Dad Tommy Jordan, in his 'Facebook Parenting for the Troubled Teen' video
The YouTube video of a father shooting his teenage daughter’s laptop in response to a rant she posted on Facebook has led critics of his parenting method to call police and child protective services to his home in Albermarle, North Carolina.
But Tommy Jordan said in a statement on his Facebook page over the weekend, “If I had it to do again … let’s see … I’d do it almost the same”, and he’s sorry to disappoint anyone who hoped he would end up in handcuffs.
“The police by the way said ‘Kudos, Sir’ and most of them made their kids watch it. I actually had a ‘thank you’ from an entire detectives squad,” Jordan said in the statement, adding that another officer is using the video in a presentation to the school system.
If anyone wants to keep calling the police, Jordan said, they are welcome to do so: ‘I’m just going to leave a pot of coffee on for the next officers who come by.”
What sparked Jordan shooting the laptop nine times – one shot being “from Mom” – with a .45 handgun was 15-year-old Hannah’s Facebook post about her parents, which she titled “Dear Parents”.
“I am not your damn slave,” Hannah wrote, bemoaning life at school, unpaid household chores and nagging about getting a job. She even stated that her folks shouldn’t count on her when they are elderly, as she won’t be there.
Before posting her rant on Facebook, Hannah filtered her privacy settings to prevent those on her ‘Family’ list from seeing the post.
However, Tommy – who works in IT – found Hannah’s post, anyway, on the Facebook page set up as belonging to their dog – the pooch wasn’t included on Hannah’s ‘Family’ list.
His video response last week, ‘Facebook Parenting for the Troubled Teen’, has drawn more than 1m views on YouTube.
The eight-minute video shows Tommy responding to Hannah’s rant as he sits in a lawn chair, smoking a cigarette. At the end of the clip, he shoots her laptop, telling her that if she wants a new one, she can get a job and buy one.
Hannah’s response to the demise of her laptop was to have a “crying fit”. In a statement to the Toronto Star newspaper, Tommy said Hannah was initially shocked and he then talked to her for a long time, discussing her behaviour and his response.
Watch the video that started it all here:
