I guess you could consider this bad parenting but more like a bad example. This was an example of how not to behave...
My wife, 4yr old daughter I went for a short camping trip the past weekend in Ligonier, PA (visit to Idlewild Park & Story Book Forest). As we were pulling in and unloading I was watching a family set up camp out of the corner of my eye. He introduced himself with tent manual in hand. I just felt like something wasn't right with this guy.
We decided it was best if we skipped making a camp fire that night and retire early for a good night's sleep (so we thought)...
Later that night after quiet time in the campground (some where about 12:15am), I heard this *CRACK* and the wife scream and start crying. I couldn't quite make out what she was saying but it was to the effect of: why did you bring us here, you don't even want us on this vacation with you... Of course I heard the two younger boys sobbing in the tent. I could swear he struck her. My wife woke up about that time and I told what was going on. She immediately told me to hang my Gerber hunting knife on my cot for the night. 20 minutes later I heard a beer can crack open and the dad sat down by the fire.
The next morning, you could have cut the tension with a knife! The father was yelling at the kids about something and stormed off in the minivan. My 4 year old daughter said to me: "he isn't a nice daddy is he..." I said: "no sweety, he is not..."
We high-tailed it out of there before he got back and the rest of the family was out of the tent. After a long day at the amusement park we got back to camp and it was like nothing ever happend. Or at least until the thunderstorm was starting to head in. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and checked the doplar and sure enough, it was going to be a nasty storm. We were just going to ride it out in the tent but...when the father started barking orders at the family about the storm and the mother getting frantic, we decided to break camp and bail out a night early.
I swear this is true! I couldn't make this up. It was too bizzare. My daughter God bless her soul was asking me why the daddy was yelling 'cause the little boys weren't doing anything bad.