Video: Dad who spots gang brand on daughter does what must be done
posted at 2:20 pm on June 2, 2008 by Allahpundit
The latest in a continuing series of authority figures earning effusive praise for showing tough love to budding teenage miscreants. This one’s dicier than what we’re accustomed to, not only because of the unusual “toughness” of the love but because as far as I can tell there’s no evidence that it was an actual gang marking as opposed to just dumb kids giving themselves dumb amateur tattoos.
In that sense, it’s more like a taser video — you understand the cop’s impulse, but dude. Click the image to watch.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
God…harsh, but still, I can understand. Something from the way she spoke tells me she thinks it was a mistake for her to do it, and not just because of the punishment.
MadisonConservative on June 2, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Stupid girl, desperate dad, I feel bad for both of em.
Dr. Manhattan on June 2, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Wow . . . tough to say but . . . he went too far but still, I understand the compulsion. I would suggest a little restraint and a little more creativity in punishment.
infidel2 on June 2, 2008 at 2:32 PM
She cut the symbol into her own leg with a pencil. The burn doesn’t seem so torturous after that.
And the reporter’s claim that she will be scarred for life? Unlikely. I’ve burned my legs 3 times on motorcycle exhausts. Burns that were much bigger and arguably as severe than this. As long as she doesn’t pick at it while it heals, there should be no lasting scar.
RushBaby on June 2, 2008 at 2:32 PM
When parental responsibility seems to be lacking in our society so much these days, it’s great to see parents taking a stand, although this one was a little harsh compared to the sandwich sign kid. In this case, laser removal would have been more expensive, not sure about the pain factor.
But hey, it’s cheaper than therapy!
RMCS_USN on June 2, 2008 at 2:33 PM
That should have read…DUDE. That said, I can understand the fathers reaction but his action was too harsh. He could have just made her an appt at the nearest laser center to remove the tat and made her pay for it!
kcd on June 2, 2008 at 2:34 PM
The whole idea of getting purposefully branded seems to me like a particularly spectacular type of stupidity. I have enough scars that were acquired either accidentally or as a result of surgury, thank you very much.
James on June 2, 2008 at 2:35 PM
I listened to the report again. They didn’t characterize the mark as a tattoo. She cut the symbol into her own flesh. Laser treatment?
RushBaby on June 2, 2008 at 2:41 PM
She’s going to think twice about a nipple ring, that’s for sure.
bbz123 on June 2, 2008 at 2:43 PM
As my seventeen-month-old says, “Oooowwwwww!!!!!”
newton on June 2, 2008 at 2:45 PM
He may have saved her life.
EJDolbow on June 2, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Better a heated knife on the ankle, than a knife through her chest in a gang-related incident…
JetBoy on June 2, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Um NO! You can’t burn your children with hot irons for any reason. Take her to a professional to have it removed if you wish but that is pretty sick if you ask me.
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 2:46 PM
Another candidate for “Father of the Year”, anyone?
newton on June 2, 2008 at 2:46 PM
What’s he going to do if she gets a tongue post? Cut out her tongue?
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 2:47 PM
If the family had been strict followers of Islam, and she got a gang tatoo, instead of bitching to the school nurse, she’d be dead!
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on June 2, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Good intentions. Poor execution.
Zetterson on June 2, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Tune in next week when she comes home with a nose ring.
RobCon on June 2, 2008 at 2:53 PM
This girl cut a gang symbol into her own ankle? I’m not interested in watching the video, but ….
A kid used a pencil to carve a gang symbol into her flesh?
I suggest this father get her into psyciatric treatment, stat. He had better consider sending her out of the neighborhood for school as well. Perhaps he could find a police job in another state.
funky chicken on June 2, 2008 at 2:54 PM
You shouldn’t burn people.
VolMagic on June 2, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Well, ronsfi – it’s pretty obvious you’ve never had to raise girl-children through their teenage years in today’s urban environment. What this father did was a blessing, compared to what she faces in the gang life.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 2:56 PM
pretty harsh, burning my child on purpose doesnt sound like something i could do…
i remember when my sister got a tat at 15, my mother took her to the lazor people and to this day you can read the ex-tat/mark better then before the procedure, ofcourse this was around 1980 so the technology wasnt as good.
trailortrash on June 2, 2008 at 2:59 PM
The thugs at my school cut symbols into their body, so he was justified.
