Hot Takes/Unpopular Opinions?

We exist in a state of induced cultural paranoia. Kids are safer now than they were 50 years ago, but the induced anxiety caused by the constant barrage of hysteria perpetuates and increases the sickness of helicopter parenting.
Yeah. I am a helicopter parent because I wouldn’t let my kids run free.

I am happy with the results. My kids elementary friends - happy to show you how they turned out. Teenage parents, drug abuse, criminal records, poor academic record.
 
OK, so if you parented your kids they way that your parents parented you, your kids would have ended up as teenage parents, drug abusers, criminals and academic failures.

Got it.
 
Helicopter parenting is so last decade. We have moved past lawnmower and snowplow versions to drone overwatch.

My tongue is lodged in my cheek, and I am using the dark humor font.
 
OK, so if you parented your kids they way that your parents parented you, your kids would have ended up as teenage parents, drug abusers, criminals and academic failures.

Got it.
If my son had hung around his friends and not been busy with sports, exc activities, and academics - I can assure you he wouldn’t be graduating from USNA this month.

And yes - their friends came from good families. Smart kids.

The successful ones were the ones who parented like I did.

Parent how you want. You can label me anyway you want.

One parent came to me four years ago and said he wishes he could do it all over again.

Another friend told my son over last Christmas that he is so proud of him and he will forever be compared to my son. His father graduated West Point and wanted his son to go to a SA. Played basketball with my son through ninth grade. Was at the top of his class back then. Didn’t try.
 
Whatever. My first post had literally nothing to do with you personally. It was a macroenvironmental comment, but you chose to react defensively. My second post simply pointed out the inherent contradiction of your response. Obviously your parents raised you in more of a free range manner and you didn't turn out as an drug-addled, incarcerated, academically challenged, teenaged parent.

Or maybe you did.

If so, congratulations on pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and raising your son to be such an inspiring role model, despite the trauma you suffered as a result of the apparently poor choices made by your own parents.

BZ!
 
Haha Sounds like we raised our kids similarly.

Welcome to the helicopter parent club!
Looking back at high school, DC somewhat regrets the focus they put into chasing their dream of an appointment. They had limited social life due to focusing on academics & athletics. Athletics included club sport that involved year round, six days a week practices, that were located more than an hour and a half away. So 5-6 hours a day of travel and practice. Every. Single. Day. (except Sundays) For more than 4 years. The exception being during the high school season, which was essentially a mixed-blessing break from the practice grind. The result was 4 years of varsity letters, team captainship, multiple high school records, multiple first team all area selections in a county more populous than a number of states, state championship qualification in a state more populous than most countries, and D1 recruiting.

If anything, academically they focused even more intently than on athletics, using the 3 hours a day of driving to and from practice to do homework and study. Or write drafts of nomination and Academy application essays. Staying up until late at night, or early in the morning, putting in the work necessary to excel. Staying home on weekend nights to study, instead of going out to socialize and party, despite being encouraged by their parents to make time for fun. Four years of mathletes team competition and captaincy, four years of student government, 3 years of math and science tutoring, and four years of community service club membership. The result was a near-perfect SAT score (without a prep class or tutor), 4.0 unweighted GPA that included the maximum number of honors, dual-enrollment college, and AP classes that were available. Top of class ranking and more than 2 years worth of university transferrable credits coming out of high school.

The combined result of the multiyear effort was multiple scholarship offers, multiple congressional and senatorial nominations, and multiple early offers of appointment, one of which was accepted. Four successful years of Adademy academic and varsity team experience, commissioning, IGEP, and now several years in active duty service. So...mission accomplished.

As I mentioned at the start, DC somewhat regrets the sacrifices made in the successful pursuit of the dream. There were a lot of sacrifices. People will talk about the normal college experience versus the SA experience. DC talks about the loss of the normal high school experience versus the chasing the SA appointment experience. The contrast between being voted most likely to succeed by their senior class, versus most likely to have a "normal" carefree high school career. But, at the end of the day, the sacrifices made were what enabled the win at the finish line. So, while DC looks back wistfully at times and wonders "what if?" for the lost fun times, they also think "thank God!" for having had the fortitude to stay the course and live what is, for them, the dream.

There is an expression in athletics that says, "All it takes is all you got." That is exactly what DC put into the multiyear effort of achieving an appointment. But they were never secure in the belief that they would succeed in that effort. They were always aware that no matter how smart they were, how athletically gifted, how dedicated, there were always going to be other candidates that were smarter, faster, and more committed. At the Academy, there were many classmates that made DC feel humble. Because for all of their accomplishments and accolades, those other classmates were smarter, were faster, were more focused. And it made DC even more grateful that the Academy opened up its doors to them.

