Teen Fights For Her Right To Party — Literally!

Not even sure where to begin with this one. I realize that geekery is generally overtaking our culture, however I’m not always sure that this is compatible with the kind of parental examples that make for healthy children. To wit:

Investigators arrested the 16-year-old girl’s stepfather, Fremon Seay, and her mother, Julie Seay, this weekend. According to police, the teen was forced her to dress in armor and fight Fremon Seay with a wooden sword for two hours. Police also said Seay punched and beat his stepdaughter with a tree branch prior to the duel. Investigators said she collapsed from exhaustion. The couple told officers they punished the teen for going to a party without their permission. Investigators learned the couple is part of a group of Renaissance enthusiasts, who recreate fights from the medieval era. Officers said the parents told them it was their right to discipline their child however they see fit.

Alrighty then! In terms of bad disciplinary models, I’m pretty sure that it would be hard for parents to do worse than summoning up a terrifying admixture of The Great Santini and The Legend of Zelda. If you feel that the most effective way of asserting your authority as a parent is to act out the scene between Liam Neeson and Tim Roth in Rob Roy, well, then you’ve got bigger issues than a disobedient teen. And if you generally feel more relatable when you’re donning the same costume you use to earn spare cash on weekends by hawking Henry V-size turkey legs in public parks while calling complete strangers “knave” and “m’lady”, well, you might want to rethink the your approach to the whole parenting thing. Just sayin’.