Tim Burton on June 2, 2008 at 2:59 PM
No sympathy from me. I’d say the embarrassment and shame was more painful than the knife. She already showed that she’s not above tearing her flesh with a pencil – if anything, a knife would be less painful.
She’ll get over it.
fourstringfuror on June 2, 2008 at 3:00 PM
And yes, ronsfi and Volmagic – I HAVE had the unfortunate experience of searching the streets of LA looking for my ex-wife’s 14-year old daughter who got caught up in the Meth gangs of LA. I cannot express the anguish of what that father is going through to save his daughter.
Her daughter survived, but is spiritually scarred for life, and may never have what any of us consider a “normal” relationship again.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:01 PM
You shouldn’t burn people.
VolMagic on June 2, 2008 at 3:03 PM
Guess you should have burned her with cigarettes and kicked her in the teeth a few times to show her how much you love her.
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 3:06 PM
He’s in Ft. Worth. I would say he has a pretty good chance of a not guilty verdict if he takes any charges to trial.
phelps on June 2, 2008 at 3:06 PM
He *may* be in trouble?
Dude.
A guy takes a burning piece of metal and basically brands his 13-year old child … and he *may* be in trouble? And people here are actually defending this?
Dude.
What’s wrong with a grown-up, mature sort of response that doesn’t involve, you know, freaking branding your kid like a head of cattle? Like making a doctor’s appointment, getting the tattoo removed, and then making the kid work off the cost of the medical bill?
Or is that kind of solution too intelligent?
Dude.
Yeah. Pretty much. You’d think branding your 13-year old kid would be a universal no-no, wouldn’t you?
Apparently not.
This thread is scary. Right idea. Wrong, wrong thinking.
Dude.
Professor Blather on June 2, 2008 at 3:08 PM
VolMagic on June 2, 2008 at 3:03 PM
Your naivety is showing. You sound like a ’60′s hippie “Make Love, Not War” idealist with no concept of real life outside a cloistered privileged existence.
I guess you HOPE that this girl will CHANGE on her own, without her father’s unwelcome intervention in her life.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:08 PM
I would say “scarred for life” means she have learned her lesson, albeit the hard way…..like many of us do, in the hands of other people with ill will.
It’s better for her to learn it from her loving father, than from people who want abuse her.
maynila on June 2, 2008 at 3:09 PM
And you sound like a sadistic psycho freak!
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 3:10 PM
You people are pathetic. The dad gave his daughter a THIRD DEGREE BURN. If you think this is OK, you’re an idiot.
Quite simply, if the guy had been a Muslim, you would be calling for his head on a stick.
Any man in here who thinks burning one’s own daughter is ok should come see me. You f***ing loons.
If you can’t communicate beyond physical violence, you are a failure.
***
EXIT QUESTION MEANT TO HIGHLIGHT EXTREME STUPIDITY:
Were there any other options that did not involve a father using the same techniques that are used for torture against his own adolescent daughter? Any options that don’t involve scarring her?
EXIT QUESTION TWO WITH THE SAME STATED PURPOSE:
What kind of man is he teaching his daughter to love? (Hint: One who probably thinks physical violence proves his love.)
This is the worst thread ever on HA. I’m spitting piss and cheese grits.
**** ***.
I have no wiggle room on this. You say this is OK and you are scum.
The Race Card on June 2, 2008 at 3:11 PM
You want to know a REAL sadistic psycho freak?
Here. Two words: Joseph Fretzl.
newton on June 2, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Ah. Thank God. Sanity.
Yes.
He may have just created a person who will spend her life remembering her own dad branding her … and more likely, she’ll go through life thinking that’s parents do, and treat her own children the same day.
And 20 years from now, when *her* kid commits some brutal act of violence … people exactly like you will be gasping and wondering however could it happen …?
Dude. Some of you people seriously need therapy. And a lifetime supply of birth control.
He. Branded. His. Kid. With. A. Glowing. Hot. Kitchen. Knife.
This one isn’t open for debate amongst sane people.
