Bruce Schneier has posted about some felonious teenagers on his blog. The kids repeatedly bypassed their school-provided laptops security. Now they are being charged as felons. Bruce thinks that the punishment is too harsh. I agree. There is nothing good being served by ruining these kids’ lives just because they are arrogant teenagers (I’m assuming, having been one myself). But they do need to be punished.
What really concerns me is the apparent lack of responsibility of the parents. If parents do not accept responsibility for what their kids do, then all they are doing is teaching the kids that it is OK to shirk their responsibilities now and in the future. That is not good. We will be lawless in a few generations if this trend continues.
Jeff | 22-Aug-05 at 5:27 pm | Permalink
Psychology 101 tells us there are two types of behavior reinforcement, positive and negative. Neither is effective without the other. When negative reinforcement is labelled as child abuse, no parent should be held responsible for undisciplined children.
jess | 22-Aug-05 at 5:56 pm | Permalink
I have nothing of value to add except as a parent to say ‘great post, I totally agree’.