Parent involvement. How much is too much? What do you think of the relationship between Billingsley and his dad?
I strongly believe that it is important for parents to be involved in the extra-curricular activities of their children. This builds encouragement for the son/daughter, and makes them respect their parents even more. Yet at the same time there is a line that must not be crossed by the parent. Once you reach the point of getting physical and abusive, you know that the line has been crossed. There has to be some sort of understanding that your child is not going to be perfect at everything that he or she does. The important thing is the effort that they put into it, not the outcome of their performance. As a parent you must also realize that this is your child’s life, not yours. Parents should try to understand that support is a great way to build confidence. This is vital to building discipline and a stronger relationship between parent and son/daughter. In the movie Billingsley’s dad takes it to a whole different level. He wants everything Donnie does to be absolutely perfect, ultimately trying to live within his son. Donnie’s dad finds the need to humiliate and harass his own son in order to build some sort of toughness, and expects that this method will make him play better. This is definitely not the way to solve the problems Don was having on the football field. I understand that his dad was a drunk with an attitude problem, but that certainly does not give him the right to treat Billingsley that way. Just imagine the frustration and discouragement building inside of Donnie. Trying to have fun playing football must have been near to impossible for him. Donnie probably had a lot of negative emotions and tons of pressure while playing, worrying how his father would react to not living up to his expectations. Any mishaps Donnie would have on the field should have been left for his coach to address, not his dad. His dad