You know who you guys sound exactly like?
Yup. Islamic nutbags with their honor killings. They sound – exactly – the same. You know they’d think was swell, right?
Dude.
Professor Blather on June 2, 2008 at 3:12 PM
This guy should pay the same price as he would for torturing anybody else. Parenthood does not grant the right to maim.
And fishheadupyourass, clearly you have never been the victim of parental abuse!
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 3:13 PM
That kid just got a wake up call…a little harsh, but what do you bet this guy works 14 hours a day, while his little girl is carving her leg up with pencil. He doesn’t have the time to sit down and “talk it out”…”honey, use your head or I am going to knock some sense into you, now excuse me I have to go back to work and feed you and your mom, brothers and sisters.”
right2bright on June 2, 2008 at 3:14 PM
Thank you.
Exactly. Every word.
There is a great need for a lot of therapy among people in this thread.
Dude. Yikes. My head hurts just thinking about this one.
The humanity. The stupidity.
I think I’ll make your post the last one I read. It made me feel slightly less dirty. Ugh.
Professor Blather on June 2, 2008 at 3:14 PM
Not that I approve of what he did, though. As I said before, “Ooooowwwww!!!!!“
newton on June 2, 2008 at 3:14 PM
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:08 PM
You know in Saudi Arabia they cut the hands and feet off of thieves? I hear you can leave your property in public, unattended, all day long. Wanna move there?
I’m all for helping the kid stay out of a gang. Applying heated metal to her leg is not the way to do this.
You shouldn’t burn people.
VolMagic on June 2, 2008 at 3:14 PM
self-smack///
If you can’t communicate without relying on foul language to convey your meaning…
The Race Card on June 2, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Sometimes nothing else will do…also…that piss and cheesegrits thing…PRICELESS! That’s what makes English the best lanquage…EVAH!
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Where’s Geraldo when you need him…
Wyznowski on June 2, 2008 at 3:22 PM
Imagine if she gets a ring … ahem … down there …
corona on June 2, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Ok, you Kneejerks here – While what this girl’s father did was extreme and ill-advised, unless you have had the personal experience of watching your beloved teenage daughter fall prey to the evil that exists in urban gangland and the counterculture today, you cannot begin to conceptualize the desperation her father feels.
When a teenager today crosses that line, choosing gangs and drugs for their circle of social acceptance instead of family and faith, there is NOTHING a parent or any other adult in that kid’s life can say, do, or rationalize with that kid to change their minds.
Having seen numerous young teen girls (friends of my step-daughter, 12yrs and up) trading sex for drugs, continually coming home with new tats and piercings, going “Gothic” etc. – you cannot begin to understand the utter helplessness a parent feels and the desperation that ensues.
I could NEVER have done anything that extreme to her myself, but I did experience that level of desperation – and now a lifetime of “would have should have could haves” will haunt me and her mother forever. This basically led to our divorce, because I was prevented (by her mother) from implementing stronger discipline (with her kids) till it was far, far too late.
I damn sure considered many desperate measures that my civilized upbringing (and ex-wife) prevented me from carrying out, but I’ll never know if I could have prevented her lifetime of scarred regrets had I simply been allowed to do what was necessary, BEFORE the damage was done to this beautiful child.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:34 PM
I have an old school uncle (he’s just into his 70s). He was an Airborne Ranger and then change units to serve in Korea, got a battlefield commission and retired a Col. There was a family function about 2 years ago. One of his granddaughters came into the party sporting a lower back tattoo. My Uncle saw it and flipped out. Then she made the mistake of telling him it was in honor of her Grandmother (his recently departed wife of like 50 years) and that caused him to really flip out (she was as old school and straight laced as he is, a woman with a tattoo is a floozy in their eyes, so to say it was in honor of her was too much for him to take). The incident degenerated into my uncle and his son (the girl’s father) getting into a fist fight….
TheBigOldDog on June 2, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:34 PM
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 3:53 PM
!#$!@#$!@#%~!#@
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 3:53 PM
The sadness on the faces of both the father and daughter is telling. It’s pretty apparent the father is 1st generation according to his speech pattern and perhaps felt that with the danger to her from gang sources he was willing to go to jail. Who knows? Either way they both lose and the taxpayer will either foot the bill for the family when he’s sent to jail or the daughter is removed to foster care. How better it would have been to spend the money trying to remove the gang presence from the neighborhood than a family destroyed over a childish prank.
