But, at no point, have I advocated hitting this child. Yet you don't seem to want to enter into a debate with me about this child being the person most resonsible for his behaviour and that only he can change his attitude.
Having a hard life is no excuse for acting like a jerk. As soon as people start making excuses for his behaviour he will learn to play on that.
It really can depend on how one was raised.
I have two brothers. My younger brother, who is a year younger, and I have the same mom and dad. My older brother, who is 6 years older than I am, has a different mother. My older brother used to live with his mom and came over every two weeks to visit when we were kids.
When I was 13, my parents divorced. I chose to live with my dad and my younger brother chose to live with my mom. As you probably saw in my earlier post, my mom is very easy with him and he always got away with things. If he got in trouble for something, she'd tell him he wasn't allowed to go out with his friends. An hour later, he'd ask and she'd allow him to go. He basically lived off of no rules. He didn't have to pay rent, he could come and go as he pleased, she gave him money whenever he asked for it.
My dad was the total opposite. He kept his word and never let me get away with things. If I asked him for money, he would only give it to me if I paid him back, which I did. If he told me I couldn't do something, I didn't throw a tantrum. I grew up respecting people and being responsible and independant.
I pay my own way in life. I paid for my own college education while my mom paid for my brother's. I live in my own place and pay my own rent. He's a 24 year old adult living off of her.
I don't mean to downsize my mom in any way but his attitude is because of how he grew up. My older brother and I don't act like him at all. We both pay our own way and don't live at home. My younger brother knows he can stick around with my mom because she would never kick him out. He knows he can do what he wants and nothing will happen and that's why he has the attitude he has. If he was raised by my dad, he would have respect and responsibility.
If you grow up a certain way, it can have an impact on you as an adult. Never learning respect and independance as a young child, you get used to that lifestyle and you expect to get through life that way.
Sorry for the long story but it's true that how you are raised makes a difference.