I watched this strange parenting show yesterday and WTF?

[saberivojo]

There was a TV show on yesterday about unusual parenting choices.  I watched and I just got to say...people are a little weird.  The next time anyone says anything about John Winchester and his parenting choices, I'm gonna have to refer them to this.

Comments

[ficwriter1966]

Things like that make my brain hurt.

How can someone raise their kids without rules? How do they think they're going to manage when they get out into the real world and find out that...WHOA. There are rules, and you get into trouble when you don't follow them?

[saberivojo]

See, that's what I was thinking. The father tried to say things like, well, they understand about society's rules, as in not speeding or stopping at stop signs. But do they really? Because unless you are homeless most of society believes in some type of personal hygiene. I know that not everyone, everywhere practices the same attraction to regular bathing that I do. It is okay. Really. But wait till little Tommy wants to hang with people outside of his family and they realize he smells. *ick*

[winchesterlove2]

i have no words...soooooooo ummm disturbing? is that the right word? i don't even know i think your sentiments were correct:
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! (how about some of that for ya John Winchester style :) )

[saberivojo]

I like Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! Winchester all the way babbeee!

I like to think I am pretty open minded about things, and really I am. How these folks raise their children is their business but I have been thinking about this show since yesterday so it must have impacted me somehow.

[brigid_tanner]

How old were the kids in the "unschooling" family? How will/did the kids learn to read? Or would that be formal education? The bathing thing bothers me less than wondering how the kids will be able to function in society with out some formal classes. And rules! I don't think they can truly understand rules without having some at home.

The no diaper people just confuse me. How alert would you have to be to always get the kid to the potty before an accident?

I'm glad my kids are 4-legged, follow my rules, and potty outside. :)

[saberivojo]

The unschooling kids were between 5-7. The kids were being read to, but I did not see them reading. The diaper thing? They were trying to say they were so in tune with their kids via "elimination communication" that just knew when their children were going to defecate and urinate. They even ran a class on it.

Even my four-legged kids know there are rules. *jeesh*

[pkwench]

...Wow. College graduates. One with a master's degree. That means that they KNOW that in order to go to college that basic degrees have to be had. Those kids won't even know what to do with a standardized test. How would they even hope to take the ACT or the SATs if they could even hope of qualifying to sit for them? Awesome. They've seriously limited their children's futures. Smart move, Mom & Dad. Mind you, I have no problem with people who advocate against standardized learning and testing. I think it excludes too many children who have learning styles that aren't receptive to "sit like veal, listen, regurgitate". I personally believe that it causes a lot of early disinterest and disenchantment with school for a lot of kids at a young age. So, if they said that they were supplementing their children's education or enrolling them in a different sort of school - even with the fact that college=standarized testing & learning - I could live with that. But utter lack of schooling? How will they teach their children to read? What career

[pkwench]

Oh, and I like how they say that there's no heirarchy but that they're not above manipulating their child by telling him he will be denied hugs because he needs to bathe. That'll be a kid that winds up in therapy because he doesn't know why he has to bathe, he doesn't like it, he has hygiene related illness and skin problems, the other kids in the neighborhood mock him relentlessly because he's pig pen, and, finally, he feels like his parents didn't love him because he didn't bathe enough. THERAPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

I wanna know how, if there's no one acting like a parent, they'll keep the kids from running in front of a bus, stealing, beating each other up, getting into cars with strangers, running with scissors, staying out in the sun without sunscreen for 18 hours, normal stuff that kids need to have parents for. ARGH. BRAIN EXPLODING.

[saberivojo]

Pretty much you hit the nail on the head. I mean alternative teaching? Got no problem with then. But hey! People kids NEED PARENTS! That is why evolution has made sure we keep them with us as long as we do.

The college thing baffled me. I know that there are plenty of home-schooled children who do beautifully in college. But this family was like...whatever, we will figure it out. And they also inferred that college may not be something their children want or need. Again, not every kid goes to college but this was an educated family. They lived in a nice home, in a nice neighborhood. Don't they want their children to have the same opportunities that they have? A college education is not necessary but these kids are going to have a few strikes against them if the choose to go to college.

Strange stuff.

[debbiel66]

This is so funny. Sad but funny.

When I had my oldest, we tried out a playgroup when he was about two years old. The moms in this playgroup didn't believe in using the word, "no." Literally didn't believe in using the word, no. Ever. They believed it would destroy their kid's spirit.

Did I mention these kids were two?

In what kind of world does this seem like a good idea???

[saberivojo]

There ya go. Children need to have limits set. Lord knows they need to learn the word no. No does not destroy a child's spirit. How do you teach a two year old without using no? Please sweetheart, I would appreciate it if you would not throw your cute little body out into traffic Uh, uh. By then it could be too late. No. Don't run into traffic. No. Don't stick your fingers in electrical sockets. No. Don't toss yourself down the basement steps. No. Don't grab the dog's bone when he is eating it.

Man, I wonder sometimes.

[debbiel66]

I think they believed in "reasoning" with them. And yeah... by the behavior in that group, you could only imagine how well that was going to turn out.

Poor kids.