I hope she doesn't say anything to his face that he doesn't like.  He might just shoot her next!  Interesting that no one seemed to notice that eight shots were fired. 

hMMMM Shooting the laptop is a bit exteme!

I have taken away my teen's laptop for 10 days . (I took it to one of my friend's houses. It was safe and unused).

Uh, no. His response wasn't appropriate...WAY overblown for the situation. It was immature and scary, almost psychopathic. His daughter's facebook post sounds pretty age appropriate--typical frustrated teen (and he didn't dispute the work she does around the house--honestly, I don't blame her for feeling annoyed that she cleans up after people who track mud through the house after she cleans it--I don't know, maybe I was a spoiled teen--but if I tracked mud through the house I would be the one to clean it up--as would they if they did it--common respect). She wasn't talking about partying or boys or anything that might worry parents...she was simply venting about her parents. Normal. And with a dad like that, it would be no wonder if she were to develop some emotional problems. Actually, I'm a little concerned for her.

Props to Dad. While I wouldn't use a pistol, I did something close to that with our teenage girls. I locked the computer down with a sophistocated software lock. And to this day they haven't broken it.

Oh, man! Really?! Wow. Well I guess we don't know the full story about the girl, but I wouldn't treat my kid like he did. She may be trouble, but that's no way to treat her imo. He's just acting like an overgrown kid himself. Ground her perhaps, take away the computer maybe...first sit down and talk to her.. and find out why she's so frustrated, there may be more to it than the chores, more than likely...but what he did was harsh! He's clearly got anger management issues himself, so I can hardly blame her for her angry facebook post. It looks like a case of the apple not falling far from the tree.

A software lock is far more reasonable than his display.

A gun may be extreme, but I don't think he has anger management issues. OTOH, the daughter has issues. BTW, she was grounded.

I think father and daughter have communication issues, among others.  The gun business is downright scary...glad he's not a member of my family. 

DKS:  I think there are far moresafe and mature ways to handle it than he did. Sure the daughter has issues, as do most teenage girls. He's out of touch with his daughter and behaving like a child himself if you ask me. His behaviour was far more abnormal than hers. Maybe she is a difficult teenager, but I think his behaviour, as a parent, is horrendous..not to mention threatening.  If he does things like that, her behaviour is only bound to get worse I think. Maybe they need family counseling.

aaaannnnnd.... Here's the update.

http://www.litefm.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=421220&article=9744152#.TzYD--Aflhs.facebook

sometimes when a person goes off on an extreme reaction, what we ae witnessing is the result of the straw that broke the camel's back. Perhaps this was a long time coming and that was the final straw. We don't know the whole story of their household dynamic. 

Too funny that it was her Dog that gave away her post!

Sounds like the family is doing ok. It's not the way I would have done it but they seem to have talked and moved on!

Sounds like Dad is the kind of well-balanced, mature kind of parent most of us aspire to be. While I wouldn't use a gun, I can understand his methodology in dealing with his daughter.

As a parent of six kids, including two girls, I disagree. And usually counselling solves nothing.

Thanks for the update, triscuit.  Good to get all sides of the story.  It's easy to pass judgement too quickly.  Sounds like father and daughter have resolved some issues.  Hope their relationship improves.

Rather than use the gun, as a parent I would have done what one reader suggested, wipe the computer's hard drive clean of everything and sell it.  Seems a waste of a perfectly good laptop.

true but think of how GRATIFYING!

Somehow, I wouldn't find shooting off a 45, 8 shots into a laptop, very gratifying. 

Shooting a pesky groundhog or nasty racoons, now that's different.  Actually, killing an animal is not pleasant for me, only do it out of necessity and feel badly about it.

I didn't think putting something on YouTube was the right way of dealing with the issue.  It's put her into the limelight . . . it will never disappear . . . she will always be "the girl who's father shot her computer".

I think teaching our children lessons and disciplining them is a private matter, or at a minumum involving those who need to be involved - not the whole world.

I think shooting the computer was ridiculous.  We have enough issues with guns and accidents with them without a whole bunch of other people deciding they will shoot something and post on facebook too.

Maybe I'm wrong about the dad and the girl. I don't know anything about them. It's definately not the way I would have handled it.

I guess in certain respects I was spoiled like this girl...and I am no example of picture perfect upbringing by any means. My parents were divorced and I went back and forth. In one household, I lived quite modestly and nothing came without earning it, in the other- my step siblngs and I were well off materially and not too well disciplined, and stuff was taken for granted. With three teens in the house, and a new baby, my dad then took up the tough love cause and enforced discipline (not physically, just strict grounding)...it felt like martial law all of a sudden...like we weren't loved, even though we were. My step brother ended up in a foster home briefly (long story--it was suggested by outside advice as discipline for him, not forced though) later in boarding school for a year, then running away from there...it was tough for him, and for all of us. Still hasn't really grown up 20 some odd years later.  Mixed messages for us. Admittedly, as a result, maybe I didn't grow up to appreciate the value of a dollar in the same way others do, maybe not enough, dollars never dominated my thoughts like other worries...I was fairly well behaved though, despite everything, until the last two years of high school when I was fed up with my parents and started to test my boundaries.. by then, all I cared about was acceptance and friendship and fitting in/ surviving at school. I don't think it would have mattered what their parenting style was by then, because as far as I was concerned,  they didn't have to endure my highschool experience. I don't blame my parents now, they did their best with what they knew, but I can see in retrospect where things went wrong. Also, after we all moved out, my younger half brother had it pretty easy, not much discipline, got into a wee bit of trouble in high school (but had a deal with my dad to call from a parties for rides etc...had a close relationship with my dad and step mom and didn't feel the need to hide anything) and he turned out just fine. Who's to say?

Now, to me there are better things to work for than to buy things and I don't really care about having money or the status that comes with it, as long as I am alive, have a place to live, and a life to share with loved ones and ability to help others.. I never covetted money or stuff (although recently became attached to having a computer---but  I could learn quickly to live without it again), and I never got wealthy or had any desire to. It is just stuff, I've been better off some years than others, and there are more important things to lose and bigger lessons in life than whether or not I have stuff (like when a long time friend who had strict parents, who all the other parents tried to isolate kids from too, died after an ongoing battle with drugs).  Another friend turned out okay eventually on her own, but she still won't speak to her dad. I don't know the best answer. I think it depends on the personality of the kid. That approach might help one kid and harm another. What disturbs me is this guy's use of threatening actions to prove his point. With a gun no less. The tough love parenting thing doesn't work in all cases that's for sure. I've seen it fail many times. It was big in the 80's. Many kids I knew, from middle class homes, went the other direction in rebellion, and were more trouble than their parents could handle and never really thrived to this day. On the other hand, a couple of my close friends had "friendship" type relationships with their parents, could talk to them about anything and were given breathing room to do their own thing, and hence, respected their parents without being told to, and turned out better than the others. I think there needs to be a balance. This dad, and others out there,  shouldn't be so sure that his behaviour won't have any negative impact down the road. It sounds like she'll be okay, and hopefully will, but we haven't heard directly from her remember. All we have is his account of the situation, the guy who used a gun to make a point, assuring us all is well. Not sure if  I would take his word for it. I am not going to speculate on this anymore. I don't know these people...but we shouldn't be so sure of our judgments imo.

Anyone who uses a firearm outside of a range, and in anger is a gun happy idiot and a danger to his family and everybody around him.

That was my first thought. Teenage issues aside.

I'm anti-gun.  I don't know what the father even had that gun for, but I'm quite sure he didn't buy it to shoot expensive laptops.  If he had a legal right to own it, he misused it and should have it removed.    My opinion there - but then I'm not American.

And the computer?   What a waste!!!   Surely he could have wiped it clean and sold it.  Or better yet given it away.  There is a school kid somewhere in his city or district who could use it, or a charity.  

Then, when things calmed down at home he, and his wife, could have sat down with his daughter and talked about the video.  They could have explained to her how embarassing it was to them, and how very disappointed they were in her behaviour when they read it.   Then they could have gone over her complaints one by one.  Are they fair?   If not, what can be done about them.   If the parents really track dirt over a floor that the girl has just cleaned, they should appologize and change their behaviour.   Was it an emergency?  Were they doing garden work and the smoke alarm went off indicating they had forgotten something on the stove?    Does she have an unreasonable number of chores to do?   Does her little brother have age-appropriate chores?   Why do they expect her to get them coffee if they could get it themselves?  Or do they just ask her if they are busy, or if she is going to the kitchen to fix herself a snack and they ask her to bring them one too?   

