How to suck at parenting. Effing badly.

In the last few years, society has been introduced to the many uses of the word "FAIL." Many examples of this from the point of view of child-rearing have made it to websites such as http://parenting.failblog.org and spread among e-mail to those with a sense of humor. As funny as many of those are, demeaning a child and then continuing to belittle them into their adult years is a common practice many know all too well. I myself am a survivor of those issues, and like anyone that's lived through traumatic experiences, they've left their scars.

Bad parenting extends far beyond outright lack of thought that makes Internet fodder for discussion. In many cases, the little negative things, what is said and done with repetition throughout a lifetime, can make an impact on a child long into their adult years. Although some of these thoughts may be trivial to some, leaving youth like me with way too much time and advanced critical thinking skills for their age to fester in these issues for years is just plain wrong. So, in lieu of venting to a therapist, here's a few things I've learned as the child of emotionally abusive parents.

You know, I figured myself out MUCH earlier than that...

While I was in college and training to become a high school language arts teacher, I was paired up with a master teacher who specialized in a niche of education that I was going go deal with being in metropolitan Los Angeles: English language-learners. This teacher, unfortunately, was frustrated with my departure from traditional direct teaching and drills and my emphasis on real-world relevancy in lessons. As I found this to work well with the students I was assigned to, she found it to be a time waster and ineffective and made sure I knew about it. I think it was because the kids were lively and practicing their speech actively (It was a language course, wasn't it?). After a few weeks, it became obvious that she wanted me out.