Mother’s “Public Humiliation” Punishment For Daughter
We had a great discussion in the office this morning about a mom in New Orleans, whose 13-year-old daughter was arrested for shoplifting a t-shirt. She was taken to jail and mom had to go get her out.
Mom said "you want a t-shirt? I'll make you a t-shirt." It's bright green and says "Hide your money. Hide your clothes. Hide everything. 'Cuz I'm a thief.'" She has to wear it every time she leaves the house.
Mom says even though it was her daughter's first offense, she wants it to be her last; mom doesn't ever want to pick her kid up from jail again.
There were LOTS of great calls this morning; mostly in favor of this angle of punishment, saying the kid has to learn. Only a handful were concerned about how this might affect the kids well-being, self-esteem, etc.
I gotta be honest. Had my parents done this to me, I would've gotten the message loud and clear. Then again, I grew up in a time when parents could just give you a swat on the butt to communicate their displeasure (and I still turned out okay).
Now kids seem to have a different threshold; the bar for what will "get through" is a lot higher. A simple "you're grounded," "no Facebook for a week" or "no texting for a week" doesn't send a strong enough message.
What do you think? Is her mom right or wrong? Comment below.