- waste of good ammunition, 2- waste of reasonably good Electronics, 3- (now here's the part most people don't want to hear) a child is not born into this world with per set characteristics and attitudes, they learn them from the significant others in their lives, ie: parents, grandparents and lacking input from them then their peers and resource materials. Still it boils down to the simple fact that disrespectful, whining brats, learn it from their parents or the lack of the parents input. The school is not responsible , nor are the TV shows or their reading material...(Guess who controls those inputs, or is supposed to do so?)....You don't have to isolate or abuse your children to teach them respect and proper/accepted values....Hint: "Time out" ain't the route.....
Bob

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Kids have been whining forever!
Feb 14, 2012 4:06AM PST

First, I would NOT have destroyed the kid's laptop.

Second, I am 64 now, but I can remember being a teenager 1959 - 1966. And YES FOLKS, WE WHINED about our parents, our teachers, homework, no spending money, gettinhg "grounded," etc. etc. Pretty much the same as the kids today.

Thing is, we didn't whine "iout loud" over the Internet. That didn't exist yet. Instead we whined to our circle of friends and they whined back at us. Helped us let off steam, you see. And we grew out of it. Reminds me of the pundit who said to the effect that, when he turned 13 he was disgusted with his father for being so stupid, but by the time he graduated, he was amazed at how much the old man had learned in the previous 5 years or so.

That father has issues and needs counseling if he can't remember being a whiny brat when he was his daughter's age.

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Depends on how much back story there is.
Feb 14, 2012 4:08AM PST

In this case, the guy was obviously hurt, disappointed and humiliated by his daughter's disrespect of not only her parents but of someone works in their home. It sounds like she is doing the typical teenaged "gee how far can I push it" routine, and she chose a day when her father had worked on something especially for her. I do not think he was wrong in what he did, I feel a little sorry for him, but I also think he could have started teaching her some humility and manners at a younger age. He didn't shoot the stupid thing off her desk he took it out back away from people and put it down safely, while still venting his frustrations in a big way. For all you who think he went too far shooting a laptop on the ground away from the house, how many of you have actually seen kids whose parents have anger management issues?

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no, I wouldn't have shot the laptop.
Feb 14, 2012 4:08AM PST

Better punishment would have been for me to electronically wipe the laptop and sell it on Craig's list or ebay.
Why waste gun shells and money? Cool
Seriously - this was totally a publicity stunt anyway. (I hope..)

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shooting laptop??
Feb 14, 2012 4:11AM PST

I think the battery would have disappeared first. Secondly she would have been sent to her room to rant to the walls.

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Father
Feb 14, 2012 4:15AM PST

I stand by the Father shooting the laptop!! Kids now days(not all) don't listen to their parents or their elders anymore. He didn't hurt the daughter like hitting her or anything like that and he had tried other things. So yes I stand behind him!!!

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No There is more to this than the obvious
Feb 14, 2012 4:20AM PST

The youtube title is "Face book parenting for the troubled teen". I
suggest some of the teen's trouble is with her hormones, her parents,
and some of it might be self-posted youtube videos where whining,
blaming, back biting, gossiping, showing disrespect and airing family
business is OK. Like Daddy (and Mom?), like teen. Daddy will discover
this teen will find other outlets for expressing herself. Let's hope it
isn't risky behavior like run-away or using drugs.
I'd have given
the computer to a charity which the teen has chosen after researching,
with my parental oversite, at least 10 charities. In addition my teen
AND I would do volunteer work for that charity. And maybe we would
do work for a charity of MY choice as well. "My choice" not as punishment, but
so my teen could learn sometimes in life you are required to do what is necessary not just what I want.
I'd have some work to do too. I would also seek professional help so we
could learn to better communicate, work with each other and be with each other.
My teen would have to do many chores to first pay for the lap top and to buy a replacement computer.
I
got an allowance tied to doing chores around the house and for the
family like laundry, dinner, and helping take care of Grandma. It was
made
clear to me the more I worked the more I got paid. And some of my "pay"
was in food, clothes, a roof and a voice in family decisions and eventually part of my college education.
BTW Guns are NOT EVER part of the answer.

