I cry cry cry, then I complain, come back for more, do it again.

[dragonladyflame]

Passive-aggressive! It's a major buzzword for our generation. No one want to be passive-aggressive, and it seems like everyone gets accused of it at some point

Comments

[dragonladyflame]

Well, if Ashley would still have been an asshole, how are you ever supposed to deal with someone who's unapologetically manipulative? Especially if you have no graceful way to avoid them? Double especially if you see them manipulating someone you care about?

I agree with you about excessive computer gaming, but only insofar as excessive anything can be no good (I hate the word "unhealthy" -- just another stupid definition-changing buzzword at this point, like "passive-aggressive"). And I also agree with you that if there are controls they should be social, but mostly because I hate unnecessary political and legal controls.

I have been, and remain, unconvinced that there is that much parents can do about their kids besides setting a good example. And even that can be a crapshoot -- it's obvious that much is dependent on genetics, and a parents' example can't take over for every social factor. (My parents, for example, never watched TV and made it clear they thought it was kinda dumb, so I never watched TV growing up even though my family had two -- but that approach didn't work when I discovered online computer games.) The only thing that's obvious to me is that straight-up forced parental control is a bad idea, and may not even work.

[arisrabkin]

It's hard to avoid being hurt by a manipulator you can't avoid. It's not clear to me that trying to manipulate them back is helpful.

My sense is that parents can do a lot more than you're crediting. To make the obvious point--the parents quite often are the ones buying the video games or consoles; they certainly have a great impact on how much free time the kid has to play games. Sure, he can play elsewhere, but if so, that'll cut down on it a lot. The kid can earn money to buy things himself, but that probably is good for him.

I'm skeptical about the genetics. I don't think people's character and behavior is really all that genetically driven, though I admit I haven't seen much data on either side of the question.

I agree with you about unnecessary political and legal controls; I only note that 'unnecessary' is a very freighted word, and that necessity is a funny thing.