24K lady on June 2, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Too bad he didn’t convert to Islam first. Then there would be no discussion. He would actually have been an Islamic metro-sexual for just a small third degree burn.
Hening on June 2, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Why don’t you ask a girl who’s been forcibly gang-raped numerous times, beaten, cut, drugged, pimped out, jailed, tattooed, pierced, etc., if she would rather have just had a little scar on her ankle from an over-protective father instead?
NOT JUSTIFYING what her father did, but really, neither you nor any “professional” I ever consulted ever offered an alternative approach to her that had even the slightest effect, once her overly permissive mother let things go too far.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 4:05 PM
Before everyone jumps my case, let me try and explain my thoughts a bit better… the father’s life experience and background may be such that he believes a father is always to protect, by whatever means necessary, his daughter/family. The fact he went about it entirely wrong is the saddest part. It’s possible he simply doesn’t know any better. And, now, she thinks it’s OK to be hit/branded/mutalated by a male that “loves” her.
24K lady on June 2, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Huh? Gothic? How did wearing too much black eyeliner suddenly become equivalent to trading sex for drugs?
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Parents can’t win. . .If they ignor it and she becomes a
gangbanging trouble maker, They loose .
If they just talk to her and or ground her but she sneeks out, They loose.
If they remove the brand with a little pain. They loose, . .But maybe save the kids life. Parenting is
tough. . .But ya gotta do what ya gotta do
Texyank on June 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM
What a nightmare for you and a tragedy for your ex-wife’s daughter. Yeah, permissiveness in the face of this 13 year old’s behavior would have been even worse than what he did.
I really would recommend that the family move to a different neighborhood or town.
funky chicken on June 2, 2008 at 4:30 PM
She carved the symbol into her leg with a pencil! How painful was that?
Good for you dad! Do what you have to do to protect your child!
RMR on June 2, 2008 at 4:31 PM
But she may also learn that she has to listen to her father. I guess dad deserves what he’s going to get, but I just hope the counselors don’t try to talk that little girl out of forgiving him.
myamphibian on June 2, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Dude, pencil marking tatoos aren’t even permanent.
I’ve scratched “tatoos” with a pencil into my leg dozens of times. The pencil color comes off when you touch it and the scratch heals by the next day.
I can tell you what, if ANYONE, including my father were to come at my leg with a hot knife, he’d be missing a few teeth by the time the deed was done.
Capitana on June 2, 2008 at 4:44 PM
Someone needs to protect her from her dad.
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 4:45 PM
Hmmm.. New to the “Gothic” lifestyle, I suppose? I’d be glad to write you chapter and verse on that one, but that would be intolerant of me.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 4:45 PM
At least this father is there. At least this father cares what path his daughter takes. Not saying what he did is right, but yes, I’d put him WAY ahead of the deadbeat dads that don’t take an active role in raising their kids.
kirkill on June 2, 2008 at 4:46 PM
The girl seems surprisingly untraumatized, and doesn’t seem to be angry at her father at all for what he did. Odd. One would expect her to be ranting, raving, crying, and hiring all the lawyers who have surely been approaching her to sue her father and have him thrown in jail. I think she may actually appreciate what he did – it’s like she understands that he thought he was saving her life, which is very hard for me to believe of a 13-yr-old who had already scarred herself for life by carving her own leg with a pencil. I would hate to be on the jury of that trial (assuming the matter comes to trial).
aero on June 2, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Tell us ronsfi,how many children have you successfully raised to adulthood? How old are they now? Have you ever even had a child to raise? You have no idea what you are talking about.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 4:49 PM
Hmmm.. No, I was Gothic for many years. Didn’t stop me from getting straight A’s and going to college, and didn’t make me whore myself out or do drugs.
So why don’t you tell me what makes you an expert. Because right now, you just seem very easily traumatized.
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Very harsh, but understandable. I wouldn’t have done that. I have two teenage boys who see alot of knuckleheads at their school getting in trouble and being very disrespectful. As a parent, you teach them either be a leader or a follower.
