Dude, something similar happened to me when I got my G1 Megatron. My wife bought me an original Megatron (cuz she's awesome), and I got him out to look at him for the first time while we were at her mom's house. And her mom freaks out because I'm holding a gun, and asks if it's loaded. She was serious and had a scared look on her face. I told her; "It turns into a robot" which is when she said "Oh," and kind of relaxed. I then proceeded to show her that it transformed so that she'd believe me that it was just a toy.
I feel like I have to throw in my two cents. Disclaimer 1: I have no children. Disclaimer 2: I never intend to have children. I think I'd be an awful parent and I don't want to pass my terrible genetic curses onwards. Call it Darwinian self-deselection. That stuff out of the way, parents that over-censor and over-protect are making a mistake, IMO. Raising a child is about preparing them for adulthood. That's why we have compulsory education. That's why children's books and programming put an emphasis on skills that they'll need once their parents aren't there anymore. And that's why children's toys and fiction so often have threats and evil and bad guys. People who idolize villains do so because they wish they could be like them - the freedom that comes with defying society's rules and mores. And if we were ever actually presented with a real-life Joker, Green Goblin, or Galvatron, we probably wouldn't find them so appealing anymore. And yet, we know as adults that evil must exist, because that's how the universe works. Yin and Yang. Autobots and Decepticons. Spider-Man and Venom. We know that the world isn't as pretty and happy as Teletubbies. And children have to become prepared for the bad guys. Sometimes that means letting them get inside the bad guy's heads to see what makes them tick. Sometimes that means looking evil in the face (watching footage of Nazi concentration camps, for example) and coming out of it changed - more prepared to face evil...to be able to look out into the darkness and defy it.
All of us were children and most of us were raised by responsible parents. Many of us were raised with siblings. You can't say "only people with children know what it's like". That's inherently false. I reject the notion that I shouldn't criticize lazy parenting on the basis that I have no children. That's like saying I shouldn't criticize bad drivers if I didn't own a car. It becomes pretty obvious at some point.
You may know what it is like to take care of children or be around children, but it is not the same. I'm sure a lot of parents would agree with me that the day that you become a parent is 100% different from the day before. My entire daily routine is planned around my kids and their well being. Sibling are, for the most part, are not responsible for the raising of there other siblings and as such do not carry the same responsibility that parents who are directly involved in the up bringing. And we are not talking about an abusive, drug addict of a parent here. She made a choice and it is not for use to say that she is wrong. Seriously, what gives you the right to comment and judge on other peoples business when you do not know what it is like to be them? You may have your opinions as to what is right, but until you have so real life experience, you opinion means nothing to the people who have lived it.
It's called common sense. You can't judge a murderer until you've strangled the life out of someone. Right.
I saw the movie "Uncle Buck" and he seemed to have a hard time with his niece and nephew. I feel fully qualified to discuss any parenting issue now.
What if we were? Would the same standard apply? Would I still have to keep my mouth shut because I couldn't "understand"? Sorry, but it's a God given right to speak out against absurdities. It's not a right on this message board per se, but it's still a general right.
I must have piss-ass parents. They bought me Megatron when I was six. Parents have a right to protect their kids and make the rules. However, I see a full-scale wussification of them these days that makes me cringe. Personally, I see no harm in toy guns.
I hope that there is a touch of sarcasm to that statement There is a difference between what we know is wrong and detrimental to any human being and someone’s personal choice to not let their children have a certain toy. Making the kids buy a My Little Pony would be absurd. Wanting the kid to idolize and 'play' with a good guy is normal. You talk like there is a set of rules to raising kids. Like if it were as easy as following a recipe to raise a normal, socially accepted person. And it is not the same as your example of a non-driver who can criticize a driver of there poor driving skills. The difference is that there are a set of laws and rules that apply to driving. Most of these rules are not up for interpretation and they must be followed to ensure you keep on driving. It is easy to spot the mistakes in driving, but when raising a child you do not take a test and there are no set rules to become a successful parent. You just do the best that you can, and hope the kid will grow up and be normal. Do you really think that the parents of violent kids intended this to happen, do you really think that they did something wrong, or not followed the rules. If that were the case we should be able to identity all of the things that they did wrong, so we can ensure that it never happened again. Oh wait....we can't. There are a lot of kids who play violent video games, there are a lot of kids who listen to death medal, there are a lot of kids who get picked on and feel that they never belonged. So you tell me what they did wrong as parents... As a parent there is no right or wrong answer on most things. Yes there are some socially accepted practices and laws in place to ensure the child is not harmed or in trouble, but there are a lot of differences in the interpretation of other aspects of parenting and as long as the kids grow up safe and sound then I am fine with it.
That is exactly the problem. Many parents aren't willing to be accountable anymore. Telling yourself there is no right or wrong answer is a convenient way of absolving yourself of any consequences. Believe it or not, a child's behavior can be traced back to the decisions of parents.
What time should kids go to bed? How often should you change a dipper? When should you stop breast feeding? Should a boy be circumcised? How much TV should kids watch? How much homework should be done? How much playtime? What shows can they watch? What games should they play? What should you feed then? How much fast food/sweets? What sports or activities should they be involved in? When should they date? Who should they date? How much is too much chores? What should I give them for allowance? Should I buy that toy for them? How often should they bath? When should I tell them about sex? What friends should they have? When should I back off and let them figure things out for themselves? I have asked myself all of these questions at least once and to me there is no right answer. Every situation is different and depends on the beliefs and values of the parents and the personalities of the kids (things that you as an outsider would have no idea about) As for being accountable, going back to the original post- This lady made a choice that in her mind (may or may not) cause her kid to be the difference between a serial killer or law abiding citizen. She tried to be accountable and got flamed for it.
Not too mention that people decided to go with the knee jerk reaction of "she's trying to shelter the kid" But not even consider the logical possibility like I said previsouly in this thread "Maybe the reason she said no to Megatron is because the kid's birthday's coming up and the dad or another family member bought Megatron as a gift"
I echo the sentiment that the day your child is born is completely different than the day before. You no longer have a single decision that does not in some way involve your child for consideration. I never realized this until my son was born. My son broke his arm last month and I thought my stomach was going to explode. I carried him out to the car and took him to the hospital. I had to be strong and not let it show, but it was killing me that he was in so much pain. Also, it surprises me the range of complaints that have been leveraged against this mother in the toy aisle. Some have called her lazy. Some have called her over protective. Those are two schools of thought that are pretty far apart. She appeared to know what Transformers were, or wanted to know enough about them so she could help her kids decision. She wasn't like "No, those are violent toys". She just suggested that he get a good guy and then he picked one he wanted based on her criteria. Personally, I think that was a little overprotective, but I also see aspects of it that I consider good parenting.
Touché… However, there is one flaw in your theory. If the mother wanted to buy her son a toy, (and she was there to actually purchase one since she asked her kid which figure he wanted) and refused later on after knowing it was a "bad" character, what would've happened if the kid wanted Optimus Prime instead? Would she say he can't get it because he's a good guy? I got the woman's number (she slipped it to me while she winked at me when her son wasn't looking), so I guess I should call her to ask her. -j/k
