The blog of a 21st century, 37 year old father
of a 13 year old girl and a 6 year old boy

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Hot Topic vs. Old Navy

I've told my daughter to stay away from the band HIM. She's telling people online that that's one of her favorite bands along with My Chemical Romance.

She believes these bands are important to the punk/goth creed. I write punk/goth because that's how she describes herself online.

I'm thinking about taking her Adio shoes away from her. I told her more than once that just because her Adio shoes have this heartagram symbol on them that doesn't mean she could listen to the band HIM or buy into everything else that's part of the punk/goth package.

The real issue is that she desperately wants to be accepted. She says she hates the "preps" who put her down for her fashion mistakes. She says they wear Hollister and Old Navy brands.

I need to help her find a way to meet kids whom she can view as peers. But right now she can't see past the brands they wear.

If you've got any thoughts or comments on what I should do I'd REALLY like to hear them

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

All about the brand?

Last night my daughter created a crossword puzzle of what looked like her favorite things. There was bands like Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Simple Plan, etc.. bands I knew she liked. But then there was Korn and The Cure.

Just earlier in the evening she had asked me, while browsing the internet, "Who is The Cure? Did you like them?" My answer was a tentative "Yes, they were one of my favorite bands" ... I didn't explain well that this was when I was 17/18. I didn't explain well why I don't listen to The Cure anymore because I wasn't sure myself.

So The Cure winds up on my daughters list of favorite things. I'm not sure where Korn came from on her list.

I've seen this kind of list in the form of a word game before. With the recent shoes thing. There's a page floating around the house here (literally) with Adio, Etnies and other skater shoe brand logos on it.

What concerns me is that she's not thinking for herself. Maybe she's not capable at this age, I don't know. Maybe if she gave The Cure a listen then decided she liked the band that would be better. Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe I don't want her listening to Korn and deciding she likes the band. Maybe this is all about the look or the brand and not really about the substance. This is what scares me as a parent. This sort of automatic buy-in.

I'm not sure how to teach my daughter to think, act, feel for herself. The paradox is that my wife and I have taught her to think, act and feel what we want her to. We've been surplanted with the world at large.

How can I teach my daughter to think, act and feel for herself or maybe I'm taking this sort of brand experimentation too seriously. Any ideas?

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Michigan Mom Demand District Review Parental Opt-Out Policies

Amazing in a Yahoo! search for "teenage daughter says she's depressed" this "News from Agape Press" is the first result:

"A woman in Michigan has asked the district where her teenage daughter attends school to exempt the child from all reading assignments that contain obscenity, immorality, and other troubling themes. Now the Christian mom is upset because she feels her teenager is being made to suffer academically and emotionally for a decision that every parent is legally entitled to make."

Interestingly, the mother's last name is "Thrasher". No joke.Read more at headlines.agapepress.or...

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

School ...

Today anything good that I could have experienced with my daughter was overshadowed by a magazine she brought home from school and a report card with two F's.

The magazine was Thrasher. I have two problems with this magazine at our middle school library 1) If any student were to read from that magazine aloud they would be sent to the office 2) If this same content were on tv it would be considered inappropriate, perhaps even for high school.

So tomorrow I get to go talk to someone, maybe the vice principal or the media coordinator to understand why this magazine is in the school library.

Now I'm all for freedom of speech. Don't get me wrong. At our library a tattoo book was taken out because of the pictures but i thought t needed to stay. Then again, I was 19.

So I didn't even get to the two F's.

Right now I'm thinking about how some kind of virtual middle school could work.

Have mercy!