Some "reality" is definitely needed.

I may get into some things later on depending on my mood, but suffice it to say that I understand some of this stuff firsthand. And no matter what show, or host or so-called expert comes up with, people have to remember that kids are a constant learning tablet and they tend to turn out the way they do 99% of the time due to the influence, or lack thereof, of people and things around them.

Specific to this article, it is yet another example of what's wrong on this side of the pond. Why do people moan and groan about how their kids are at teen age when it was in their power to make that difference before they got there? I am so tired of the "I don't know how they got this way" bloody cop out of an excuse. If you don't know, then by definition you are the quintessential example of the absentee parent. You may be in the house, but you have not a frickin' clue what goes on in there. Just look at the sorry cases of the Columbine parents. I'd like to think that if my kids were building f@@king bombs in the basement, I'd have an inkling of that. They may get the process started, but for it to remain undetected, I'd not be doing my job.

And yes, that job includes a certain level of invasion of privacy. If you think that that goes to far, well, I will only say more power to you and we may see you on the talk show circuit in the near future as you try damage control on what little Joe or Jane did the week before. If you don't know what is being brought into your house, you may end up wondering why those thugs was shooting it up last night (because little Joe shortchanged Buddy large for the stash given him last week). We need to know what the heck is going on with them. Surprises typically don't affect only the person in the soup; the soup bowl gets larger all the time.

So, maybe you are not comfortable to do as Chris Rock said and beat the hell outta your kids, but at least do more than sitting back and being uninvolved in the type of person they are going to become. You owe them that, you won't be able to complain about them if you do not, and (as the reality TV shows show) the world contains enough brats!

Peace.

CANOE -- JAM! - 'Brat Camp' teen faces charges