Sometimes it truly baffles me that some adults have no clue how to bring their child up. C'mon... I don't even have kids, and I know more than some of these so-called parents... That's sad... It seems as if they have no notion of "being in their shoes". Many times I witness parents beating their child up without letting the child know why the hell he/she is being beat up. Doesn't common sense tell you that you should let the child know? (I'm not talking about infants, I'm talking about kids who understand words) Then there are times when kids get into trouble and the parents scold them without even giving the child the benefit of the doubt. Ok, the child is in trouble. That already happened. "-ed", means past tense dear wise one. How about listening to the kid to find out what had happened, then solve the problem, then talk to the kid how this can be prevented from now on. I mean... Are you venting for your own relief or are you there to guide the child out of the trouble??? Get your priorities straight! To add insult to the injury, what if the child is already a young adult for god's sake... If you don't treat the child with respect and logical reasoning, you're only making matters worse for the future. Why don't they realize this?

I have been blessed with awesome parents whom I am personally very close to. Until I became a junior high student, I was, too, beaten. However, my mom always made a point to make sure that I knew exactly what I had done wrong and she even asked me how I should be punished. I would then tell her that I had done X and Y, so I should be hit on my butt 10 times with a stick as a reminder that I shouldn't do this the next time. Now, as soon as I entered junior high my parents told me that from here on everyone in the family will resort to discussions only without any physical treatment. You know that takes a lot of courage on the part of an Asian parent to say something like that. However, the kid will eventually realize that it actually means more responsibility has been put on his/her shoulders. It's called trust and with trust comes responsibility. Of course it's again up to the parent to make sure that the kid realizes that and that he/she doesn't abuse the newly given status of a trusted child (Kids should realize how much of a risk parents are taking when they do this, so you had better not take advtange of this in the wrong way).

Since then I was able to sit down and talk about various issues with them, and both parties were enlightened as to how each thought of the issues at hand. (i.e. why kids my age think a certain way and why adults view them in certain ways). At the end of the discussion we would all come out with a much better understanding of both parties involved and given that I was still yet to be an independent young adult, I had to make compromises to stay within reasonable boundaries. Now if my parents were to have just beat the shit out of me cuz I was spending more time playing the guitar than reading English textbooks, do you think I would have made the compromise of making sure that I covered my grounds to a certain extent before investing the rest of the time in guitar playing? No way... I would have probably just said "fuck it", and rebelled against school work just playing the guitar all day long (and perhaps a great guitarist would have been born. ^^;; ), or I would have just become a child scared as shit of his parents who can never share anything with them in the fear of being punished again. I mean, is it really all that difficult to talk with your kids???? Do these people act the same way when they're out in the world socializing with others? If their friends don't listen to them , or act in contrary to their beliefs, do they just yell at them at the top of their lungs or beat the shit out of them, too??? Am I waaaay out of line??? Am I living in some fantasy world when I think all conflicts can be resolved without any violence or yelling???

It takes a lot less physical and emotional strength ( none of which is a requirement when you're talking with a well-brought up young adult ) and instead it takes more patience, understanding and logic ( all of which is a requirement for mature parents ). The only conclusion I can make is that those adults don't deserve to have kids... I'm sorry... I'm flat out being honest here. Then they blame their kids for doing stuff wrong all the time??? What the F!@#??? If there's something your kid has done wrong, then it's that he/she has chosen the wrong parents. *DOH* I forgot.. they didn't even have a choice.... *SIGH*

Now if you're a child in this situation, you need to rise up, confront them and reason with them. The chances are that they're ignorant and unwilling which will result in more beating, or they'll be surprised at this new found knowledge that they have learned... The former reaction is certinaly a possible outcoming since these so-called parents don't know any better... Please, dear clueless parents... Wake up and treat your kid with respect already! Treating your kid with respect is different from spoling your child... *SIGH*... Look, nobody said parenting was easy. Actually, it's HARD!!! So if you're not up for it, don't have kids, dammit...