I meant more like smacking him on the butt, versus all out "whooping", which I have always taken to mean beating.  I apologize if I wasn't clear.

It's all good. ;)
And don't apologize!

Being creative is definitely needed - but I myself am running out of options!
The son loves video games, music, the computer and reading books.
I take away his games and computer - but I can't take away music and books... EVER
If none of the punishments are effective.... "now what the heck do I do?"

(Mind you, he is almost 15 and about 3 inches shy of a foot taller than me, so my attemot at smacking his behind is pitiful to say the least!) ;D ;D

It's all good. ;)
And don't apologize!

Being creative is definitely needed - but I myself am running out of options!
The son loves video games, music, the computer and reading books.
I take away his games and computer - but I can't take away music and books... EVER
If none of the punishments are effective.... "now what the heck do I do?"

(Mind you, he is almost 15 and about 3 inches shy of a foot taller than me, so my attemot at smacking his behind is pitiful to say the least!) ;D ;D
My Mum used to drag my brother to the foot of the stairs and climb up two steps and then yell at him when he got too tall!  ;D

Childhood obesity is a major problem, but if the kid's eight and weighs over 200 lbs., junkfood diet is not the only etiology.  There's obviously some freaky hormonal misfirings at play! You find dimensional extremes everywhere in the world.  What's the average height of a Chinese male?  How tall is that basketball player, Yauo (or whatever his name is)?  I'm just saying the super-fat Brit kid is probably not indicative of cultural dysfunctions at large.
Unfortunatly this is becoming more and more normal in the U.K. They stopped teaching Home economics or food technology in schools so you have a whole generation of adults who don't have a clue about whats good or bad or how to cook. The rise and rise of the takeaway and convienience food culture is another factor. You have mother's weaning their babies onto solid foods at McDonalds...........

Unfortunatly this is becoming more and more normal in the U.K. They stopped teaching Home economics or food technology in schools so you have a whole generation of adults who don't have a clue about whats good or bad or how to cook. The rise and rise of the takeaway and convienience food culture is another factor. You have mother's weaning their babies onto solid foods at McDonalds...........


Ugh. McDonald's? I don't even think Jason KNOWS what a McDonald's is! When he was weaned on to solid foods, he went on Gerber and home cooked food.

Quirk is right. If you start the kid out early eating healthy, then they'll have a sense of what is good for them and what is not. I tend to make healthy food each night for dinner, due to what I went through when I was younger. He may not eat it all, but Rice and I both insist that he at least tries it. For breakfast, he usually eats cereal and some dried blueberries. For lunch, it varies. It could be grilled cheese (made with lowfat cheese and wheat bread), a good type of healthy soup, or some dino nuggets (four max). He also gets a small serving of fruit snacks (because they come in HUGE packages) and some goldfish crackers or Sun Chips. For dinner, it's usually a lean meat, some vegetables, and a starch. Some snacks he eats through the day could be fresh fruit, or some lowfat animal crackers. He drinks, diluted juice, water, and nonfat milk. Yet on the charts he is still considered mildly overweight (he's two years old, weighs 32 lbs, and is about three feet tall). So I don't know what is up with that.

Anyways, I do try to instill a sense of good food in him because I don't want him to go through the crap that I went through.

300 Pounds?  A 5 Year Old---that's insane.


It's more than insane, it's sad.

I think it's ignorance, apathy and laziness. This kid's parents either don't Know or don't care about all the
problems and disease caused by obesity. It seems that rather than deal with with the child's problems they
appease him with food. Instead of being a parent, they chose to be a fast food outlet. This child's bad
eating habits started at a young age. Every child desires candy, ice cream and other types of junk food, it
seems the parents of this child gave into his desires to either keep him quiet or occupied.
yes,not letting them have all they want is not good for them.

Jason's not overweight, he's big boned.  He's also very strong for a kid his size.  I think it's mostly muscle and his little baby potbelly.  If you look at him he looks about normal sized. 

My parents of all people think he's UNDER-weight!  :o

You can still be too fat even if you're big-bones.Look at former presidentCclinton.

Childhood obesity is a major problem, but if the kid's eight and weighs over 200 lbs., junkfood diet is not the only etiology.  There's obviously some freaky hormonal misfirings at play! You find dimensional extremes everywhere in the world.  What's the average height of a Chinese male?  How tall is that basketball player, Yauo (or whatever his name is)?  I'm just saying the super-fat Brit kid is probably not indicative of cultural dysfunctions at large.


This kid has major problems with his diet.

I saw a news clip of his having lunch, and it was disturbing.  He is 8, and had a plate full of more food then I would eat (and I had half a pizza last night).  And the food?  A big thick slice of ham, and a ton of french fries.  He even took the fries and made a sandwich out of them, with gobs of butter on both pieces of bread.

Hey mom, how about feeding him child sized portions?  And instead of the deep fried potatoes, give him corn, or peas, or even mashed or boiled potatoes?  And knock off with the bread with gobs of butter on them!

And in an interview of the mom, she said he was "always hungry".  Well, he is always hungry because the mom never instilled discipline on him.  As a child, I was very hyperactive.  And as is common, I was always eating.  But I normally ate things like carrot sticks and apples.  And I was constantly burning off as much energy as I took in.  I was almost "Terminally Thin", and when I entered boot camp at 18, I was 5'9" and weighed in at 150 lbs.  And I was eating all the time (tripple Whoppers, candy, cookies, etc).

