Let's make this clear: responding to your teenage child's words with violence is NOT OKAY.

[Kellerfeller]

137. Until he is no longer responsible for her

safety, well-being, and actions, then she gets no privacy. Sorry, she is either independent or she isn't.

If my teen wants a room where I will not "snoop", my teem is welcome to become emancipated and get his/her own room. Until then, I reserve that right. It's called "caring" about them.

I find it amazing how people on here have such schizophrenic views on kids. If they commit a crime (especially something horrendous or racial/sexual-orientation based, then it is usually the parents fault.

But is it is about abortion or "privacy" issues, the parents should have no say. It can't be both ways. Either the teens are capable of making wise decisions and fending for themselves or they need supervision from parents.

And for the record, I wouldn't have done what this guy did, but I don't have a problem with it. He didn't do it in an irrational emotional rant. And it made a big impact.


When my son was younger (10 or11), he had a BB gun and pointed it at some of the neighborhood kids. They got scared and parents called the cops. There was no altercation and he was not trying to defend himself. He was just trying to be cool and impress them, but that didn't happen. Yes, we had already told him not to point it at a people and taught him to treat guns and people with respect. So he spent the afternoon with a hacksaw cutting the gun into 1 inch segments. Yes, we could have donated the BB gun. But doing it this way taught him a far more important and memorable lesson.