Laptop Shooting Revisited - What Do We Learn About Apology?

I recently wrote about the dad who shot his daughter's laptop as punishment for berating him on Facebook. The Today Show recently interviewed dad and daughter and I thought I owed them a follow-up post as it relates to what makes for a good apology.

After my post yesterday on the Four Keys to a Good Apology I wanted to see at least a few of the keys in place. Not so much. Dad and daughter basically said that everything was cool between them. He admits making a mistake but still stood behind his decision.  I'm not sure what THAT means. Sounds like double talk. Either it was a mistake and he retracts what he did or it was the right thing and he stands behind it. You can't have it both ways.

What really troubled me is the common excuse for bad behavior..."I tried everything and it didn't work so I HAD to misbehave to get the results I was looking for."  His wife says he's a very intelligent man but this is not intelligent behavior. It's juvenile. I was hoping that he would own his humiliating and violent behavior and now, a month later, understand what he should have done. But no, not happening.

Also troubling is that 72% of the response is in favor of what he did. This doesn't show me his wisdom. It just tells me that there are a lot of frustrated parents out there at their wit's end and have no idea how to parent their teenager.

So tell me, what do you think? After a month of reflection what should he have said?

Related articles

• Laptop Shooting - Good Parenting? (readingremy.com)