Who wants to share this with me?!?

Question

Its very newsworthy and considering the way our teenagers are being brought up these days very current as well...

Got this on mail & just had to share it!
Share it with your teens & have a good laugh & learn!!!

"Teenager's Complaints
My son came home from school one day,
With a smirk upon his face.
He decided he was smart enough,
to put me in my place.

'Guess what I learned in Civics Two,
that's taught by Mr. Wright?
It's all about the laws today,
The 'Children's Bill of Rights.'

It says I need not clean my room,
don't have to cut my hair
No one can tell me what to think,
or speak, or what to wear.

I have freedom from religion,
and regardless what you say,
I don't have to bow my head,
and I sure don't have to pray.

I can wear earrings if I want,
and pierce my tongue & nose.
I can read & watch just what I like,
get tattoos from head to toe.

And if you ever spank me,
I'll charge you with a crime.
I'll back up all my charges,
with the marks on my behind.

Don't you ever touch me,
my body's only for my use,
not for your hugs and kisses,
that's just more child abuse.

Don't preach about your morals,
like your Mama did to you.
That's nothing more than mind control,
And it's illegal too!

Mom, I have these children's rights,
so you can't influence me,
or I'll call Children's Services Division,
better known
as 'C.S.D.'
Mom's Reply and Thoughts

Of course my first instinct was
to toss him out the door.
But the chance to teach him a lesson
made me think a little more.

I mulled it over carefully,
I couldn't let this go.
A smile crept upon my face,
he's messing with a pro.

Next day I took him shopping
at the local Goodwill Store..
I told him, 'Pick out all you want,
there's shirts & pants galore.

I've called and checked with C.S.D .
who said they didn't care
if I bought you K-Mart shoes
instead of Nike Airs.

I've canceled that appointment
to take your driver's test.
The C.S.D. is unconcerned
so I'll decide what's best.'

I said 'No time to stop and eat,
or pick up stuff to munch.
And tomorrow you can start to learn
to make your own sack lunch.

Just save the raging appetite,
and wait till dinner time.
We're having liver and onions,
a favorite dish of mine.'

He asked 'Can I please rent a movie,
to watch on my VCR?'
'Sorry, but I sold your TV,
for new tires on my car.
I also rented out your room,
you'll take the couch instead.
The C.S.D. requires
just a roof over your head.

Your clothing won't be trendy now,
I'll choose what we eat.
That allowance that you used to get,
will buy me something neat.

I'm selling off your jet ski,
dirt-bike & roller blades.
Check out the 'Parents Bill of Rights',
It's in effect today!

Hey hot shot, are you crying,
Why are you on your knees?
Are you asking God to help you out,
instead of C.S.D..?'

from a MOM (Mean Old Mother)"

Answer 1

Some people just can't take a joke can they? Boo hiss to them!

Yes it comes as a shock to the kids when they realise that all the stuff mum used to do for them without question, they now have to do for themselves. When my daughter left college and got a job was aghast when I refused to give her pocket money as usual and when I said I was kind of expecting some money off her now I was the worst mother in the world!

I dunno. I coughed up my board to my parents every week without fail and I was still expected to do chores etc. Wouldn't have it any other way. It's only fair. My daughter realises now just how expensive it is to run a home as she has her own home now and her attitude is exactly the opposite of what it was. Do we do too much for our kids these days? Think we might.......

Answer 2

Sophic, your pretty full of yourself aren't you.
You a Lesbian?
To even insinuate a Mother can't show her child affection is ludicris to say the least. You as a (so-called journalist) did not judge the poem on it's construction, you judged it on your on set of morals, the very morals that you say this writer cannot force upon her son. yet you try to force them on the gentle readers of the forum. She was not being abusive, she was teaching the son a life lesson and I bet he got the point too!
Showing him that sometimes you have to earn respect before it is granted to you.
I'm glad you grew up in a family that supported you, but some kids don't have that luxury. Your parents worked hard to give you what you have.
Don't be so judgemental of others. especially if your going to be a journalist. You must be Objective in your reporting. not bias. Tell the truth, but do not put your slant on it. just report what the event was.

