The Editors Desk!
"Read first before you yell at me..."
Starting this issue with a disclaimer LOL! I am NOT talking about all parents, so please read first before you yell at me, blaming parents for kids anti-social behaviour is NOT normally my gig, and I am usually the first to be offended. BUT!
After the exposure given to that Ipswich woman's school parking altercation with police, you would think that parents would have had a really obvious 'heads up' that this behaviour is not acceptable? Guess what! Nope, my husband nearly got wiped out doing the morning drop off by a parent who not only was driving too fast, but did a U turn, over double white lines, right in front of the school crossing, and then, to add insult to injury, displayed some lovely language, (in front of kids), when called on her actions. Makes the mind boggle! What is her child growing up learning is acceptable behaviour?
Thinking, just a one off bad experience, NO, give it another day... Duties as a parent helper at the KidZone disco (thanks kindly to Steve & the Noosa Leisure Centre) as a fundraiser, well, kids can be exuberant, no problem there, some though were little terrors, no care for the kids around them, nor respect for the adults supervising them. (Before you all yell at me, the majority of kids are great!!!) The departure rules at the disco are excellent and developed solely for the safety of the kids, i.e. kids cannot leave the premises without a parent physically coming in and claiming them. Many kids just push and shove trying to get out the door at the end, I had a few swear at me and one even 'pushed' me quiet hard (mostly the same culprits who didn't behave inside). 'Not Happy Jan' as you can imagine.
Then it got worse... Some parents got cranky at us for not allowing their children to run around in the dark outside waiting for them (go figure), some just ignored us, and a few actually abused us! The kid who pushed me obviously learned his behaviour off his mum, as she finally walked inside, swore at me, and complained about having to go through this 's**t' every time her kid came here! I didn't need to be Einstein to see where that kid learned his social skills :(...
I know we are not a perfect parents, who can claim that tag? Like the majority of parents, we do our best, and even if things go bad (and they do for a variety of reasons beyond a parents control), we can take comfort in the fact that we tried... I guess the moral of the story is, if you don't want to be blamed for your kids bad behaviour, don't teach them bad behaviour by example in the first place!
Best Wishes, Noely, Community Site Co-ordinator