Stolen off the FB

Insert Niki and Jazz in the above.  I have a shot kinda like this one that hasn't been developed yet, I'll have to get right on that.

Dad delivers bulletproof parenting lesson

From today's op/ed pages.  
Well said Ms. Lakritz.  I watched the whole video of his message to her.  My daddy raised me up to respect my elders and what this guy did is the BEST.

I like what Tommy Jordan did. So do 74 per cent of MSNBC’s Today readers in a poll. So does David Code, an Anglican minister from State College, Pa., who writes about parenting, who was on CBC Calgary’s Eyeopener program Tuesday morning. So, too, according to Jordan, do the local police who showed up at his place with a social worker, and who reportedly lauded him for teaching his child a lesson.

Jordan is the North Carolina dad who discovered that his 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, had dissed her parents disgracefully on her Facebook page because of the household chores they insist she do.

He delivered his own video lecture to Hannah, which ended with him pulling a gun out and shooting her laptop several times. Then, he posted his video on YouTube, where it really took off.

Jordan did it because he was fed up with his daughter’s sense of entitlement — she didn’t want to do chores, but she wanted her parents to give her all the electronic toys her heart desired. And she resented their message that if you want to buy something, go get a job and earn the money for it yourself.

Jordan could have taken a pass on the typical American penchant for using guns. He could have locked up Hannah’s laptop at his office or ditched it somewhere. But everything else he did and said was right on.

Jordan has stopped talking to the media. He says he doesn’t want to send Hannah “the message that it’s OK to gain from something like this. It would send her a message that it’s OK to profit at the expense of someone else’s embarrassment or misfortune and that’s not how I was raised, nor how she has been raised.”

In the video, he says to Hannah, “I don’t know how to say how disappointed I am in you, how disrespectful you were to every single adult in your life ... I’m going to put a stop to it right now.” He then tells her that whenever she’s not grounded, she can buy her own laptop, and repay him for the software he had just installed on her computer prior to discovering her Facebook message.

“Hope you’ve enjoyed your little fiasco on Facebook. Hope it was worth all this,” he adds. “Have a good day, y’all.”

Code told CBC that while he “kinda” wishes Jordan would lose the gun, because it was “a bit over the top,” he’s grateful for Jordan bringing to light the message that “we have to acknowledge our current parenting strategy is not working.”

Code said parents have bought into the myth that the more attention they give their kids, the better the kids will turn out. To make the child happy, Code said, “parents are just killing themselves to create a Disney World around their child ... Where are the results?” Kids are “more sullen, more demanding,” with more mental and physical problems than they used to have.

“Children are like dogs; either you train them, or they’re going to train you,” Code said, adding parents need “to teach kids the world does not revolve around them.”

Consequences have been such a dirty word for so long, that it’s truly refreshing to see a parent mete them out the way Jordan has. Equally refreshing is Jordan’s unabashed use of plain language such as “disappointed in you” and “disrespectful” instead of pussyfooting around with sticky-sweet euphemisms like “inappropriate behaviour” or “making the wrong choice for yourself.”

As for those who are publicly expressing their fears that Hannah’s self-esteem is in ruins, they need to be reminded that self-esteem comes from doing for oneself, not from being told you’re special just because you inhale and exhale every day.

I’m willing to bet that one day, when she’s grown, Hannah will look back on this incident and thank her father for teaching her about discipline, responsibility, a work ethic and respect for authority. It’s gratifying to see Jordan give old-fashioned parenting a much-needed boost — and give the cult of self-esteem a well-placed boot in the rear. Who knows? Maybe it’ll catch on. That can only be for the good.

OK, this is cool

Some of my faithful will remember me writing about John Ware in my road trip post.  Now there's this out of today's paper.

Stamp honours iconic Alberta cowboy John Ware

CALGARY — Canada Post is recognizing an iconic cowboy and pioneer rancher John Ware with a commemorative stamp.

It’s one of two stamps issued to celebrate Black History Month. The other one is a tribute to Viola Desmond, a civil rights beacon in Nova Scotia.

“(John Ware’s) name has come up several times,” said Joy Parks, a researcher with Canada Post. “When we delved into the story a little bit more, and found the connection to the Stampede, it was just the perfect year to do this with the centennial this year.”

Ware was born into slavery in South Carolina circa 1845, working cotton fields as a child.

He was freed following the American Civil War and eventually made his way to the foothills of Alberta in 1882.

He established a ranch and started competing as a steer wrestler, winning the event at the 1893 Calgary Fair. Ware helped pioneer rodeo techniques that would become staples of the Stampede.

When he died in 1905, Ware’s funeral was one of the biggest Calgary had ever seen.

Significantly, the stamp of Ware, designed by Victoria-based artist Lara Minja, contains an image of the deed to his land.

“He hadn’t been a free man for very long, and to own land as a free man is definitely a milestone in his life,” Parks said.

Desmond’s stamp recognizes her plight to fight segregation-style laws in Nova Scotia that led to her spending a night in jail and being charged with fraud after sitting in a whites only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow on Nov. 8, 1946.

The fraud charge stemmed from the one-cent difference in price between the white section and the racially-based secondary seating area.

She was pardoned posthumously in 2010.

This is the fourth year Canada Post has issued a pair of Black History Month stamps, which have become popular with collectors.

Although Ware died before the Calgary Stampede was launched, his achievements as a cowboy and rancher tie in with this year’s centennial celebrations.

A stamp celebrating the centennial will come out later this year.

Calgary playwright, author and historian Cheryl Foggo said she’s delighted Ware is being recognized by Canada Post.

“He was kind of a larger than life figure,” said Foggo. “He was so skilled as a horseman, and a cattleman, and a businessman and a people person. He’s very deserving of being honoured with a stamp.

“And It’s a really good way of raising awareness. I’m always surprised by the people I meet who still haven’t heard about him, even though there’s been a lot written about him.”

smyers@calgaryherald.com

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