Hey Parents: Stop Publicly Shaming Your Kids & Get a Life | The Stir

You have to be living under a rock to miss all the slew of parents publicly humiliating their teens in order to punish them for their bad behavior.

And while my own parents had creative methods for punishing us as kids that were very effective, they were done in the privacy of our own home, and not for entire world to see.

Lately, I believe this public shaming trend is more about the parent getting attention rather than actually disciplining their child, and quite frankly, it disgusts me.

In a relationship that should be built on trust, I'm hard-pressed to believe that parents forcing a kid to do something publicly humiliating will foster respect and love.

On the contrary, I think it's demeaning and tells a kid that they're stupid. And it instills fear, which won't necessarily discourage a child from doing something, but rather encourage them to continue doing it just without the parent knowing.

And now that these photos of kids with signs around their necks or like this girl, with her dad's face on her t-shirt circulating around Facebook, it seems as though parents are picking up on this trend not necessarily because they really care about changing their kid's behavior, but because they see it as an opportunity to get attention and fame.

You really want to be the parent who gets famous for being a jerk to your kid? Terrible. Look at the father's smiling face. So gross.

For as many parents who will say this was a last resort for them, that their child was completely out of control and this was the only way for them to do something, I would say it's yet another lazy parenting decision. Where exactly were you when your kid did need actual discipline?

And now, instead of instituting rules and punishments that will establish trust, allow them to learn a skill, or perhaps teach them a valuable lesson about life, you're showing them how to be a bully.

Here's a thought: If you're so desperate to get famous, do something embarrassing and awful to yourself. But leave your kids, who have no choice in the matter and will have to deal with these photos later in life when college admissions personnel and potential employers search for them, out of it.

Do you think it's okay to publicly shame a child to punish them?

Photo via Inquisitr

Source: http://thestir.cafemom.com/teen/150302/hey_parents_stop_publicly_shaming

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