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Nope
Feb 14, 2012 12:29PM PST

Only liberal pacifists believe that guns are never an answer. Apparently you haven't watched the new in your lifetime? What do you think guns are for? If you don't like guns then don't own one. But the rest of us have the right to do so. GUNS ARE part of the answer. guess we should have Osama Bin Laden live so he can pay some crooked judge to let him off on a technicality? Get real! Or what about those people whose home was invaded by a thief who panicked and tried to kill the homeowner? Is the homeowner supposed to say to the thief: please wait while I call 911 and for the police to show up to arrest you. Good lord. Use common sense here. Just what do you think the thief is going to do? If you had a gun you could hold them there or protect yourself if they didn't retreat from you.

As long as you do not point one at an innocent person or shoot an innocent person or use it to destroy someone else's property without their permission, then guns can be used for whatever reason the owner wants to use them for. And it is nobody else's business either.

Today, you should NEVER give your kids money. If they need something then you buy it for them. You have some semblance of control over what it is used for. Otherwise most of them will use it for junk food or drugs or both.

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Shoot the laptop
Feb 14, 2012 4:20AM PST

Tempting as a violent response might be, it's a poor example of anger management as well as a waste of resources. I would have repeated previously given admonishments about personal responsibilities within the family unit in return for all the blessings she enjoyed as I took it away. I'd then give it to someone with a better attitude and fewer blessings.

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Screw that anger management psychobabble
Feb 14, 2012 12:35PM PST

You forcibly repress the anger by litigation then you cause MORE problems later.
Not a waste of resources. If you want to talk about waste of resources, then by your using this forum to post personal comments is wasting electricity and bandwidth. It is his to destroy if he wants. He owns it. Who has the right to judge the father for doing what he wants with his own property?? His violence is an excellent example of a final solution regarding that laptop. If he donated it then he just gives the problems to someone else's family to fight about. If he just took it away then the kid gets the wrong message that they will get it back. The message here is that SHE ISN'T GETTING IT BACK EVER. NONE of that psychobabble stuff should ever be used. There is no negotiating with teenagers unless they blackmail or extort you. Give in ONE single time and you are under their hook for as long as they want. Go back to how the bible says to raise kids - BEAT THEM. It worked for many thousands of years. It can work again.

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Shoot it ALL
Feb 14, 2012 4:27AM PST

My daughter is married to social media. She speaks text-talk if and when she does speak. She has no social skills whatsoever because her communication is through her smart phone and computer. This father did what he had to do. If I had a gun, I would do the same.

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LOL I AGREE!
Feb 14, 2012 12:37PM PST

Why not take the electronics away and dispose of them? If she is underage you can do this. YOU own them, not her. Then tell her that when she graduates from school, moves out, gets a job, and pays her own way then she can get another one. There is no excuse for chat speak. I would be calling the school and complaining about how they aren't teaching your kid the right way.

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I agree partually
Feb 15, 2012 4:33AM PST

The parent is not teaching the kid in the right way. teaching your children starts at home.

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Dad Shoots Laptop - Right or Wrong?
Feb 14, 2012 5:23AM PST

I can understand why the dad shot the laptop and, given his measured and eloquent response on YouTube, have no problem with his actions per se. I do not believe the teen is any danger from the dad nor will her fragile teenage personality be damaged. In fact, I suspect this will be a learning moment she'll remember and which will cause her to use more discretion in how she whines in the future. The only fault I can find with the dad's action is the waste of a perfectly good laptop and about $8 worth of ammunition. As a person on another website opined, it would have probably done as much good to have required the daughter to 'donate' her laptop to a community organization where it could have been put to good use by some other teen who might have appreciated having a tool which this girl used only to gripe and complain about chores that she should have been happy to do as part of a family.

