Reply to Would you disown your child if they committed a serious crime?

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "Would you disown your child if they committed a serious crime?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I've never understood 'disowning' as a concept. Like, would I cut a mass murderer out of my will? Yeah. Are there crimes both legal or emotional that could possibly cause an estrangement? Of course, although I will do everything in my power to prevent something like that. Would I publicly stand by, support, and love a child no matter what they did? I doubt I would do that if my kid was a remorseless serial killer or pedophile.

But disown implies that there is some way to not 'own' your child, and I don't see how that is possible. Estranged, not estranged, supportive, critical, there is always something, there is always a tether. I cannot imagine a way to sever the emotional tether I have to my children. I cannot imagine a way to ethically sever myself from who they become.

I also think that for most people who grow up to be very troubled or commit heinous crimes, the family has frequently known there is something deeply wrong with their child and tried to do what they can, or enabled it in some way. Or the criminal was abandoned by their family and that is why they are a criminal.

Anyway, 'disown' is a meaningless word to me. If my child did something heinous that I never saw coming and showed no remorse, like my perfectly normal child was arrested for being a Jeffrey Dahmer or something. Even if I never spoke to them again, I would still be their mother, and would never be the same after that came out. Is it just like, the meanest thing you can imagine saying to them? Because like, if they show remorse, then I'd probably be there, and if they didn't, then they are a sociopath and won't care how I feel about them. It is just silly.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics