Before they hit you, they hit near you.
When parents believe or think their children are disobedient and not listening to them, they break or destroy their kids’ electronics because of anger, show power and dominance, or teach a lesson to their kids. Parents believe it’s justified to do so because they paid for those gadgets.
No two parents are equal. When a couple becomes a parent, they navigate the world with their child without any prior experience.
If a person wants a loan, the bank will demand various papers to see whether you have a good income to pay back the loan. An engineer studies extensively, a doctor takes vigorous training. Even a psychologist goes through an outstanding education.
Raising a kid is no easy task. If we look at the regulation regarding foster homes and parenting, it may seem somewhat overreaching, but it’s essential to raise a kid in a good environment.
In New York, the officials look and investigate soon-to-be foster homes to determine whether a couple can raise a foster child. There is a long list of requirements for potential foster parents, but a few of these are as follows:
- Knowledge about child abuse
- Method of child discipline
- Awareness of the measure required to create a safe environment for the kids
- Criminal history record
- Health status
- Income status
- Character certification from relatives or friends
- And more.
A complete list of requirements can be found on the official NY Government website: https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/fostercare/requirements.php
For everything in life, humans need training and proper education. However, to become a parent, society doesn’t demand any requirement. Therefore, no first-time parents have any knowledge or know how to raise a child properly. As a result, they do what they think is better. Or second-time parents may think what worked for the first child will work for their second child.
Every parent has high hopes and dreams for their child. They want to raise them according to their unique plan. And sometimes, parents want to raise their children the way they were being raised.
Most of the time, parents destroy electronics when they are enraged. The anger comes from parents thinking that their kids are not obeying or listening to them.
Numerous reports show that parents destroy not only electronics — Phones, laptops, Xbox, etc. — but also books, toys, laptops, and other property.
Destroying children’s electronics as a form of punishment may seem not a big deal, but it has a long-term psychological effect on children. It puts emotional stress on the child. It’s a feeble and terrible form of parenting. It’s the parent’s responsibility to teach the children how to become responsible humans and manage their gaming addiction.
Many parents believe that they bought all the electronics for their children. Therefore, they have every right to do whatever they want to do with those electronics. However, it’s not unheard of that parents will buy replacement electronics after destroying them.
Not all parents will destroy electronics, though. Some responsible guardians seek alternatives. For example, locking the phones, selling the Xbox, or taking away the computer for a time.
Parents may get angry if a kid doesn’t get grades according to their expectations or think that children are not coming out of their room often. There are numerous examples where parents take away electronics and remove room doors to prevent the children from being alone.
This arises from the situation where parents fail to understand their child. If a child fails to get an expected grade, destroying one’s laptop or other electronics will not solve the problem. Rather, it’s the fastest way to make your child hate you.
Fits of anger make people blind. To express irritation, people try to do things they believe are the root cause of the problem.
For example, if parents believe that a child isn’t coming out of their room because of the video game, they may take it as disobedience. They may think that their child has a video game addiction. The only solution in their mind is to take away the game console.
If parents believe that their daughter is using a phone to post inappropriate things online — which may not be true — they may take away the phone to prevent it.
However, parents can’t solve the problem of bad grades or posting inappropriate things online by crushing the electronics. Instead, parents should go back to the root cause of the problem.
If a child is not studying but playing games all day, then the problem is that the child sees studying as a burden or unenjoyable task. The solution is to make your child understand why studying is essential for a better future. But parents can’t be harsh toward the kid. Otherwise, it may backfire.
Destroying children’s electronics is poor judgment. It’s an overreaction. It’s no good way to discipline kids. It will foster animosity, distrust, and anger in kids towards their parents.
It is better to unplug and stow away the electronics until the issue is resolved. This way, the child has an incentive to behave.
Some parents do this stuff to prove dominance and control. They want to show and send a message that they can do anything for the kids, and kids have nowhere to go. Therefore, they should behave properly and do what they are told to do. They are not thinking rationally or logically.
These parents may think they are not doing any malicious work, but these activities can strongly affect these children.
Moreover, even though it may seem unreal, some parents enjoy destroying their child’s property. There are countless online videos where a father destroys the property, and the mother records the video on a cellphone to share on Facebook or YouTube.
It’s a breach of trust. Rule of fear isn’t the rule of law. It traumatizes children. Parents’ rage invokes a permanent scar in the kid’s mind. Yes, a child may begin to respect you, but that respect isn’t from the heart; it’s because of fear. And once the fear is gone when they move out of the house, they may sever the relationship with the parents.