So, if you want to have a chance to receive an offer of appointment, start early and give it all you got. And don't ever feel that you, or your DC, is entitled to an offer, because there will always be another candidate that is smarter, faster, or more dedicated.
 
We let our son run amok all his little life. Walked to and from school by himself from kindergarten on, no playdates, no sports, not much music (used his trumpet to torture his cat mostly), no homework requirement or supervision from us, no camps or academic enrichment programs. Just a lot of unstructured, unscheduled time to daydream, play, ride his bike around, and be a kid. We just let him be. Thank doG for that boarding school, I guess. ;)
 
Last edited:
World War I vets used to say that we had no chance against Japan because of how "soft" the young men and women of that time were. They're now called the Greatest Generation.
I'm not a vet, I'm saying this as a kid. I know how much time is wasted in the life of an average teen nowadays. I'm not saying that people nowadays have become less than they used to be or that they're making poorer decisions (because people in fact remain the same throughout history), I'm simply saying that we have so much more opportunity today for wasting our lives and getting very unhealthy and lazy.
As for the "Greatest Generation", I don't buy it. I don't see anything better about the ww2 generation than any other generation. They were simply in the right place and time to do what they did. A superior nation (in size and resources) like the US didn't NEED some sort of "greatest generation" to do what they did in ww2. World war 2 is full of evidence of the regular stupidity of humans (on both sides).
 
In size and resources, we haven't materially changed yet we haven't "won" a shooting war or major engagement since if you figure in the after-action outcomes. Maybe they were.
 
We should overhaul the structure of our military branches of service. They should be as follows:

Department of the Navy and Coastal Patrol: Consists of current Navy surface combatants and Coast Guard assets. It should also include submarines and divers and those SEAL missions which are inherently conducted at Sea.

Department of Land Warfare: Army and Marine Corps ...... there, I said it.....put the rifle and bayonet stabby folks in one branch of service. The Marines are going to be getting Army hand-me-downs anyway so might as well just group them together. There will be all sorts of hockey brawls for a year or so, and then it will settle out.

Department of Air Warfare......which includes all the pointy nosed guys and gals as well as the helos and logistics aircraft. This transition may actually be harder than putting the Army and Marines together.

Department of Misfit Toys: All of the other cats and dogs that don't have a home anywhere else.

There would be tremendous cost savings as all of the people who either float on the water, fly above it, or fight near it could determine the way ahead for the next century.

I actually pitched a scaled-back version of this many years ago at the Naval War College. I then had to rent several Halloween costumes and hide myself from my "former" Marine friends who referred to me as either Judas, Brutus, or words that would not be appropriate for this forum.

I'm just gonna let myself out the back door here........on my tiptoes.
 
We should overhaul the structure of our military branches of service. They should be as follows:

Department of the Navy and Coastal Patrol: Consists of current Navy surface combatants and Coast Guard assets. It should also include submarines and divers and those SEAL missions which are inherently conducted at Sea.

Department of Land Warfare: Army and Marine Corps ...... there, I said it.....put the rifle and bayonet stabby folks in one branch of service. The Marines are going to be getting Army hand-me-downs anyway so might as well just group them together. There will be all sorts of hockey brawls for a year or so, and then it will settle out.

Department of Air Warfare......which includes all the pointy nosed guys and gals as well as the helos and logistics aircraft. This transition may actually be harder than putting the Army and Marines together.

Department of Misfit Toys: All of the other cats and dogs that don't have a home anywhere else.

There would be tremendous cost savings as all of the people who either float on the water, fly above it, or fight near it could determine the way ahead for the next century.

I actually pitched a scaled-back version of this many years ago at the Naval War College. I then had to rent several Halloween costumes and hide myself from my "former" Marine friends who referred to me as either Judas, Brutus, or words that would not be appropriate for this forum.

I'm just gonna let myself out the back door here........on my tiptoes.

Wait a minute... SEALs can do it all. Just ask Washington, Hollywood, or any SEAL you run into.
 
Where would Navy Warrior JAG and Jet Pilot Harm fit in? As I recall, in one episode of JAG, he flew a Russian jet fighter.
 
After a few "hockey brawls" that section would be known as the Marine corps once again..... Only need The Corps, some rubber boats and A LOT of bullets and the shores will be secure!
 
Don't forget, Congress is talking about standing up Cyber as its own branch. We don't need Navy Cyber, Army Cyber, Air Force Cyber...

Department of Screens and Keyboards?
 
Don't forget, Congress is talking about standing up Cyber as its own branch. We don't need Navy Cyber, Army Cyber, Air Force Cyber...

Department of Screens and Keyboards?
I don't know whether I support this until I see the potential uniform designs. And, of course, whether they go the Admiral vs General ranking convention.
 
Back
Top