Sanjoboy on June 2, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Emotions seem a bit high today. Could the father done something better? Absolutely, I don’t know how many times I could of done something better when it comes to my kids. Ignoring the problem would of been worse. I hope the father is given some training on how to handle similar situations, and the girl receives council as well. Everything should be done to keep the family together.
BTW, having a professional remove the self-made tattoo isn’t pain free either, though is more humane.
Conservative Voice on June 2, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Dude,
Lead poison got-ya. Huh
Texyank on June 2, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Gee, maybe it was just the one particular Gothic “Coven” that my ex’s daughters were involved in, but every single one of them (probably 50-100) that I ever saw was strung out on meth and/or other hard drugs, continually in and out of Juvie, in and out of rehab programs, living in cars or tents or under bridges, even conducting Satanic ritual body mutilations and ritualized vampire worship.
Guess they were the exception, rather than the rule in the Gothic lifestyle, eh? I suppose one can live a “Gothic Lite” lifestyle, but I never personally knew any who did that successfully.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Sometimes it feels like nothing else will do. And you know what? Sometimes nothing else will do. I think a creative, attentive dad who cares this much should have found something else.
It’s very hard NOT to sympathize for the gy. Most dads would stop at nothing to protect their little girls. I think the father/daughter bond is a thing of pure beauty. It can make a hulking, tank of a man quiver like a leaf and cry happy tears.
I just wish this guy had responded instead of reacted. The girl is definitely loved. The dad probably feels horrible. It sucks, but there’s probably going to have to be some jailtime.
Hard lessons for all.
The Race Card on June 2, 2008 at 5:10 PM
It’s very hard NOT to sympathize for the gy. Gy? Wtf?
I think that’s my new girly man slur…born from a typo.
I’ll see you gys later. :)
The Race Card on June 2, 2008 at 5:13 PM
NO! This is wrong. This is child abuse in my opinion and my kids were part of the old generation. This is cruel.
sharinlite on June 2, 2008 at 5:21 PM
+1
Can’t believe people are supporting the father.
What if he had broken her arm to keep her from repeating the stunt? Would you people support that?
I’m a firm believer in corporal punishment, but this went too far.
soundingboard on June 2, 2008 at 5:22 PM
And you blame the drugs and violence on their music and literary taste. Fabulous. Tipper Gore would love you.
This is what Gothic subculture is. Tell me where you see anything about drugs or Satanism.
Feel free to read all the way down to where a judge, condemning someone for killing a Goth girl for no reason other than her clothing style, says that Goths are “perfectly peaceful, law-abiding people who pose no threat to anybody.”
There are seriously screwed-up people in every group, and it sounded like your girl was a magnet for them.
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 5:23 PM
No sane person attacks another person, especially a young person with a red hot knife. Try to imagine being powerless to stop your father from branding you with a hot iron. Try that.
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 5:24 PM
Parents should not burn their children to teach them lessons.
SouthernDem on June 2, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Quite simply, if the guy had been a Muslim, you would be calling for his head on a stick.
Ummm, no.
If he’d been a Muslim, he’d have killed her for his honor. Compare & contrast, please.
I R A Darth Aggie on June 2, 2008 at 5:28 PM
I in no way endorsed what he did, I just made note of a possible outcome.
EJDolbow on June 2, 2008 at 5:36 PM
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 5:23 PM
I only know what I have seen with my own eyes and experienced in my life to be true. What I might read on some website, or read what some liberal judge had to say about goths really has no relevance to the brutal reality I have witnessed with my own eyes. Maybe such reading serves you in justifying your own choices, but my experience tells me otherwise.
And don’t make asinine assumptions about me “blaming drugs and violence on their music and literary taste” – nothing could be further from the truth.
The blame falls only upon the permissive mindset inculcated into today’s parents by the psychobabblers, NEA-types and new-age “free thinkers”, all arrogant enough to assume that the traditions and mores which created 200+ years of American exceptionalism has to CHANGE if we dare to HOPE for a better future.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Am sure the dad cares about her etc etc but sheesh, can’t believe some of the comments here…This is NOT the same as making your child stand with a sandwich board on the street. How bout if she’d dug the tattoo into her face? Or the top of her breast? Would the hot knife branding by Dad have been OK then?
