The angry facebook dad

With over 25 millions views, I'll just assume most here have seen this video already circulating around the internet.

But I was just curious as to what everyone's thoughts are on this? If you read the comments and have seen other videos talking about it, it seems like there is a divide as to whether what the dad did was right.

Some say he was simply practicing tough love, but others say he was simply over-reacting to normal teenage behaviour and shouldn't have embarrassed her by posting this on youtube.

Do you feel that kids are too spoiled these days and this is just a firm example to children to act more mature, or do you feel the dad was completely out of line?

Personally I feel the shooting her laptop and posting a video on youtube was extremely excessive and uncalled for, but I do feel alot of kids these days whine about having to do even the simplest choirs and are far less disciplined (as a whole). Complaining about having to make your own bed and clean dishes? That's about as small a problem as first world problems come. That's a spoiled teen.

I abso-[censored]-lutely love what this dad did what most parents are too afraid to do, to speak out against his child's actions and giving it the reality check it needs. Society has turned most parents into doormats and Facebook is allowing kids to turn into gossips that moan about everything that calls for responsibility.

Bitching about having to do chores around your parents' house is not "normal teenage behavior". It's their house, you live in it rent-free, while they work their asses off to pay for everything - you better chip in without having to be asked for it.

If you found his actions to be too excessive and the fact he made it public like that, then you don't look at the bigger picture. We need drastic actions like that to shake things up in our society and get people talking. Had he not released the video on the internet it may have ended up as a minor news story that would've died in a matter of two weeks.

Now, he got the whole world talking and opened up a whole new dialog for parents and their children to reassess their relationship.

I'm curious about how the dad had time to go to college while in high school, have two jobs and do volunteer work, all at the same time. Because my high school studies take 9 hours every day, minus the total of 50 minutes or so of bus travel.

@Andy: While I don't disagree at all that this dad had the right to be upset with his daughter and a certainly don't disagree that he had a right to reprimand her, there are a few things I'd disagree with.

Firstly unfortunately, that is normal teen behaviour these days. Teens complaining about the "super hard" work their parents force them to do is not new. I agree that teens who complain about having to do work, don't understand how privileged they are simply to have a roof over their heads and food to eat, but a lot of kids seem to do it anyway.


Does there need to be a massive change in the attitudes and values of today's youth? Definitely,but is this video the thing to trigger it? Most likely no.

While this video has generated a moderate amount of buzz on the internet, when you consider the amount of coverage this story has gotten, by the amount of views it has gotten, and by looking at the people who've watched the video, in the end I don't feel this video is going to make much impact on society as a whole.

Firstly, this video, in terms of viral internet videos has been ridiculously successful and it's generate a very respectable amount of buzz, but in terms of global society, this video is just a blip on the radar. Outside of the internet I haven't seen this on the news or any shows. I'm sure a few talk shows must have atleast brought up the video, but in terms of global media, this isn't a major story.


Secondly, from what I've seen while it's brought the conversation up again, most people already seemed to have either a firm stance for or against what this father did. There didn't seem to be many on-the-fence people. Looking through the commons on that video, majority seem to ironically be teens going "lol boss dad" or "win". Others say why think what he did was wrong, others say what they think he did was right and the rest seem to argue against each other between whether he was wrong or right. It doesn't seem lie too many minds are being changed.

Sure some parents might have gone away from that video with a re-affirmed attitude to be more hard nosed with their parenting, but for the most part I'd be willing to bet majority don't carry the conversation over to their lives.

the problem is, that this really isn't a story. Teens these days being selfish and ungrateful is not news. It comes up in the media every so often and each time people seem to just go "yep teens these days are bad and there needs to be something done about it" and then the topic swiftly disappears again. To give you an example. About 5ish months ago, down here is australia, the topic of today's youth being out of control came up in regards to the treatment of teachers. More and more teachers raised complaint that there aren't being paid enough to deal with the massive amount of abuse they get from student, which I whole-heartly agree with, having seen it in my time at highschool. But sadly, like every other time, give it a few weeks, the story dissappeared.

If the outcries of hundreds of teachers wasn't enough to spur action in australia to take on a more disciplined approach to dealing with teens, then a youtube video of an angry dad isn't likely to do much on a global scale in m view.

Social attitudes and values don't tend to change any way other than passively over time, unless something truly major happens on a global scale to seriously shake things up.


As for the dad's discipline in this case, the reason I feel it goes too far is that I doubt this while have the effect that he wants, simply because this doesn't really get the message across.

The first 8 minutes of the video, where he is talking about everything wrong hat she said and how unappreciative she is, is a discussion he should have been having with her face-to-face. Make her own up for her stupidity right then and there, not make a video and wait for someone who has seen the video to go, "lolol damn you dad must have been SPORE to have done what he did?".

