The video of a boy destroying his mother’s kitchen recently went viral in our social media space and as usual, opinions have been flying around. Most of them are totally absurd as the comments lack any appreciation of the environment where the incident took place.
I am currently wearing similar shoes because I am raising a son who will soon be 14 in Ireland. Teenagers will show dissent and my son is no exception but I struggle to imagine him doing this to his mum.
Without justifying the boy’s action let’s take a closer look at the video. You could hear his mum admit that she ignored him. Granted he may be stubborn like many teenagers yet their legal rights become manifest from 16, at least in Ireland as much as I know. So I believe parents should know this and pay closer attention to their needs, especially around this age.
His mum also said she was advised by his father not to get physical with him thereby unwittingly corroborating the boy’s assertion that his mum sometimes gets physical with him.
Once again listen closely and you will hear when she said he wanted to file an application for UCD. That is University College Dublin. What kind of parent stalls her child’s university application? Come on something has got to give at a point. I wrote about this recently on how a father should raise his son.
Nobody will support a child acting like this but it’s a culmination of previous events as the boy tweeted later. The boy is old enough to work and drive. He also probably has peers doing these things already but he cycles and at home, he is still being treated like a baby
I showed this vid to my kids yesterday and we had a chat about it. My son swore he’ll never do this but who knows?
However, what I do know is that my kids will start driving and working once they are 16. That gives them more responsibility and lifts a lot of burden off our shoulders. Africans actually over-parent a lot. We have children in their 20s and 30s still living under our roofs..haba!
Ireland is one of the best western countries to raise a child because of their religious heritage and strong family affiliation. The boy’s mum should adapt to avoid a cultural clash. This is not to say that you shouldn’t be firm with your kids but over here in the western world they really grow fast. So let your children grow, let them transition to adults because if you are in Rome the least you can do is to act like the Romans.
