Tommy Jordan: Parenting Hero or Why Our Kids Laugh at Us?
The now-infamous Facebook-dad-who-shot-his-daughter’s-laptop’s real name is Tommy Jordan. He lives in North Carolina. By now I assume you are all familiar with him.
My big question is simple: is he a hero for us parents today? Or is he a perfect example of why our kids laugh at us and disrespect us?
In my personal opinion, his over-the-top response to his daughter’s Facebook post certainly made his point clear as day. I know many of us have dreamed of doing the very same thing… But was it too much? Is that the type of overreacting that makes our kids laugh at us, or burn with anger and disobey us and insult us behind our backs?
Maybe he did go too far… but isn’t it great to see a parent with nerves of steel, not afraid to back down or let his kid know who the boss is. But admittedly, there was probably an easier way to do it…
I wish more parents were this strong in terms of being the boss of the internet in their house. I am not telling you all to go shoot up your router if your kid is on Facebook too much – but using program like PC Pandora monitoring software is a good way to let your child know that what they do on the computer will be seen by all (aka mom and dad). Don’t be afraid to monitor your child’s internet activity. Remember who the boss off the house is… remember who pays for that internet connection.
Here are a few stories plus the original Facebook/YouTube video of the entire thing. This is definitely one for the Internet history books…
February 13, 2012
N.C. dad who shot teen daughter’s laptop over Facebook rant: ‘I’d do it again’
Laptop shooter Tommy Jordan has had to chase ‘Good Morning America’ off his lawn; got a visit from cops
NY Daily NewsA gun-slinging North Carolina pop isn’t sorry for shooting up his teen daughter’s laptop in a video that went viral over the weekend – he just wishes he wore a nicer hat.
Tommy Jordan videotaped himself last week firing nine bullets into his 15-year-old daughter Hanna’s computer as payback for trash-talking him on Facebook.
The video has received more than 21 million views on YouTube, and, according to Jordan’s Facebook page, prompted cops and Child Protective Services to visit his Albermarle, N.C. home. Read more ›
February 13, 2012
Teachable Moments From The Dad Who Shot His Teen’s Laptop
By Caroline Howard, Forbes StaffIt’s that time of year. Remember last January, when Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was first unleashed? This month we were hit with a new title, Pamela Druckerman’s Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting.
As it’s the parenting-anxiety season, here comes North Carolina dad Tommy Jordan, now famous for outing his teenage daughter’s Facebook posting and shooting up her laptop with a .45 for all the YouTube world to see–22M views and counting. You must have seen it: He’s Marlboro Man rugged, sporting a cowboy hat and smoking a cigarette, his voice as tempered as steel.
He is pissed. The video starts with him reading a printout of a post his 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, put on her Facebook wall the day previous, titled, “To My Parents.” Read more ›
February 14, 2012
Facebook dad – yes, THAT one – is ready to ‘move on’
By Steve Lyttle The Charlotte ObserverTommy Jordan, the Stanly County father who responded to his teen-age daughter’s Facebook rant with an eight-minute YouTube rant of his own, says he is preparing to “move on” with his life.
We use the word “says” guardedly, because Jordan has declined — throughout the six-day whirlwind of publicity resulting from a YouTube post that has garnered almost 22 million hits — to speak with the media.
Instead, he is doing what his 15-year-old daughter did when she complained that her parents had turned her into a slave by requiring her to do chores — he’s circumventing the media and communicating to his followers and detractors with Facebook. Read more ›