Mom Tells Parents Bullied Kids Should 'Toughen Up'
A South Dakota mom's blog - written for her original eight followers - has gone stratospheric after she wrote that boys should be allowed to play with guns, trashed what she considers to be over-protective parents and said kids being bullied should "toughen up."
Stephanie Metz's maternal outburst has the provocative title, "Why My Kids Are NOT The Center Of My World."
Since writing three weeks ago, her blog has amassed over 750,000 hits and Metz estimates it's been shared through other media sites to surpass 2 million hits. Along with the compliments came criticism.
"I think a lot of people have kids and raising kids is never easy," Metz, 29, of Rapid City, S.D., told ABC News. "There are many viewpoints, but I think a lot of people agreed with what I said and they just want to share my post."
Metz was inspired to write her post on Oct. 25 after her son Hendrix, 4, (she has another son Jameson, 2) decided to bring a different object to show and tell, after he told his mother his initial choice may resemble a weapon. That original toy, which is pictured below, may get him in trouble, he told his mother.
This, she writes, is what infuriates her. "How long will it be before their typical boy-ish behavior gets them suspended from school?" she worries.
"The mentality of our society in 2013 is nauseating to me, friends," Metz writes in her blog.
Metz warns parents that constantly sheltering their children and protecting them from all things "evil" sets a child up for failure.
"Kids are being raised to never have to deal with adversity," Metz told ABC News. "I don't think we are raising a generation that will be able to function in the real world."
"Society is constantly coddling your kids," Metz said. For example, she says, kids are awarded with trophies even if they didn't win.
Some of her blog examines the topic of bullying, for which Metz said she has received the most backlash about.
"Understand I am not condoning kids to be cruel to each other, but I think kids need to toughen up when kids are not nice to them," Metz said.
