Parenting shouldn’t be growth hacking.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a comic book artist. It was a dream that meant a lot to me, because I loved the craft, and I loved the work of brilliant artists who could transform a piece of paper into a visual story that could move me.

My Dad had decided that his son’s talent should only be used on making “real” art. He’d picked out my life for me, as soon as he’d noticed I could draw. He used to tear up my comic book art, because he refused to accept that I didn’t want to be what he wanted me to be.

My Dad and me? We haven’t spoken in years. And I don’t lose sleep over it. Because I am not going to accept that he got to “hack” his son’s life and decide it for me. And that’s what this article is pushing. And I can’t just ignore it.

Here’s the part that got to me the most:

While it may seem like some people seem born to be entrepreneurs, as parents it’s important to teach your kids some important lessons early so they can learn to become the next Steve Jobs or Elizabeth Holmes.

Why? Why, as parents, should you decide who and what your kid is going to be like, and then turn them into that? Why can’t you give your kid the chance to do, be, experience what they want?

But you know what else? You can’t list the skills a child needs.

The skills you’ve put down are all great, and sure, it might be nice if a kid had them. But you can’t treat their personality as a check list of skills that you’ve got to level up. They’re not a character in an RPG. They’re individuals. I worked in child care for a while, and I can tell you that every single one of those kids was different, and it was awesome. You can’t impose a life hacked template onto ’em.

Those skills should not be taught because they enable money and success.

I love the idea of teaching kids empathy, and curiosity, and all those skills. But I cannot stress enough how much I hate the idea of teaching those skills in order to generate money, or to generate success. How about teaching them because they’re the basic building blocks of being a good person who treats other people with respect?

And you know what? I do remember the kid. He’s not an entrepreneur. He’s just a kid.

This 9 year old kid didn’t come up with the idea of monetizing a content channel as a business. He’s a kid, doing stuff with his Dad. His Dad is a filmmaker. His Dad is the entrepreneur, and he is his Dad’s product. I’m not making a judgement about that here — but I am saying that this kid is working and supporting his family as a product of his Dad’s business. If he enjoys it, that’s cool — but it’s not the be all and end all of parenting.