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Only 1/2 the problem
Feb 14, 2012 12:46PM PST

Donating it would only **** the problems to a different family to deal with. If a needy family needs a laptop, then they DON'T need one. A laptop is a pure luxury, not a necessity in any sense. Destroying it like he did sent a very clear message not only to his daughter but to all her friends and any other unruly kids that see it - DAD IS IN CHARGE NOT YOU. GOT IT?

We need a lot more dads and parents doing this kind of messaging. I bet the daughter won't post private issues on the internet for quite some time. Also, if she does it at 18, she can go to jail for libel. Kids apparently don't know that fact either. I keep telling people - what if you had a high profile professional job and YOUR kid posted the 'goods' about you and your family life for the whole world to see. How then will your career be affected?

Best solution - don't let anyone under 21 have internet access or cell phones. Treat them like firearms laws. Problems dry up and go away...

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Anger management issues need resolving
Feb 14, 2012 5:28AM PST

I agree with Mark. Unfortunately, what her father has done is make things far worse for his daughter, emotionally - and made himself look like an even bigger fool. He's also being unrealistic in the time frame he says it should take her to do those 'chores'. Let HIM sweep the floor, properly, in a few minutes, ditto wiping down the counter and cleaning everything up. Yes, chores can be healthy, when they are reasonable, but one child should not be expected to do it all. Parents need to do their part too.
Shoot the laptop? ridiculous - I sure hope there's a backup PC/Mac if HIS goes out. I didn't even bother to go to the end of the video - his demeanor was deplorable. Yes, she vented. Maybe it wasn't the right place, but, obviously, talking to her father wasn't the way to go either.

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Why are you...
Feb 14, 2012 12:51PM PST

Why are you coddling the kid? She was wrong and dad was right. The parents are in charge, not anyone else. If the parents feel that the kid needs to do whatever chores the parents deem necessary the kid should do them. Ummm... Who pays for the roof over the kid's head? The food the kid eats? Any medical/dental? Gasoline to take them anywhere? It is a very good message to do what the father did. I think he was entirely justified in his decision and not a fool in any sense of the word.
Too bad too sad for her feelings and opinions. They mean NOTHING. Worth NOTHING. She is to obey her parents, period. And keep her mouth shut. And I thought this country was full of god fearing christians... Apparently not.

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Parents need to do their part too?
Feb 16, 2012 4:39AM PST
"Parents need to do their part too?" What do you think parents do from 9 to 5, 8 hours a day sometimes more? Go here and find out why parents have to do this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_raising_a_child By your comment I can only think that you as well are an immature teeny bopper. Comes a time when you all need to put on your Big boy or Big girl pants and join the real world. I'd love to read a comment on the same subject from teenagers when they are all grown up and have teenagers of their own.
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Computer shuter
Feb 14, 2012 5:38AM PST

If Dad is nutty enough to shoot his child's lap top his problems go so much deeper. I would worry about him more than her.

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Not nutty
Feb 14, 2012 12:55PM PST

He was left with no other alternative but to do what he did. Besides, it is HIS property, not hers. He can do whatever he wants with it. And it is no one else's business about it either.

The dad is not nutty. If he were he would have pointed the gun at the kid, which he didn't. He made a clear direct choice as to what to do when the kid posts inappropriate content on the internet. And behind the dad's back. Where do people get off that anything the kid has belongs to them?? It belongs to the PARENTS. They paid for it.

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need a program
Feb 14, 2012 2:09PM PST

A word to the wise Mister Z, Most times when one argues with a moron, by standers need a program to tell which is which.The pacifiers and time-outers are programed to shun responsbility for their own actions and find it easy to place blame anywhere except where it belongs. Sadly, they teach their off-spring to do likewise. It is the rest of the world's job to clean up the mess they breed.
Bob

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No I wouldn't have shot the Laptop but.....
Feb 14, 2012 5:42AM PST

I certainly wouldn't have shot the laptop although as frustrated as I might be I definitely would take it away since I was probably the one to fork out the money to buy it. Selling it would be the next option and using the money to buy something for my wife or myself. Come to think of it I'd like a new laptop myself. I feel for that Father. Spoiled brats, too bad we couldn't just put them back where they came from and chock it up to a bad experience. I'm looking forward to seeing how these same teenage brats handle it themselves when they eventually have their own little teenage rug rats. Laugh

