Should I stop pirating TV in order to better role model for my toddler?
I regularly pirate TV shows and occasionally music or movies.
Other than that, I lead a crime-free life. Like many people who pirate things, I'd never go into a store and steal a cd or dvd, which is ironic and not logical.
I know it's wrong, but honestly, if it were just me I would continue to do it. A lot of my friends and family do too, it's quite common these days. However, now that I have a kid, I'm second guessing myself. As a toddler (15 months), I'm sure she has no concept that I haven't bought the things I've pirated. Some day she will though. I want to help her develop a strong moral compass, and I also want to ensure she has a good understanding of the reality of the world we live in.
Edit for clarification: By "pirate" I mean downloading tv from websites or torrents. The vast majority is tv or movies that have aired on US tv stations, either network tv or cable.
Should I stop pirating now? Should I stop later? Should I keep doing it and explain that it's wrong but it's something that a lot of people do?
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I'm just going to focus on what you are going to teach your child with this. Any legal issues or discussions about if piracy is wrong are for another time and place.
Whether you should stop now or later or ever depends on what you want to teach your daughter. Eventually she will pick up on it. The longer you keep doing it, the easier it will be for her to see all the things you've pirated and ask you about it. Then you either have to teach her that it is wrong and you should stop or it is wrong but its okay to do it anyway.
If you want to teach her that it is wrong and should be stopped, you need to obviously stop and then get rid of everything you have pirated. If you do, you show that wrong is wrong. It also shows that it isn't acceptable no matter how much you want something. If you don't, you send the opposite message, one that it is okay to benefit from wrongdoing or that it's okay because "reasons". It's kind of like slugging your brother (hard and very on-purpose) then giving an insincere "sorry" because it was "wrong".
If you feel it is okay to teach her that it is wrong but it is okay to do anyway, go on pirating. This will bring up conversations about what makes it okay to do wrong things despite the fact that they are wrong. This can get potentially messy trying to teach your daughter what justifications ("lots of other people do it", "I really, really wanted to", etc.) are acceptable and when they apply and when they don't. I would also not ever be surprised if she does something you find totally unacceptable but then argues that it is okay because of justifications A, B and C. She will probably also throw the piracy thing back in your face with a "well how come you can pirate all those things and it's okay, but I can't do X?".
Personally, I would say stop now and get rid of all the pirated stuff you own. It will make it far easier to show her that wrong is wrong and right is right. When your words say one thing and your actions say another, you get moral ambiguity. You end up with a lot more gray areas which lead to a weaker moral compass. (Not saying there won't be some gray areas anyway, you just end up with less clear cut things and more places where you can talk yourself into being okay with any choice.)
The fact that your asking the question indicates that you feel guilty about it. If you feel guilty about it, than that must mean that you believe it is morally wrong. Therefore, you should stop doing it.
If something is illegal but you think the law is stupid and there's no good reason why it should be illegal, that's a more complicated question. I've told my kids that there are laws that I think are dumb but that I nevertheless obey because the consequences of getting caught are too high for it to be worth it.
(Of course there could always be issues where you feel morally obligated to break the law -- like if I'd lived in Nazi Germany where the law required you to report Jews so they could be shipped to concentration camps, I hope I would have had the courage to disobey. But that's not the issue here. You may think a law against video piracy is unjustified, but there's no moral imperative to break it. No one's going to die because you didn't download a TV show.)
Just recently I filed an insurance claim for some hail damage to my roof. My daughter asked me if I'd also claimed the damage to our chimney. I said no, the chimney damage was there before the hail storm. She said, yeah I know, but did you report it to the insurance company as hail damage? I am very glad that I could honestly say, no, of course not, because it wasn't. How embarrassing it would have been if I had had to admit that I sold out my integrity for a couple of thousand dollars. But it had never even occurred to me that one of my kids would ask about it.
If you want her to have a strong moral compass, you'll have to explain (when she is old enough) why you do it and let her make up her own mind.
As you say, a lot of people do it. Often, this means that a lot of people don't consider it to be much of a crime. That also means it's a very interesting way for children to learn about how to judge moral choices.
When she's old enough, have a long discussion with her on why exactly it's illegal to pirate, on who it hurts, on what the consequences of pirating might be for the pirate, the creator of the content, and other people, on when it might be justified to pirate something and when it definitely is not, etc.
You can't instill much of a moral compass if all you do around her is obey the rules without questioning them or talking about them or having an opinion about them. The fact that you pirate today means you clearly have an opinion on pirating. Denying your daughter the chance to talk about would be a wasted chance.
Replace pirating in your question with speeding (defined as ever going above the posted speed limit). Is some level of speeding "ok" (e.g. going 5 MPH over) any amount (e.g. 50 MPH over) or none? Should you never speed to be a better role model for your daughter? After all, speeding is breaking the law regardless of your justifications for it.
Do you want your daughters morality to be defined by the laws of the country in which she lives? Otherwise, what role do they play in shaping/defining her morality? How does she know whether a rule/law is just or unjust? If she judges it to be unjust, should she still follow it? When is it ok to break the rules? Which rules?
These are only questions that you as her parent(s) can decide and help her work through. Ultimately she is going to form opinions for herself, but your role is to help guide her towards principles which you believe are sound. For some people, it's completely unethical, and 'wrong' to break any laws for any reasons. For others, their morality may be informed by how their actions affect others, and not by strict yes/no boundaries. For others it may fall somewhere in between.
Regardless of where you land, as Erik suggested, this is an area that you will need to talk through with her, be ready to explain your decision making process and also why others may disagree with you, to help her see all sides of the issue. In other words, it's an excellent training opportunity.
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