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Comment by colechristensen | Hacker News Reader

I've never met anyone who referred to their parent like that who didn't have at least a marginally abusive family life.

It is plainly offensive to address kin as "sir".

Accusing another user of child abuse, or insinuating it, crosses into personal attack. Please don't do that.

You have no evidence that the GP abuses his children, or even that his children literally call him 'sir' (he may have been exaggerating for effect).

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It's an authoritarian parenting style, and I don't think anyone really likes it. But there's nothing here to suggest any marginal physical or emotional abuse. I personally know a few traditional Mexican families where the father is addressed as "sir" as a sign of respect but still knows how to care for their children.

Abuse doesn't have to be physical.

Really? from what part of Mexico? I'm Mexican and I've never heard someone addressing their father as "sir" (señor) not even "father" (padre) we usually use "dad" (papá), even using "usted" instead of "tu" is not common anymore. But then again Mexico is a really big and diverse country, so there must be zones where that could happen.

It's interesting because in some parts of Northern Mexico, you would think that use of "tú" didn't exist. NO ONE uses it, not even relatives or husbands and wife.

There are many cultures where elders are addressed by phrases and gestures of respect. Are those customs also offensive?

It isn't plain to me. You seem to think your subjective views apply to all humanity. They do not.

this is completely fucking ludicrous. it's a regional custom.

Hitting disobedient children is also a regional custom.

If your children respond to orders like trained animals or soldiers, they are doing so because they were conditioned to do so. I am choosing to define that conditioning as abusive because it simply doesn't happen naturally.

My dictionary defines abuse as "cruel and violent treatment of a person or animal". What is cruel specifically about setting expectations about what needs to be done? There is nothing cruel about requiring kin to call you sir especially when you can show that you deserve their respect.

sorry, do you have any actual evidence for the claim that saying 'sir' and child abuse are correlated, or just some prejudicial hunch?

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