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Get better not even
Feb 14, 2012 5:54AM PST

Lets analyze this:
1- If it were an apple laptop or iPad, I doubt he would had shoot it. But sense it was a Windows (probably an XP), it deserved to be put out of it's misery.
<div>2- Shock an AUGH. As Americans, we have the


proclivity


to do things big. One shot would had rendered the computer inoperable. 8 rounds constitutes pre-medicated ANGER.</div>3- The line had been drawn in the sand and clearly his daughter crossed it. Such actions between countries has as much and less caused major conflicts and historic consequences thus I do believe the father did have some restraints here.
4- I doubt if the daughter and also the other computer that had to witness the horrible demise of his fellow sibling will further escalate the situation. I bet that the surviving laptop will double spell check and think twice about blue screening. Being that this punishment was broadcasted on Youtube, all other computers will start to behave better, or they may start tweeting and blogging about this horrible act of revenge and rise up and demand a constitutional right not to be the blame for inappropriate input.

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Would you have done that to your daugther's laptop? - New!
Feb 14, 2012 6:04AM PST

I'm not a Dad, but that Dad should have just taken her laptop away, not shoot it. All kids whine, they get over it if you don't go spaz on them.

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He did...
Feb 14, 2012 12:59PM PST

He did what he thought was the best course of action. Taking it away will never solve the issue. Destroying at least sends the message that DAD IS IN CHARGE, NOT HER. She betrayed his trust. She deserves a LOT more punishment than he did. I would take ALL privileges away - everything. No TV, no internet, no phone, no music, no nothing. I would make her do as much housework as possible and contact her teachers to ensure she had enough homework to keep her busy when the chores are done.
Once she turned 18 she would be given a choice - either respect and obey her father or get the h3ll out and don't come back. No negotiating.

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I would not have shot the laptop
Feb 14, 2012 6:11AM PST

But then again, I don't have the wherewithal to willy-nilly destroy a piece of expensive equipment. Maybe he does. And since he no doubt paid for it, he has the right to do with it as he pleases. So I wouldn't do it, but can't say he was wrong to do so.

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I might if I had a gun
Feb 14, 2012 6:18AM PST

Sorry was at wit's end and felt like getting rid of the laptop was the only thing to do. It's not against the law to shoot a laptop that he bought for his daughter. He works IT he can replace it if he wants. I'd have sold it as I dont own a gun. How many of you have wanted to throw your laptop out the window, run it over with your car, etc.. pretty sure most of us. So what is the difference? Because it was his daughters? Or because it was extreme? Im sure the guy would not do harm to his daughter he was just fed up and sounds like mom was too and she agreed in on the shooting of the laptop.

Sounds like the daughter is ungrateful which as a child we all are I believe because we don't know any better until we grow up and have to do these things ourselves.

By the way the guy got a visit from CPS and the police yesterday. Obviously they are after guys who shoot laptops then guys who are out molesting kids or actually beating kids etc....

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Loving father with great big gun.
Feb 14, 2012 6:30AM PST

Maybe drop it in the drink or bathtub or toilet... that he has a 45 and shoots things when he's mad is the disturbing part. Russell Rabby, Vancouver Island, Canada

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Not necessarity true
Feb 14, 2012 1:02PM PST

Just because he shot ONE laptop doesn't mean he shoots things out of anger all the time. Presumptions like yours is why there are unreasonable gun control laws. The father owns the laptop - he can do anything he wants to it. She owns NOTHING until she moves out and buys her own stuff.

I wish I could see a video on her reactions and how/what the results were from the family.
Maybe she got it through her think skull that she is not to behave that way.

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Shooting laptop...
Feb 14, 2012 6:33AM PST

NO, absolutely no. Never teach a child that the way to win a confrontation is with a gun. Dumb *ss hillbilly redneck. And I was born & grew up in NC, so I can say that Wink What was HE drinking?