What I Deal With....

I will begin with a concession. This shouldn't be on TV. There are obviously severe problems in this family and it isn't fair to the kid to exploit him for a TV show. Years later he will hopefully realize how absurd that was.

That being said. A certain segment of the kids I deal with have this exact same attitude. They answer everything by negotiating with you and saying what you did wrong. They are used to pushing around their parents and think that that is how you deal with adults. Since teaching eikaiwa I have seen this problem growing. Kids run roughshod over their parents, up to and past the point of hitting them where the parent just kind of laughs it off and the kids continue to do what they want. I agree with Jayar that this wasn't even an option that I considered growing up. I don't think it would have ever occurred to me to approach my parents this way.

In any case, a lot of the 3rd year boys I deal with are programmed like this and think that saying things are unfair to them and laying out teacher's actions and telling adults to shut up is completely normal. I really can't stand families who use "shut up" within their family anyway. It seems really low and impolite to me.