Secondly, shooting her laptop. I thought the point of his video was to apreciate the value of what she owns. Destroying a valuable piece of hardware (afer installing a futher $100+ dollar of software on it) i feel is an exremely in-effective way of showing that. What he should have done, is taken the laptop from her and told her that she could have it back, once she had gotten a job and earned enough to afford to buy that laptop. That way, she'll end up learning a lesson in the value of things, but not be slightly self-defeating by destroying the thing he he was tying to show had value in the first place (if that makes sense ).


I certainly believe a parent should be firm and when a child or teen acts out for no good reason, they should be shown why they are wrong. But in this case, all I feel the dad will have accomplished with her child is cause resentment and embarrassment for the girl and while she may very well get a job now, she won't be doing it because she understand the value of what she has, she'll be doing it because from her perspective her "angry dad is forcing her".


Edit: and sweet baby monkey jesus I didn't mean for that to drag on as long as that did. Sorry, I've been having to write alot of long essays lately in prep for my GAMSAT in march, so I guess I'm just used to having to write longer discussions

Remi, I usually agree with you in every way but on this subject I don't agree with you at all.

For one, you are in Australia, which is by terms of social development several decades behind Europe and even if a group of people complain about their working conditions, the local government isn't mature enough to deal with it.

Besides, we hardly get any news from down under, so if they wanted this news story to be heard world-wide, they should've contacted several European news outlets.

In the video, the father mentioned he had taught her a lesson before, grounding her on behalf of a previous disrespectful act, but that didn't seem to get into her head, and when he found the "letter" on her FB page, he got furious.

You cannot step back and admit that teenagers acting like that is normal, a lot of my friends and family say that, which results to nothing and makes things only worse because no one dares to step in.

I effing hate that attitude and it always leaves me on a weak spot during a discussion when I speak out against this kind of behavior on my own. Even my step dad who's an attorney will say that because it doesn't affect him (his children are more than respectful to others and their parents).

I will say something because I feel like a schmuck when I hear that kids today can act like that but I couldn't when growing up, not because I had very strict parents but because I come from an environment where you did respect your parents and you did what you were told. And frankly, it's an insult to my intelligence when society throws all rules out of the window just ti accommodate a bunch of brats and their privileges.

I find the father's action to shoot the laptop justified because it's just a "thing" - the computer is replaceable, his fatherhood is not. He's put a lot of money and work into it only to be slapped in the face by being called a slave driver by his own daughter behind his back.

Times may change but tough love and discipline need to prevail or society will turn everyone into wimps.

Well, I for one found him plain backward-thinking and reactionary. That's the right way to fix anything, right? Shoot at it. As for society turning people to wimps...that's been underway for the last decade, it's why in the states they call us the trophy generation. I don't see much reason to be alarmed by it, since like everything else human it cycles between two extremes; the 50s-80s were extreme parent-kid formality/severity, the 2000s the opposite thing. I guarantee it, we'll probably overcompensate by treating our (hopefully, their, I don't want any kids) offspring like back in the days. And they'll grow a new trophy gen, etc.

I realize I speak as a teenager myself, but I like to consider myself pretty mature/evolved for my age, however much unhappiness that gives me. I agree the bullets were the right thing to do, if he wanted a shocker- and that's about all it is. You all (or at least Andy) might have grown in an age of responsible conservative parenting, but to tell you the truth I have nought but distaste for my parents. It's not a regional thing, either- one of them's European, the other Mexican. They're also both formal, cold and as detached from me as they can be. Some people tell me it's due to social class, but I think it's simple hypocrisy for an adult to claim that only children act like children. Whether we/you want it or not, the era has changed. What you were entitled to before is not what we are entitled to today. You can't threaten a kid with a good whipping, you might as well get sued. This tendency to cling to the past and its customs is simply another effect, sadly, of aging, the way oldies are always claiming that 'kids back in the day were so much better'. People always remember the past with fondness even if when it was the present they hated it- and that's no reason to get lost in a fantasy. The times are the times, and them times are 'a changing.

The letter, though, I'll admit was a bit overdone. I've pretty much taken care of dishes and bed-making since I was a kid, and we have 3 'cleaning ladies'. I mean the actual paid ones, too.

@Andy. That's okay. That's why I threw it up for discussion. I knew the issue was divided and if I'd expected or even wanted complete agreement, without contest, I wouldn't have brought it up I recognise that I may infact be wrong, which is the other reason I brought it up.


hmm, well it may just be a difference of cultures then. Here in australia, kids are.....well to put it lightly, horrible. Not speaking on the individual level, but I remember my time in highschool that kids were disrepectful to teachers and I'd image to their parents. But when I say it is "normal" I don't mean that it's a good thing that should be accepted. Not at all. When I say it's normal, all I mean is that its unfortunately how it seems teens become. It's just normal as in it's the attitude alot of teens have adopted is all, don't mean that its a good thing or something that doesn't need to be changed. This might be a strange example, but racism in america was once considered acceptable and thus normal, but that didn't mean it was a good thing, and didn't need to change.

