Should Parents Be Their Child’s Friend?

Dear Ms. HeartBeat:
Is it more important to you to be your kids best friend, or is best that you be a strict parent?

I was discussing this topic with a friend of mine over dinner the other night, and I was pretty much horrified at how lenient her and her husband were with their kids. They pretty much run their house, and come and go as they please. The kids talk back to them, they,(my friends) never help or make sure their school work is done, or if they have any etc.

She had a lot to say about the way I raised my kids, which in fact, I did raise them with what I thought was in a strict household. I saw nothing wrong with it then and I feel the same way about it now.

I knew where they were, I was aware of who they hung around with, they didn’t stay out til all hours of the night,and for years on end, I was involved in their school/education,and sports they were in.

What’s wrong with being involved,and setting some guidance and boundaries for kids?

Signed,
Disgusted at Parents

Dear Disgusted:
Nothing is wrong with being involved and setting boundaries for your children – that’s what “parenting” is all about. Your friends are, like so many parents these days, mere breeders. They have no real connection to their children, nor a sense of responsiblity for the young lives they have been placed in charge of. The children of such parents grow up confused, with no respect for rules or regulations. Most have an unbelievable sense of entitlement, no work ethic, and no respect for other people’s property, feelings or sometimes even their lives. In other words, modern parents are creating a generation of sociopaths.

The list above are just some of the important things parents who take their job seriously teach their children. Parents that are lazy butts stand aside and allow their children to do whatever they please. It’s very sad, because such parents are too stupid to understand that in the grand scheme of things, they are doing their child a horrible disservice.

See, neither employers nor law enforcement will care that YOU didn’t have rules at your house! Because of your lazy lenient non-parenting, your children are going to go down for years or maybe even the rest of their lives if you don’t pump their brakes when they are young and slow their roll.

MsHeartBeat

Relationship and dating advice columnist of Ask HeartBeat! Has enjoyed dishing out insightful yet hilariously funny advice, tersely worded reality checks and "let me slap you upside the head" wake up calls to men and women around the globe since 1991.