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Bad Mother: Ayelet Waldman

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Bad Mother: Pot 'Consequence Free Activity' in Our House

03 min 23 sec

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Bad Mother author Ayelet Waldman believes in a harm-reduction approach to educating kids about the danger of drugs, and thinks the D.A.R.E program is completely ineffective. Waldman says her kids know pot is a safe substance and a "consequence free activity" in her house.
Bad Mother Author on Privacy and Raising Children

03 min 58 sec

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Author Ayelet Waldman reads from her book Bad Mother on the role of privacy in her household.
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48 min 59 sec

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There are 10 comments on this program

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Previous FORAtv comments:

Daeggman

Posted: 05.09.10, 08:35 PM

Good, common sense works with kids, and telling the truth (especially if you expect them to) is part of parenting. I agree with her and support the belief that my family is my business and the law has no place telling me not to let my kids have a glass of watered down wine when they are younger than 21 so they understand about alcohol and I am there to answer their questions about all drugs (including alcohol), truthfully, not a bunch of propoganda stylized lies put out by organizations like DARE and Partnership for a Drug Free America. Maybe we should tell our kids that the stork brings babies or poor people caused the economic crash or you'll die if you smoke pot (better chance of dying from a pill from big pharma, tucked away in your medicine chest than from pot.) Nice to see someone telling the truth to their kids, rather than trying to scare them into behaving.

ladyfox14

Posted: 07.07.09, 01:50 PM

@akeating - I disagree. Positive thinking, intellectual knowledge of the subject and open mindedness makes the world a better place. If drugs were legal, then the drug cartel violence that you insinuate would be dissipate over the years. There are worse things in the world than smoking pot and having a permissive attitude toward drugs like power consumed officers that run around tasering innocent victims and lying to cover up their false stories. I am not saying that people should do things blindly. The more educated people are, the more likely they will make smarter choices. Jumping into drugs without having researched relative knowledge is like jumping off a mountain in a flying squirrel suit without having done any previous parachuting.

Malcolm MacLeod,MD

Posted: 07.02.09, 06:41 PM

As a retired pediatrician in Sacramento, CA, I pretty much agree with the vast majority of Ayelet Waldman's opinions. She and I are both pragmatists. I do believe, however, that children today have a bit too much power. They are not equal citizens, or allowed the right of arbitration. Indeed, in many family dynamics, the parents are the under- dogs. I remember a quote from Freud, "If you truly love your children, make their lives hard. He was right.

akeating

Posted: 07.02.09, 03:08 PM

In permitting her children to smoke pot and by fronting this permissive attitude toward drugs, this woman ignores the drug cartel violence in Mexico and across the U.S. I'm sure she's the ostrich who'd rather put her head in the sand than acknowledge her responsibility. People like this should be held accountable to aiding and abetting and conspiracy.

ladyfox14

Posted: 07.01.09, 03:54 PM

It is always better to have an open, honest relationship with your kids (or anyone) rather than putting things under lock and key. Eavesdropping on your kids isn't doing you. Educate them and be fair and they will come to you for advice. I agree with @Bashful320. The funny thing about alcohol vs. pot is that there are hundreds of people who have die while being drunk/under the influence (falling, crashing cars, etc) yet there have not been many, if not, any fatal accidents while smoking pot. Spanish cultures let their children start drinking at an early age. Kids are usually allowed to have a cup of wine during household festivities and they will probably be better off than other cultures that induce reckless drinking before the legal age. Take into consideration that kids can be enrolled into the army before they are even allowed to drink.

Bashful320

Posted: 07.01.09, 11:23 AM

I really agree with what she said about drug education and she is totally right about the DARE program. I remember what a big deal that was when I was a kid and then when I got older and learned more about pot and other drugs on my own I was really kind of pissed off. They made pot out to be this horrible thing that will make you do nothing but lose all of your friends and do bad things under the influence of it. Yet they don't show nearly enough about the consequences of alcohol, which actually can do those things. If parents don't talk to their kids, all the kids see are the commercials that show how cool you'll be if you drink alcohol. That is the one thing that really gets me. I think that parents should tell their kids the truth about pot, the positives and negatives, and then focus more on alcohol education. I was lucky to have parents that really drilled into me the honest risks of access alcohol abuse.

Trevar +
FORA.tv Staff

Posted: 06.29.09, 05:44 PM

@brayfield Are you still having issues watching? If so, the downloads have been attached.

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Trevar Mazza
Director of Media Production

adambl

Posted: 06.29.09, 09:25 AM

I gotta disagree. It almost seems like she actively dislikes her kids, and resents having to deal with them. Granted I agree with a lot of the stuff she says, but she spies on her kids instead of talking with them. The same goes for leaving condoms around rather than having 'the talk'. It may boost their independence, but I can't imagine the scarring effect of your mother telling the whole world she likes her husband more than you. It's fine to think it, but the only point of saying it is to sell books.

Robert Holmes

Posted: 06.28.09, 07:31 PM

She is beautiful and charming and wonderful. I could listen to her talk all day. I want to date one of her ugly friends so I can hang out with her. MOST! of the parent efforts to curb teenage behavior in modern society is really a self indulgent attempt on the part parents and teachers to LOOK concerned and feel blameless. Honesty is best policy with teenagers just like other human beings, but modern society seems to think that teens are the exception and that they will some how be better prepare to deal with reality if they are indoctrinated with a system of manipulative exagerations and falsehoods. Ayelet Waldman is a champion for parents like me and my kids are vindicating this approach by being totally awesome and happy and powerful in spite of their many challenges.

brayfield

Posted: 06.28.09, 09:45 AM

Is anyone else having trouble watching this video? Why isn't it available for download?