Does she have a reasonable amount of free time to socialize outside of school, homework, chores, sleep?  

So many things to talk about if both sides are willing to communicate.   The girl should appologize.  The parents should recognize that it is age appropriate to vent about parents and rules but not on an open medium (perhaps she could be journaling - for her own eyes only).  

Eventually she will need to have use of a computer.  My grandson is in grade two - he does much of his homework on his mother's computer (looking up facts about China while in Grade one, for instance).    Maybe she'll have to use her parent's computer in a public room of the house - maybe the diningroom table where her parents can glance at what she's doing when they walk by for the next while.  

Thanks Trishcuit. I embeded the video in your post. Did people notice it's recevied more than 25 million views? Wow.

I have not watched the video here (seen clips on TV) nor read the link.

Yet, IMO, if my wife said something about me online or on the phone... we have serious problems. She should be able to come to me and talk to me. That she cannot, or feels she cannot, can be her problem, mine or both of ours.

If I find out (true or untrue statements) and then smash the laptop or rip the phone out.... and seek to embarass or degrade her in front of her peers or others or to even publicly 'set the record straight'... IMO I have some serious problems. It does not matter to me if I bought it or not.

Again, this is in my opinion. It could indicate an anger problem. It could also indicate an abusive relationship.

I would feel the same way if someone threw it or put it in the tub or whatever. This is not even about the use of a gun. This is a show of power and one of control and they raise red flags for me. As an adult, it is within my power to take away internet access and the computer. It is my responsibility as a parent to control that such access is appropriate. To destroy it is about a show of something else, either violence or immaturity.

I would say something akin to, "As the parent and the adult, I am used to hearing "I hate you" and "I wish you were dead" and whatever else kids might say. That is not what this is about. it is my responsibility to parent you and you have shown you will use the internet to say nasty things, bully people, swear and all kinds of other things... therefore... you will not be using the internet until such time...." (and that would mean seizing or blocking access on a cell phone or a laptop, not destroying either)

If he is so frustrated and angry about her behaviour that he does this... then it worries me whether it be his anger or his immaturity. She is learning boundaries, he is supposed to know them and then teach them.

Does anyone remember those Fischer Price record players?  They came with their own brightly colored plastic records that had songs like "Camptown Races". Probably vintage by now.

well anyway I remember my Dad had enough of it and we watched in open-mouthed awe as he put it on the floor in the living room heel stomped it, a few times.  We didn't cry as I remember, we were merely dumbfounded. I look back on this with amusement now because I have felt the urge to commit acts of violence towards certain toys since having children of my own.

I had one of those too Trishcuit! I loved playing with it, but I'm not sure how my parents managed to put up with it!

I remember those..then later I had a kid's record player that played real records...I think it was also Fisher Price, but I could be wrong.

Crappy for you, but kind of funny, about your dad stomping on it.  Some of those toys make annoying sounds, esp. repeatedly. At least he didn't take a pistol to it though...that's much different I think.  It sounds like your dad was just annoyed with the noise of the toy, not with angry with you specifically. Mainly, it means this guy likes to shoot guns when he is upset and angry with someone..I dunno, something about that really bothers me.

My kids, and grandkids, had some noisy toys that drove me up the wall.   I don't remember ever destroying any, but if someone didn't turn it down or off when asked to it might disappear for awhile.  Or when I was tidying their room it just might be slipped off to a basement shelf.   If they didn't ask for it until the next church rummage sale, it might just end up in a box going there.   I would usually show them the box and remark, "I've put in some of your toys that you've outgrown.  You might want to look through it."     Rarely would they exclaim:  "I've been hunting all over for this.  I still want it."    Then I would return it to them, but often find they had discarded it within a week or so and back to the basement it would go. 

I don't understand why, with all the studies that have been done on kids' hearing,  they have to make kids toys so darn loud.   And what do they do with the sound to make it so annoying?    I'll leave the CBC on in the morning listening to the news when suddenly at 8:00 am the program will change and there will be this loud, annoying sound that has me galloping to the livingroom to turn it off.   It's some program for pre-school children.   Sometimes I'm glad that we are past that age at our house.

My sister in law buys her son the most annoying toys on the planet. Loud noises, sometimes piercing.  Flashing lights.  They would make great target practice. 

But then again, while she is at work all day, running the business, the Nanny is at home with the kids.