As for the Poem by MOM
I thought it was splendid.
When you show them what it would be like out in the Big Bad World on their own, they sing a very different tune. Nothing wrong with taking away the comforts as a punishment. After all that is the only recourse the courts and Liberal Congress have allowed us as parents. Everything else is considered child abuse.

Answer 3

To the rather eloquent teenager above: Just you wait until you have children! Then let's see what you have to say.
And the suffragettes managed very well, for a bunch of repressed, well behaved, well brought up women.
Had to laugh, Faith. I sneakily use a lot of these in my day-to-day discipline.

Answer 4

When I was young my kids did exactly what I said
And if they did not like it I sent them straight to bed.

Wow I'm a poet and don't know it .

from MOD (mean old Dad)

Answer 5

An excellent poem. I love it.

Answer 6

That's true, to me it imply's this generation doesn't think twice.

Answer 7

To answer your putative question:
No, I would not like to share this with you.

As a *gasp* teenager, I realize that I'm not exactly the target demographic for this, but seeing as you don't seem to have attracted a plethora of responses, I figured I'd chime in.

First, I thought I'd respond to your statement that this piece is considered "newsworthy."

I'm currently in journalism school, and I've learned in my classes that there are several characteristics that make up the quality of newsworthiness:
Very obviously, I would think, for something to be considered newsworthy, it must be news. This is not news, as it does not actually relate any event. It's just an arguably cute poem (other arguments may include "nauseatingly awful").
Another important quality for newsworthiness is timeliness - that is, a story should be current and relevant. As
a) Parents have been complaining about their children since the Ancient Greeeks
and
b) This poem mentions "VCR"s, which are no longer commonly in use
I have to conclude that this standard is not met either.

So, let's conclude that this is not exactly a piece of newsworthy, hard-hitting journalism, shall we?

Now, to the actual points that are being presented. First of all, many of them do not seem to be to be particularly radical. Hitting someone who is smaller, weaker, and unable to fight back constitutes child abuse. I don't know anyone who thinks that spanking a teenager is acceptable. Forcing physical affection on someone who does not want it constitutes sexual abuse.

By the time your children are teenagers, they have the right to form their own political, moral, and religious opinions, and to choose how they wish to behave in these arenas. If you've failed to convince them that your ideas are right, perhaps you're not a particularly effective teacher.

Children do indeed have freedom of speech. They are not excluded from the Bill of Rights on the basis of their age. As for the idea that children should be allowed to have their own THOUGHTS - that someone would think that is unacceptable is horrifying. Parents are supposed to be guides, not dictators, and the American ideal of freedom and independence should begin in the home.

Of course it is a parent's right to discipline a child by taking away privileges. However, I find the idea of a parent purposely spiting a child in a childish attempt to exact revenge for his or her declaring some measure of independence revolting, rather than amusing. I can't imagine what sort of mother would take smug pleasure from reducing her teenage son to tears.

To top it off, the poem is not exactly a masterpiece. If your message is that weak, you should at least stick to a rhyme scheme. Possibly, the writer's teenage son really was smart enough to put her in her place.

Sorry to rant for so long, but treacly tripe like this touches a nerve in me. I'll end with a positive thought and thank you for reminding me how blessed I am to have parents who respect and appreciate me, and who have treated me so that I respect and appreciate them. They are truly a source of inspiration for me and two of my best friends - and I'm glad that my mother is nothing like the one portrayed in this poem.

To end with a few apropos quotes:

"Recently a young mother asked for advice. What, she wanted to know, was she to do with a 7-year-old who was obstreperous, outspoken, and inconveniently willful? "Keep her," I replied.... The suffragettes refused to be polite in demanding what they wanted or grateful for getting what they deserved. Works for me." - Anna Quindlen

" Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable."
-Kahlil Gibran

Answer 8

class!!

Answer 9

it was amazing faith of yours !