Deadbeat Parents
This is someone who never grew up themselves and usually clings to their own parents too much or disassociates altogether. They are in fact mostly men, but women do it, too. On the other hand you can find a deadbeat parent right in the next room, leaving all of the child rearing up to the other parent or the television. Often it is the father figure that offers up an opinion every once in a while from the lazy-boy in an effort to assert some sense of authority.
Thanks goodness those times are changing as more men are acknowledging their responsibility that had been there since the child's birth. Many times, too, the woman will spend the day gossiping and watching soap operas only to tend at commercial breaks to kids who are mesmerized by cartoons and video games. These scenarios are reminders that someone has too much time on their hands and not enough hands-on with their children. They should try their hand at being a working single parent just so they can learn the art of juggling business with babies.
Television and Video
Television shows and video games should complement what is taught in the home, not replace it. Educational shows are great for teaching the basics in life, i.e., the alphabet, arithmetic, and playing nice, as those are skills they can take with them. It is important to know that a child's mind is in a continuous state of development where they should not be bombarded with stupidity and violence.
A parent's job is harder now that all of this is readily accessible and we must be watchful that they don't take those particular skills with them. One-dimensional entertainment is hypnotic and the mind is a natural sponge that soaks up everything it sees and processes it. Most television is nothing like real life and may seem harmless, but I really don't like my son behaving like Bart Simpson, let alone Beavis and Butthead. Even when it is restricted at home, they can get it somewhere else, so confirm that your kids know it is pretend as they are very gullible and impressionable.
It's always neat for kids to act out in what they see as fun as they are still learning and it's up to the parents to know if it's just a phase or they truly believe it. Every child is different and they are living proof that too much mindless entertainment creates a lazy mind, especially for energetic little sponges. Offer hobbies and teach them how to use their imaginations. Let them learn about the multi-dimensional world around them instead.
Teach your child to discern fantasy from reality.
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A single parent of one son with a deadbeat dad since 1981. My son and I had a unique relationship in that he treated me more like an older sister than a mother, which allowed us to be friends, but made discipline hard. We've gone through ADHD, father neglect, family interference and jealousies and of course the raging hormones of the teen-age years. He is one of those miracles where I had planned to never have children and got pregnant with protection, but didn't find out until I was 19 weeks along and I had just split up with his father two weeks prior and moved back to my own town. I have almost lost him a few times through a neglectful babysitter when he was three where he was about to be picked up by strangers walking along the highway and a near abduction when he was four while playing in the park.
I still remember the first time I ever felt real love in my life and it was just a few months after he was born, so he truly taught me that.