On Monday, 45-year-old Olympian Bode Miller posted a video to his Instagram account that sparked a heated debate in his comments.
In the clip, Miller sits in his car and drives slowly behind his son who is running up a large hill at the bottom of their driveway.
Miller explained in the caption that his son quit on his soccer team during his first game of the year.
Enforcing consequences isn’t my favorite part of parenting, but learning from them is important. This was about so much more than a game of soccer. It’s about teaching our kids to never quit. For those who are concerned, the hill running was his idea. He said he didn’t run during the game. This kid is next level. #prouddad.
This obviously had people heated in the comments. Some parents agreed with Miller’s parenting style, writing, “I commend you Bode — he was part of a team & others were counting on him, especially during the game. There are consequences in life.”
While others believed Miller’s parenting technique is extreme and ineffective…
This is actually insane. Kids are their own people that are growing into adulthood. They are not your vessel to fulfill your own personal expectations. As long as they are good people. Raising them this way can cause extreme resentment and serious emotional development issues.
Where do you stand? Is this good or bad parenting? Or is it somewhere in between? Personally, I’m in the middle on this one. I think it’s important for kids to be able to grow and admit they don’t like something. I don’t think they should be forced to do something they hate simply because they thought they’d like it when you signed them up.
However, I don’t think running a hill outside their house is going to cause trauma. Also, Miller claims it was his son’s idea, so you know… all is good?