I think the parent should be given a chance to learn to control her son's diet, and to get him to eat healthy.  But if she can't do that, he should be taken away for his own protection.  Gross Obesity is child neglect, just as starving a child.  His mom needs to learn how to be a mom.  And if she can't, somebody else needs to take over for her.

WTF happened to parents saying no to their kids?  I remember as a kid wanting to eat candy and ice cream.....but my parents said "no".  Are parents that afraid of pissing their kids off, or something?  Let the kid whine and cry because he can't have 9 helpings of Sunday dinner.  You're the parent, ACT LIKE ONE.


I agree but from what I read she is the only parent in the house and after a long day at work it's probably easier for her just to say yes to her kid than have to deal with the kid's tantrum.  Or maybe she thinks she's showing them love by giving them eveything they ask for. 

There have been times when my kids pester me for candy or some kind of snack that I don't want them to have and usually when I say "no" they listen.  But there are times when I'm tired or worn down by them then I'll say o.k. just so they'll leave me alone, it's rare but it does happen. 

I imagine there is the double whammy of eating too much junk food and getting no exercise whatsoever. I'm guessing it's all day every day infront of the T.V or the Playstation.  ::)

This is abuse & neglect.  I don't see how a mother can allow her child to get to that size.  The solution is simple:  don't buy crap for him to eat.

It's all good. ;)
And don't apologize!

Being creative is definitely needed - but I myself am running out of options!
The son loves video games, music, the computer and reading books.
I take away his games and computer - but I can't take away music and books... EVER
If none of the punishments are effective.... "now what the heck do I do?"

(Mind you, he is almost 15 and about 3 inches shy of a foot taller than me, so my attemot at smacking his behind is pitiful to say the least!) ;D ;D
Mine's not bigger than me, but he's close (about 2" shorter and 10#).....I "flick" him with my middle finger on the head or ear or back of the arm.  It hurts just enough to get their attention and only hurts for a few seconds ;)

I heard that the mother has mental health issues herself - depression and suchlike.  Maybe that's why she struggles with him.

I imagine there is the double whammy of eating too much junk food and getting no exercise whatsoever. I'm guessing it's all day every day infront of the T.V or the Playstation.  ::)


Which is where the government actually need to step in. They're so busy telling parents what to do they've forgotten that they're the ones banning kids from getting together in public.

Where I live, there are notices out and laws in place prohibiting children under the age of 16 gathering in groups of more than 4. Anywhere.

They can't play anymore.

Which is where the government actually need to step in. They're so busy telling parents what to do they've forgotten that they're the ones banning kids from getting together in public.

Where I live, there are notices out and laws in place prohibiting children under the age of 16 gathering in groups of more than 4. Anywhere.

They can't play anymore.


Not to mention--groups of 4 or more allows them to protect each other. . .I know why that law exists (I mean the large number of petty theft 'groups' that go into convienence store and grab what they can etc)  but at the same time, I think it raises a safety issues as well.

Not to mention--groups of 4 or more allows them to protect each other. . .I know why that law exists (I mean the large number of petty theft 'groups' that go into convienence store and grab what they can etc)  but at the same time, I think it raises a safety issues as well.


Mmhmm, you're right there.

It's far too much blanket laws and not enough actually enforcement and liason.

I'll take my dog for a walk at 11-12 at night, we'll often walk through the park and there'll be a group of little bastard shooting up heroin and sniffing glue, yeah, they need to be taken away. I'll go down there at 2 in the afternoon and there'll be a bunch of kids hanging around on the benches (not anything else there) doing nothing wrong, yet both groups are targeted the same.

I'll take my dog for a walk at 11-12 at night, we'll often walk through the park and there'll be a group of little bastard shooting up heroin and sniffing glue, yeah, they need to be taken away. I'll go down there at 2 in the afternoon and there'll be a bunch of kids hanging around on the benches (not anything else there) doing nothing wrong, yet both groups are targeted the same.


The problem is that when cops do that, the thugs get together and scream "discrimination".  Then they either have to prohibit everybody from congregating, or just throw out the laws that prohibit congregation.

LA tried to crack down on gang members several years ago, enacting laws that prohibited known gang members from congregating together.  But the gang members started to fight back, throwing lawsuit after lawsuit at the city and county.  A few years ago, the California Supreme Court finally threw all of the laws against congregation out the window.

So once again, gangs can hang out on street corners and in parks, and do whatever they want.  Because without air-tight "probable cause", the police can do nothing about it.

Mmhmm, you're right there.

It's far too much blanket laws and not enough actually enforcement and liason.

I'll take my dog for a walk at 11-12 at night, we'll often walk through the park and there'll be a group of little bastard shooting up heroin and sniffing glue, yeah, they need to be taken away. I'll go down there at 2 in the afternoon and there'll be a bunch of kids hanging around on the benches (not anything else there) doing nothing wrong, yet both groups are targeted the same.

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/sign10.gif
I like the way you phrased that.  Funny vignette!
Do they really "sniff glue" in the park?

If they're doing drugs, then the cops have cause to bust up the party.  If they're just loitering, well that's a tougher question.  The old dudes on the benches feeding the pigeons don't tend to intimidate anybody.  Bands of rowdy youths tend to set a menacing atmosphere that makes other citizens nervous.  What is more important?  Their right to hang out with their skateboards and rough house or my mom's right to take her grandchildren to the park and feel safe? 
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/12/dontknow.gif

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/14/sign10.gif
I like the way you phrased that.  Funny vignette!
Do they really "sniff glue" in the park?




Yes.  Maybe it's just a British thing but for a while glue was the 'drug' of choice for a lot of people.  Technically you have to be over the age of 16 to buy solvent based glues