This is a very funny book, much funnier than the TV series of the same name. The father's comments are sometimes bizarre but, more often than not, right on the mark. Some would find the book offensive because of the father's language and general crass attitude. Personally, I found it humorous. The father talks in real terms that anyone can understand, his language is the language of the work place before the PC people decided they would determine what can and cannot be said by civilized people.What struck me most about the father was not his crass language, his complete bluntness but his love for his son. Hie showed love in both the spoken terms of affection and in his willingness to speak difficult truths. He doesn't shield his son from truth, no matter how difficult. In that respect his is very unlike today's parents that coddle their kids and do everything possible to protect them from any adversity.
I have seen this coddling go to bizarre extreme's when a parent called my child's elementary school to complain about the best athlete contest held annually to identify the best male and female athlete for the school year. It was a voluntary contest that most of the kids participated in for some good, clean fun. The parent complained that the contest was unfair because her child, not being a good athlete, could never win the contest and that truth would negatively affect her child's self-esteem. Even more stupid than the parent who called to complain was the gutless leadership at the school that decided the contest was to be cancelled. So, to 'protect' one individual who may figure out that he/she is not a good athlete, the school cancelled an event that was loved by many of the students. If the parent's think they helped the kid not know he/she lacked athletic abilities then they were sadly mistaken. Kids compete in athletic events all the time on the playground. They all know, each and every one of the kids know, who the best athletes are and who will be picked last. It's the same in the classroom. Everyone knows who the genius' are and who struggles.
The parent tried to level the playing field not by helping her child work hard to improve in athletic capability but by tearing down an institution that helped a good many kids grow in their own self esteem, a self esteem born of hard work and completing a variety of competitive events. There is much more to be learned, more esteem to be grown by someone working hard to improve the capabilities. Life is competitive. We must work hard for good grades, for a suitable mate, for the great job that, in part, is determined by our ability to work for grades. Once in that great job, we must work hard to keep the job, to excel at the job, to move up the corporate ladder. In today's climate especially, if one can not work hard at the job, the job will be lost to someone hungrier, someone willing to bust their butts to succeed. What are they going to do if their child doesn't get a promotion at work, call the boss to complain? As idiotic as that sounds, I have heard tales of HR hell where parent's actually do these crazy things for their 'adult' children.
Today's parent's are a big part of what is wrong with today's youth, a big part of why our education system is turning out kids with less smarts than many other schools in 1st world countries. The parent's would rather everyone get an 'A' for mediocre work than for their kids to buckle down and work hard for a 'B' or 'C' but have real knowledge. They are more concerned about the grade than they are concerned about whether or not knowledge has been gained. It's no wonder the US Engineering schools are populated overwhelmingly with non US citizens and so many of the white collar US jobs are heading overseas. I blame the coddling Parent's. They are doing a grave disservice to their children and to our country. It's high time the leadership of our country spouted some of the hard truths contained in this book to the current generation of parents. Perhaps then the parent's will start being parents instead of trying to be their child's best friend.
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