And I entirely agree that when it comes down to it, the laptop is just a thing, and has no value, but my point is, to her, it probably is something of great value, in that she'd use it for her online socializing like facebook and whatnot, so why not use the laptop as a way of showing her to be appreciative of what she has. I just feel by destroying it, she won't really learn much of a lesson.

Again, I completely agree that the father is in his right to deliver some kind of punishment for her being a complete imbecile (she was a moron for pulling similar crap, being warned and then still pulling the same crap again), but I feel with punishment should also be a good lesson to make them understand why they were wrong. I believe a parent should be firm and discipline, but I just don't think this father's actions will really have the desired effect here.


Really I don't disagree with you that parents need to be much firmer with their kids or else the current slide of poor behaviour will continue on, but in this specific case I just feel the dad could have handled it a bit better.

But I can't say for sure. Haven't had any bambinos of my own (hell I'm still a bambino looking at the long run.)

The one thing I will play devil advocate against myself though is, It wasn't entirely clear in the video, but like you said, he said he warned her last time there would be punishment for doing it again. IF he had warned her he would do something like this in particular, then I more feel that he was justified. If she knew the consequences for doing it again, but still did it, then atleast that would be a good lesson in not being a moron and trying to rebel knowing full well what could happen.

@Mush: My family wasn't particularly lucky-go-happy. My parents split when I was 11. Luckily, my mom was it that kept us kids as level-headed as possible not choosing sides or anything of that matter. However, I do still remember some of the manners my dad would teach us like how to sit at the table, standing up when a lady leaves the table, etc. And of course during my time there was a revival of Knigge's On Human Relations, a famous German book about manners and behavior.

Just because your parents weren't or aren't the most loving people in you life doesn't mean you have the right to disrespect them; unless they give you absolute reason to (abuse, etc.). In fact, in the olden days parents were the absolute authority in a family and you always addresed them politely and asked them permission to do this or that. In some families it may help giving love as a child in the hopes the parents re-connect with them on that level.

Sure, times have changed and most parents are more loose on that matter, but that doesn't mean you can disobey them at your own will.

@Remi: Discussions like these are good and needed and I'm glad you are participating rather than going 'whatever...' (But then again, you are a smart, young man with an open eye and ear and the chance of doing it "right".)

I admit, the shooting was a bit of a shocker, but as Mushy said, he did it to prove a point that should get into the daughter's head. Once the laptop is kaput, she needs to set new priorities and I hope she soon will appreciate luxuries such as a laptop given by her father (if he chose so again) even more. Just confiscating it doesn't really have that same effect. When a teacher takes away a mobile phone during class, as soon as they give it back the calling/texting will happen again, unless...

...unless they shoot it to pieces. Rite?

Spend money on laptop for daughter. Daughter is being immature and complains about doing chores. Obvious solution? Shoot it. Y'know, rather than sell it or give it away or something, just shoot something that you spent your money on.

Anyone with a right bloody mind can realise what a stupid decision the dad made.

BTW, I am not necessarily siding with the daughter, and definitely not the dad. She's quite dumb to say 'derp, my parents let me live for free and they want me to wash the dishes what a bunch of SPORE', but the dad seriously overreacted. I mean... what the hell does this solve?

Daughter: 'I hate my parents'
Dad shoots daughter's laptop
Daughter: 'I LOVE MY PARENTS LOL, THEY ARE THE BEST 3V3R!!1!'

My final opinion: Both the daughter and dad are stupid.

TyrannoFan wrote:My final opinion: Both the daughter and dad are stupid.

I agree with this.

You don't have to be a Geneticist to know that stupid breeds stupid. All I know about these people's lives come from this > 9min video. For all we know, the dad spoiled his daughter when she was young and rather than ween her off slowly over the years, they did an abrupt 180 which makes a spoiled child become an absolute brat.

This father was no better. Rather than shoot the laptop with expensive bullets, he could have gave it to charity. That sophisticated device could have helped a family or community centre in need of non money donations.

I find this video appalling on multiple levels. Notice how butthurt revenge runs in their blood?

Well....I can't blame him. I guess what he did wasn't the smartest thing to do. He overreacted. I have no problem doing chores, but I do have a problem with it if my parents are yelling at me about it instead of asking nicely.

Great what that guy did up untill he shot the laptop. I don't think that was necessarry or even a smart move. Then again, that's probably what this video got as much attention as it did...