VERY bad mistake by her dad. There are many good ways to show your child that gangs are bad and good ways to get a tattoo removed. None of them involves third degree burns on teenage flesh.
inviolet on June 2, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Well I have to say it, but you are wrong.
The city of Santa Ana (for awhile until the liberals go upset) had this policy. When they caught a tagger (underage) they made their parents pay for the complete clean up. They had both parents,working menial jobs (2 each), and they were presented with the $14,000 bill. The kid was devastated, they did nothing but admonish him, and then went after the parents. The suffering and anguish of this kid was unbelievable. He thought he was going to be the big man and get probation…but he found out by the suffering he caused the family he made a big mistake. He graduated from high school, and went on to J.C. (a rarity in the Santa Ana school district). But the rest of the story is the liberal groups got together and banned this “inhuman” punishment. No matter what this father did, it was going to be wrong.
What this father did was too harsh, but what this girl was doing (and if you lived in the Hispanic society you would understand) was entering a world of hopelessness. The father may not have had the resources some of us have.
Now the father will be punished, and the girl will know, if but for a stupid “tattoo”, her father and family would still be whole.
right2bright on June 2, 2008 at 5:39 PM
Haha. You’re judging my music/clothing choices harshly, after admitting that your wife left you because you wanted to use corporal punishment on her daughter?
Oh dearie me. My black eyeliner is so eeeevil.
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 5:46 PM
Therein lies the problem, right? In today’s Litigious Liberal Loony mindset, there is NOTHING effective that a parent can legally do about it when their children go off the rails. Even for those of us with resources – Ever tried to find an in-house residential drug rehab program for a juvenile? Guess what? They DON’T exist, save for a few underground religious-based boot-camp style organizations, that good as they are, still have a high recidivism rate.
See where the parental desperation sets in?
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Such a drama queen! “really has no relevance to the brutal reality I have witnessed with my own eyes.” Puhleeze! What a martyr.
“Permissive Mindset” in the same breath as “psychobabblers” is the hight of irony. It is clear, by your post, that the CHILD in this case represents everything you find threatening in society and so her BRANDING is only just. No is fooled by your attempt to cloth your malintent in righteous indignation.
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Haha. You’re judging my music/clothing choices harshly, after admitting that your wife left you because you wanted to use corporal punishment on her daughter?
Oh dearie me. My black eyeliner is so eeeevil.
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 5:46 PM
Excuse me, but EXACTLY WHERE did I “admit” to such an idiotic assumption as you have made, Tanya?
My “crimes” were wanting to keep 14-year old girls from “dating” 18-20 year olds; wanting to set limits on what kinds of “parties” they could attend; set limits on how much cleavage and crotch their clothing should easily reveal; set limits on how much “tramp stamp” makeup they should be wearing; and God forbid, WHAT TIME They were expected to be home!!!!
Wow, what an eeevil bastard I am.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 6:04 PM
Yeah, ever hear of “moral relativism”? The psychobabblers practically invented it. I tell you what, ronsfi, take a tour of your local Juvie lockup and tell us what you see – there you will find the final product of the Permissive Mindset, live and in full color.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 6:10 PM
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 3:34 PM
We’re really supposed to believe that a curfew and dress code are what you meant by “implementing stronger discipline?”
Can you backpedal any faster?
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 6:14 PM
Kudos to you for caring so much about your ex-wife’s daughter and trying so hard to save her. Even now that you have no legal or biological ties to the girl, it is clear that it still torments you that you couldn’t keep her from making such terrible choices and suffering such awful consequences. All young people should be so lucky as to have a father (or father-figure) like you in their lives – one who cares that deeply about their future.
Unlike others here, I do understand what you’re trying to say. You didn’t do anything like this to your step-daughter, but if you had thought for a moment that it would have saved her from what happened, you would have strongly considered it out of sheer desperation on her behalf. I get that. It’s not an endorsement, it’s just simple empathy.
Back off of Fish, you guys. He went through a lot and lost the battle and the war, despite his best efforts. He’s not a terrible person for relating the reality he observed and defending another man’s feelings of desperation.
aero on June 2, 2008 at 6:18 PM
Or at least have the chance to.
