Hmm. Good point... and I'm quite sure there are myriads of people out there chomping at the bit to elevate her to Mom Sainthood. I'm personally not so quick to do that, especially when I'm not privvy to the entire story.

If my teen was caught driving while intoxicated in a car that I had purchased for him , I would certainly and swiftly remove that priviledge, no doubt about it. As far as making a spectacle of my son and the situation, that is something that I would not do. My teenager is a lot like I was at his age, and I'd wager that taking that route would inspire further rebellion, bitterness and resentment... not particuarly the desired results.

In my household, consequences are much more effective than humiliation. We all messed up as teens, but this particular guy has his mother to thank for the whole world knowing about this particular screw up (even though she states that she believes that it was not even his alcohol). Was it deserved? Maybe, I can't say as I don't have all of the facts. But it's just not my personal parenting style.

Funny article, though.

Poetaster just remainded us how careful we need to be with judgements. I don't wanna justify a drunk driving teenager. However, we can't make judgements based on an article in a newspaper. Truth can be distorted on its way from one person to another. I'm sure that most of us experienced it in their lives.

I agree that we don't know the whole story, but I'm not giving the kid the benefit of doubt on this one.

The kid is 19, obviously not of legal drinking age, which also makes possession of alcohol illegal. So even if he was offering someone a ride home, he shouldn't have allowed alcohol in the car (if one of my co-workers was doped up and asked for a ride home there's no way in hell I'd allow that shit in my car). The bottom line is the kid fucked up and his mom called him on it.

HERE is an example of a responsible parent!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002382718_horse15m.html



anyway...youll have to forgive me, but personally, i think maybe mom was depriving the kid of learning his own lesson. At that age, its time to let them fly or fumble out of the nest onto the cold, hard earth.

Called him on it? By selling his car, putting a humiliating ad in the newspaper, responding to dozens of "Good for you!" calls by random idiots, even though she herself said she believes her son was not responsible for the alcohol?

And yes, as Poetaster also pointed out (I read the article at work today in the paper again) she has decided to leave the ad up in the paper, even though the car has sold...what?

Punishing your child for a mistake they have made is one thing, and granted, I do not see a problem with that. Selling his CAR on him for it, though it may be extreme, sure I can even see that...depending on the situation. But making a public spectacle, patting yourself on the back for it, and then after said punishment is given, CONTINUING the humiliation for the sole purpose of response, is something completely different.

What kind of lesson is she teaching her son then, aside from "your mother is a gigantic bitch, and media whore." ? Clearly this is a situation that started out as a unique punishment, and spiraled into a desperate grasp for fifteen minutes of fame. As Bruja pointed out, all she will earn by continuing this nonsense is hostility from her son, and, IMO, an inflated sense of self satisfaction that will probably lead her to be more of a bitch in the future.

As for the punishment itself, I don't even really care enough about the details of that to disput it...whatever. But the fact that all the support she has garnered from drooling idiots who can't read between the lines and realize that most of this is self-aggrandizing drivel, and NOT for the benefit of her son, is a crying shame.

A somewhat unique (barely...this has been done before, in ways that at least made more sense.) punishment overblown into a barrage of media coverage...this was in my local city newspaper today, for fucks sake.

Hell if my parents bought me a car I sure as hell would listen to the rules they set. Most kids my age are so reckless with their cars. I'm thinking, you are so lucky that your parents were generous enough to by you a car! I do not get how some people think? Drunk drive and lose a car, or not drive drunk and keep the car. I think its obvious which one would be the better deal.

I've had so many of my friends get into wrecks, and their parents just go out and get them a new car! If my kid got into a wreck and it was their fault (ex: drugs, alcohol, not paying attention) there would be severe consequences! To many parents just let their kids do whatever they want; run around oblivious to anything they are actually doing.

I respect people who have it together and actually do something when their kids mess up. Its the only way you can truly learn. You mess up get punished and hopefully have the sense not to do it again.

at that age...does anything your parents do really mean any thing? I am just going on personal experiences here, but I literally barely gave a fuck about anything at that age.

I see your point here. I went through a rebellious stage and could care less about what my parents did. Although my situation was a little different. I still respect my mother for caring enough to actually do something about it.

I do agree that this is a situation were a good thing went off the deep end. I applaud the mother for punishing her son, but not to the point were she is using her sons mistake to get recognition. You should be a good parent regardless of the recognition you get.

I just think it isnt the way id handle it.

Id drink the kids beer, and blister his derriere...in private.

My therory has always been: do WHATEVER the fuck you want, but be prepared to get away with it, because as we all know, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

We did go through this before, but I am relentless in my quest to turn you to my way of thinking, Poetaster. Maybe I should get a hobby.

The only thing that this is going to teach the child is hatred for his mother and how to not get caught next time. That's all I learned when something like that happened to me.

Meanest Mom on the planet?

Heh.

I disagree.

We all know the evil that exist on this planet. We all know of the abusers of children. We all know of those who victimize and kill their young.

I cannot understand this behavior.

I think this kid got off easy, however, this is only based on the evidence given to Me.

The child may have a completely different story of that of his Mother.

I could tell you stories of My own Mother that you would simply not believe because.......you simply would not believe that things like (My own experiences) could happen.



We are assuming, that the parent was in fact, responsible. I would like to see both sides of the story before making a final judgment.

Responisbility we should learn on our own.

We do in fact, learn responsibility on our own (many times this lesson is hard).

Parents can in fact, teach responsibility by example to their young ones).

I learned lessons that I never had to go through due to My fathers example.

Leading by example is key here.

Some take heed and learn from their parents, some, sadly do not and have to learn by their own mistakes.

I have avoided many hurts by listening to My father.

Again, leading by EXAMPLE is key.

I do agree that kids need to be parented as an individual. What works for one kid, won't necessarily work for another--even with siblings. Each situation is dependent upon the circumstances that preceded it and what followed. I never thought this was a blanket solution to parenting teenagers--but rather an interesting anecdote.

It is interesting that the people here have such split reactions to it, though. It seems about half the people think it is good and half the people don't think it is a good idea. Again, I think it is based on what lens are you viewing life through.



I agree. When I put my own son's face in the scenario, I can't see myself treating him that way. But again, some kids you can parent with a carrot and some you have to parent with a stick. Like you said, it depends on the style of the parent and also the personality of the child.