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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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June 25th, 2007 PARENTING IS A MENTAL DISORDER We live now in an age where no behavior is anyone's fault or responsibility. Parents are anathema to admitting that in 99% of the cases, they, the parents, are solely responsible for the wrong turns their children make in life. God forbid a parent be forced to acknowledge that their lack of leadership skills was the reason their child went down the wrong path, for that would force the parent to acknowledge the truth of their own shortcomings; which is something we no longer do in America circa 2007. This is a country where we hand out 9th place ribbons and tell the 10th contestant that he isn't a loser, he's a tryer, and that's all that matters. Children, nay, people, I have always said, are just like dogs; they need, crave and demand discipline. People enjoy structure and in the absence of real leadership and a clear vision and understanding of what should drive them, people will turn to any escape they can find in order to live in a fantasy world where they believe they actually matter. Alcohol makes us more courageous, driving like an asshole puts us in "control" over something for a brief amount of time, abusing store clerks allows us to treat someone else the way we always feel we are being treated by the rest of the world, and marijuana sends us to that nirvana we wish we could create on our own, but have never figured out how. These are the destructive ways wayward souls use society to escape their miserable lives; lives caused by their inability to control their own existence, and to be passionate about things that matter. In today's younger generations, they are turning more and more to video games, which by the way, I had when I was growing up too. I existed in the age of Atari, Nintendo, Coleco and the like and my friends and I spent hours upon hours of our youths playing these games that we sometimes couldn't get out of our heads. I recall often falling asleep to the visions of how I was going to get past that damn scorpion on "Pitfall," or what I might try when my buddy and I played Atari 5200 baseball. Using today's asinine standards, it was, you might say, "addictive." But a strange thing happened to seemingly all of my friends and me along the way; we were parented. There was structure, there were rules, tasks and chores and dissimilar activities to video games that HAD to be completed before the reward of a limited amount of video game time was allowed. Similar, you might say, to the hard work required at a career, for the reward of those weeklong vacations to Hawaii. My friends and I were not allowed to sit around all day, any day and play video games. After a few hours one of the kids' dads would kick us out of the house and demand that we play baseball. Some of us were taken on family day trips to zoos and the group was forced to reschedule our video gaming for another day; all without excessive whining or crying; all with the basic understanding that our parents were in charge, all with the respect that the parents were due. Of course we didn't like it, but we obeyed it because deep down inside of us, we knew we needed it and we knew it meant they gave a shit. This week, however, a powerful group of doctors will recommend classifying "video gaming" as an addiction akin to heroin. The article revealing this was plastered across the country this week and can be read in full HERE, although if you've gone this far in my column, I warn you; the article will infuriate you. The article writes that; The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars. Children do not simply wake up one day and become "addicted" to video games. They are escaping their miserable lives, where they have been bombarded by a lack of discipline and structure their entire lives. They are not challenged by their parents, they are told that they are trying and that's good enough, but they, the children know that isn't true. Kids are smart and see the competitive nature of our world and whether it's in sports, work, family or art they know they want to be the best at something. When their parents tell them that it's ok to fail and don't point their children in the direction of success, kids seek it elsewhere. Video games provide that escape; kids who don't get the love and support they crave from home escape into a world where they, the child, is solely allowed to use his skills to "win" something. Since they've never been shown how to use whatever real life skills they have, they are enamored with the opportunity to actually achieve something of their own volition. These kids aren't addicted to video games; they're replacing a hole in their soul. Since American parents are incapable of controlling and leading their children, however, we have decided to label video games as "addictive." In essence, this will allow American parents to seek "help" for their kids that they, the parents, simply can't give them. In other words, because our parenting system is so broken in this nation, we are going to take a child who has grown up with no discipline or respect or drive to succeed, who has finally found the one thing in life that motivates him, provides him a win/lose structure he can relate to and enjoy, and most importantly, allows him to actually (in his mind) achieve something that he solely creates and is responsible for, and we're going to take it away from him and tell him it's bad. Wonderful, at least the parents will feel good about themselves. I have never agreed with any of you dolts that proclaim that parenting is the hardest job in the world. It is, however the most important. Parenting is a blessing and a responsibility, but not to yourself, to your child. The repugnant attitude of this nation that continues to allow children's feelings to dictate our lack of willingness to provide leadership, direction and structure is more than sickening, it's irresponsible.
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