SouthernGent on June 2, 2008 at 6:19 PM
There is no excuse for this. You don’t give your child a third-degree burn. That’s just sick.
I can’t believe that I agree with Ronsfi.
JS on June 2, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Yup, that’s EXACTLY what I mean by “implementing stronger discipline”. Setting limits on what is acceptable behavior in the home, and sticking to them. What idiot would ever consider corporal punishment on a teenager?
Obviously, I am arguing with people who have never had kids of their own.
Fishoutofwater on June 2, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Reading these comments, everyone so quick to pass judgement without having all the facts. The father mentioned that he had just talked to her about it 2 weeks prior to this incident, Why? Did he decide all of a sudden to just have a talk with her? Was she starting to hang out with the wrong type of kids? She also said he never hurt her before. Why now? Was he at the end of his rope? Was her behavior deteriorating? What is their neighborhood like? Too many questions unanswered to pass judgement on the man. I raised a teenage daughter by myself and I can assure you that good parents will do whatever is necessary, within their means to protect their child and get them to adulthood. I would like to think that I would not have reacted the same way, but without knowing all the details I cannot condemn his actions.
insideout on June 2, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Dear Genius,
Unless you mean to assert that Muslims are only capable of punishing by killing, please shut up. If that is what you mean to suggest, you may also shut up.
I’ll restate. If the guy was Muslim the thread would be apoplectic.
Third degree burns indicate an intention to inflict serious pain. The dad needs lessons, help and encouragement in proper parenting. It might seem dumb, but some people just don’t know what’s right.
Think about how badly a simple first degree burn can hurt. Burns are among the most painful of all inuries. I’m back to piss and cheesegrits; there is no excuse.
Did he listen to his daughter cry and scream while he tortured her? Is she an insurgent? Is she his enemy? Nope, he loves her and needs to learn how to do so safely and sanely.
I rule. You suck.
The Race Card on June 2, 2008 at 6:50 PM
I beg to differ. I think we absolutely can condemn his actions since we know for a fact he purposely third-degree-burned her.
It’s his motivations and love for his daughter we cannot judge.
Actions are always fair game. People properly make judgments all the time. And despite what the liberals would have us believe, judging actions is not wrong, and in fact is frequently necessary (for us Christians, that’s what Jesus was referring to, and why he could say “do not judge” around the same month [/poetic license] as he was turning over tables with a whip in the temple). Judging people is.
inviolet on June 2, 2008 at 6:57 PM
so……. there was no actual evidence that the “H” was a gang symbol? If she had come home with “MS13″ on her leg, or “MM”, it’d be a little different. I like the father’s enthusiasm, but i still think he took it too far.
RMC1618 on June 2, 2008 at 7:08 PM
check the his papers
custer on June 2, 2008 at 7:18 PM
Looks like Pop did the wrong thing for the right reason.
Mike D. on June 2, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Let me get this straight. My condemnation and revulsion at the branding of a child with a red hot knife constitutes, in your mind, a “permissive mindset”?
Branding! Do it for the children!
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 7:22 PM
Careful, that’s how it starts. One minute your agreeing with me at HA then, next thing you know, you’re roasting babies at the Darwinian Black Sabbath with me and Hitchins.
ronsfi on June 2, 2008 at 7:27 PM
From everything you’ve said on this thread, you barely tolerated this girl. And now you’re suddenly The Official Hot Air Parental Authority™?
Because I have to tell you, when I was thirteen, if I was “dating” 18-20 year old guys and going to parties where “every single one of her friends” was smoking meth (or whatever you do with meth), my stepdad wouldn’t have been discussing curfew strategies with my mother. He would’ve called the police.
So try not the throw your shoulder out while you’re patting yourself on the back for being the best parent here, Superdad.
Tanya on June 2, 2008 at 7:32 PM
Well folks,if this was a girl,say in a Muslim
country,and say she had a marking on her leg,
and I dare say it was a religious symbol that
didn’t fit the Muslim’s belief’s,
I bet she would lose a leg,or probably her life!
canopfor on June 2, 2008 at 8:52 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »