Do you consider this bad parenting? Recently, I heard this story about a guy in Florida dealing with his unruly 7 y/o son. The boy was always mean to his 5 y/o brother. The father kept trying to discipline him, yet nothing seemed to register with the lad. We all know how dense kids can be sometimes when we try explaining things to them. Often, when they get punished, that gives them incentive to do the same thing again. Anyway, this guy knew his older son was terrified of spiders, so he bought a pet tarantula.
One day, when the 7 y/o tried to drown the 5 y/o in the pool, the dad locked the 7 y/o in the bathroom for an hour with the pet spider. While the kid was screaming and crying, the dad sang that song, "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," I guess to intimidate him. The next time the kid popped his little brother, the father let the tarantula out of the cage, and let it crawl all over the petrified little boy and did the same thing. The father told the kid if he was mean to his younger brother a third time, he would buy a set of black widows and watch them, "bite him until he sweats venom." Do you think this is bad parenting, or do you find this effective?
Update: August 28, 2010.
It looks like we can all agree unanimously that the guy's a bastard for terrorizing his son. The spider was actually a goliath birdeater tarantula. Though, the amount of venom they inject is infinitesimal compared to that done by black widows, the little boy had no idea.
Those spiders are about the size of one's hand which is why I would surmise the father got it. The other thing I forgot to mention the second time is that his son popped his brother with a towel. I hope you'll all pardon me, but I'm very meticulous when it comes to grammar and syntax. - Asked by daugenstine, A Mr. Nice Guy, Male, 29-35, Who Cares? | 