Tough Parenting

More than 28 million people have seen the video. Tommy Jordan of Albemarle, N.C. responds to his daughter's profanity-laced letter on Facebook, complaining about her parents and the chores she had to do around in the house. By perforating her shiny laptop with 9 rounds of .45-caliber hollow points.

And how did the 15 year old react to the video and the demise of her laptop? “I can’t believe you shot my computer!” was the first thing she said when she found out about it. Then dad and daughter sat together and talked for quite a long while on the back patio, about the things she did, the things dad did in response, etc. (as recounted by Jordan to Anita Li of the Toronto Star)

What about all the online feedback? People were telling her she was going to commit suicide, commit a gun-related crime, become a drug addict, drop out of school, get pregnant on purpose, and become a stripper because she’s too emotionally damaged now to be a productive member of society. Her response was “Dude… it’s only a computer. I mean, yeah I’m mad but pfft.”
She actually asked her dad to post a comment on one of the threads (which he did), asking what other job fields the victims of laptop-homicide were eligible for because she wasn’t too keen on the stripping thing. You gotta luv this gal. Like father, like daughter.

Not all father-child differences are reconciled so swiftly. Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his autobiography that his father had a violent temper, and his earliest and most vivid childhood recollection was being held by his ears over a well. The 4 year old had misbehaved and ruined his father's expensive 4711 brilliantine, a hair pomade of that era. In a rage, Lee senior dragged his wayward son outside and dangled him over the well opening in the family compound at Tembeling Road. ("The Singapore Story", pg 25)

Years later, delivering the eulogy at his mother's funeral  in 1980 (Madam Chua Jim Neo/Mrs Lee Koon Choy), Lee Kuan Yew spoke of his mother's closeness to her grandchildren, highlighting in several instances a closer relationship than they enjoyed with their own mothers. Equally pointed was his omission of any reference to his father's presence and personal grief. ("No Man Is An Island", James Minchin, pg 9)