Screen time squabbles: Dad versus kids
I let my son decide his own consequence for a video game infraction. He made a pretty mature decision
When I was a kid, I really liked to play video games. I grew up on an Atari 2600. The games were two-dimensional, blocky, with bleeps and blurts. It was good fun. Asteroids, Missile Command and Defender were my favourites. Yars' Revenge was pretty cool, too.
I liked the Atari so much, as an adult, I bought an Atari Flashback . . .
Posted in: disciplinescreen timeatarivideo games
When I take my children to the park, I can't resist the urge to discipline other kids
Disciplining other people’s children can be a dicey business
This essay originally appeared in The Globe and Mail on January 26, 2016.
Disciplining other people’s children can be a dicey business. I sometimes face this issue at our neighbourhood park, where I often take my kids after school.
I am a former teacher, so the playground is very familiar to me: It’s where a . . .
Posted in: playgroundracismdisciplinebullying
The older I get, the more I become like my dad
It was the height of hubris to think I could outwit my father
“When are you going to stop sneaking out in the middle of the night?” my dad asked, poker-faced.
The gig was up.
When I was a teenager, in order to join my friends for some late-night debauchery, I had to circumvent our home security system. I couldn’t risk waking my parents by disarming the alarm and leaving through the . . .
Posted in: disciplinesneaking outteenagers
