We all know that kids can be rough with dvds but if you are always backing up their dvds they will never learn how to care for their dvds. Maybe, if johnny ruins his favorite dvd or lets his friends ruin it he wll learn to take better care of his things.

I basically agree with you but for the patent to save even eventually buying a new one.Which lets face it that is what will probably happen.
The parent should keep the original in primo condition never letting the child use that one.
Now if the parent wants to punish Johnny don't make a new backup for some period of time say 3 months.That's forever in kid years.

My son had to learn the hard way...with his gamecube actually...to take of things. He scratched Lego Star Wars beyond repair. I did not replace it. I explained that movie and video games are too expensive to replace, so what he has he must take excellent care of.

Now he's as OCD as his Dad about his games and movies.

While I agree that parenting certainly includes reasonable and firm "limit-setting", there are a variety of approaches. In this instance, I prefer to have a bkup ruined and simply restrict or rescind "johnny's" privileges...as in
"...NO, you may not lay your hands on any dvd until further notice...that is, if you value your hands..."

Flashback to my once-upon-a-time, teenage daughter. She had a habit of stomping upstairs to her room and slamming the door in a hissy fit.
Rather than engage in a shouting match and the inevitable "power struggle" with a teenager, I remedied it by the following...
I removed the door from its hinges and stored it in the tool shed.
Imagine a 16-17 yo girl with no door for her bedroom...
Worked like a charm...to my knowledge, she's never slammed another door.

Very creative maineman. Lol. I can see why that would work out pretty well and pretty quick.

I too don't think that it should resort to touch not lest ye be touched. I think a big part of it of instilling a sense of ownership and pride, which helps with responsibility.

Genius, pard. As a man who raised 3 daughters through the teen years, I sure could have used this one.

The reasoning above is what got me started on Network Media Players years ago.

DVD is ripped to network and can be played at any time. Original DVD is locked away in my collection.

I think me & maineman are about on the same page.I liked the door removal.I've seen it suggested but never knew of anyone actually doing it.
7thSinger you are tougher than most parents that eventually cave.Like when the child requests a replacement for his birthday.
So for the parent just make a backup & enforce what ever discipline you think is approiate before the child gets another copy.

Agreed, "value your hands", merely a figure of speech, not a threat of physical punishment.

However, I fully support parents' right to discipline their child. Of course, the problem becomes...what's considered reasonable? and who decides?

Did you happen to catch the dad in Michigan who bought a lemonade for his boy while at a Detroit Tiger's Game?
Unbenownst to dad...it was Mike's lemonade which contained alcohol. Was it a screw-up by dad? of course...and dad is only to quick to agree.
Should the state have taken his child from the home and placed him in Foster Care?

Have a read:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...OL04/804280375

Edit...I had linked the wrong article...fixed now...sorry...

No.In some states a parent can legally serve their child alcohol.Now I'm sure this is not to the point of getting the child drunk.
Take the French for example .If what I've heard about their culture they serve wine at most meals & the children are also served the wine.
Child social workers sometimes abuse their authority & this would be the case here.Funny how the worst abusers that should be locked up get by with the abuse till they eventually kill the child & a well meaning parent makes a small mistake & their child is put in Foster care.

While i agree i can be tough as a parent...i'm not as tough as i sound. For his birthday he got the sequel...which he promised he would take care of. Hasn't been an issue since and i wanted to avoid the game of "don't worry, dad'll replace it if it get's messed up."

@Maineman
That is seriously messed up. Overreacting is euphamism in this scenario .

In Texas the man wouldn't have violated the law by giving the child the alcohol containing lemonade.Even if he knew it.I didn't check Michigan law.
http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/leginfo/minorcode.htm

Sec. 106.06. PURCHASE OF ALCOHOL FOR A MINOR; FURNISHING ALCOHOL TO A MINOR
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section, a person commits an offense if he purchases an alcoholic beverage for or gives or with criminal negligence makes available an alcoholic beverage to a minor.
(b) A person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor's adult parent, guardian, or spouse, or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court, and he is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

I may be borrowing that one sooner rather than later...

My man you deserve two cookies for that one will try it later today with my son........

Glad to hear you liked the idea. When I first heard it...from the husband of a mom I work with...
I thought...Wow!...simple, effective, only takes a couple of minutes and no long, drawn-out arguments...
I'm not surprised it's posted on the internet.

I'll take one of the cookies and pass the 2nd cookie on to the guy I heard it from...

In the end you are going to buy another Game or DVD. You may teach him a lesson by not doing so but the aggravation that goes along with a lesson of this magnitude is not worth it, believe me, I have spent thousands of dollars on Videos Games for my son and if the original gets scratched beyond repair my life would be miserable until I gave in and bought another. Teaching your kids a lesson is one thing, implementing it is another. LOL, I do agree with all of you though.

Lucky me my kid has no door and plays no games...her preference.

Lucky you is right Bob!

No door? Does she sleep on the couch?

I have 2 spare bedrooms upstairs and she prefers to sleep on the futon downstairs. The room she sleeps in is part my pc room and her room. It's a wide open room in my finished walkout basement.

She lives with her mother so she's only here on weekends. Her mother has no gaming devices and neither do i. Her mother has no internet either.

She prefers to play cards and board games with REAL people she's 14 and straight "A" student.

She does have a cell phone and texts her friends. Gets online here at my place and uses MSN.

She's always handled her backups with care and has never scratched one that i know of. Even her CD's. But she's more into having her music on a MP3 player now.

The only reason I could think of for not backing up a dvd for a child is a fear that they might mention it to the wrong person (teacher, friend's parent, etc) & you'd find yourself hit with a lawsuit from the MPAA (if you're in the USA).

Well then as long as you have your originals then why would you say that?

The RIAA has recently begun to attempt to treat ripping cd's you own as illegal. Their lobbyists are slowly eroding our (USA) fair use laws. While the MPAA hasn't been nearly as rabid as the RIAA, if the RIAA starts having success, the MPAA won't be far behind.

See here for 1 example:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...gh-enough.html

fluck em'......life's to short to worry about that crap.

It's not like you have weed smell on you or coming out of your house or growing it. Your not selling the DVD's so........

Yeah... As I've always said....

"Firstly, they've gotta have the motivation and then actually catch you first"

As Bob says "Fluckem'"

hey! ... isn't this off-topic? grin

double-excellent idea with the door, filed here for future reference

IMO, up front, the rugratz should be acquiring their own entertainment media with their own "earnings"; and - no - Mum and Da should not be running a mini 'Payday Advance' service with their allowances either.