With a story like this we just don’t know where to begin. Here we have a case where two children (both aged 6) were fighting over a pacifier (a pacifier of all things, at age 6?). Apparently one child dropped a pacifier and then another picked it up (and put it in his mouth?) and refused to give it back. The child who dropped the pacifier then punched the other kid and a full-scale mlŽe ensued. The mother of one of the children called the police reportedly to document the fight so she wouldn’t later be accused of abuse. Because of the age of the two children, no criminal action will be pursued. With a case like this three things stand out and all three point to a case of extremely poor parenting. In the first place what is a six-year-old child doing with a pacifier? We may offend some parents here, but if your child is more than a few months old and is still using a pacifier you are officially a deadbeat, lazy, useless buffoon of a parent. A pacifier has but one purpose, to silence a child. If a parent is so divorced from reality that they can’t come up with better ways to raise their child than by sticking something in his/her mouth every time the child makes noise, then perhaps you should consider giving the child up for adoption as its only going to get worse. The parent should also consider getting a tubal ligation or vasectomy. What are you going to do when the child is 12 or 13? Will you still use a pacifier? Evidence of poor parenting is also highlighted by the fact that the six year old punched another child, if your child is 6 and is going around punching other kids, then you have utterly failed as a parent. How about teaching the child some manners and perhaps some boundaries, before the child winds up in real trouble one day. And what parent calls police to an altercation involving a 6 year old? The same one who gives that child a pacifier in the first place, one who is too lazy to get involved directly, what a great model for deadbeat parent of the year. By the way, if you were offended by this article, its only because you too are one of those parents. One of those parents who have failed to teach your child any sense of responsibility, manners or discipline. You have shirked your duties as a parent and probably believe its wrong ever to tell a child no, after all, you may be the parent but they know what is best, right?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/05/AR2005100501527.html