I found this jogging in Kumamoto earlier this year:

I found this jogging in Kumamoto earlier this year:

“Delinquent kids are the result of parents who are too soft and/or scold too much.”

On the one hand, as a parent I can appreciate the idea that, if there’s a problem, parents shouldn’t just blame the kid but should reflect on their own roles. On the other hand, I’m not a big fan of the reflexive tendency to blame everything on the parents when something goes wrong; I think it gives short shrift to the agency of the child and a wide variety of factors that are beyond the control of the parents.

This sign strikes me as rather cruel to parents who, despite having done their best, have kids who get in trouble in some way – and promoting a smug, holier-than-thou attitude among parents whose kids stay out of trouble.

My two yen – by Kirk