All kids make mistakes. They misbehave and disagree with their parents. Their parents can choose to punish their children or to let them off with a basic warning. Sometimes irritated parents go to the extreme, and feel the need to punish their kids by shaming them on social media.
It is arguable that this works, publicly shaming your children to get them to stop doing something wrong. The children would become so embarrassed and this would ideally make them stop misbehaving. But is it the proper thing to do as a parent? Children can sometimes be an annoying handful of misfits, but they're just children. They have a childhood to enjoy, and negative experiences aren't going to help with that.
Publicly punishing your children will probably have negative effects. It could cause the child to be bullied at school, and be made fun of by their peers. This could also harm the child's self-esteem. If this is essentially what the parents are aiming for, isn't this just mean? It's just plain wrong when parents want their children to be made fun of simply to improve their behavior. It's one thing to ground them, and another entirely to tell the world that they have bad kids.
There are also parents in Atlanta who are giving their kids "old man" haircuts (the "Benjamin Button"), where the entire crown of the child is shaved clean like that of a senior. As if social media shaming wasn't bad enough, these kids have to go through teasing at school because of their comical haircuts.
There is no denying that the majority of the time, this method works. It may seem harsh and just outright mean, but the kids do respond better afterwards. They are embarrassed and want to try and be better to avoid having to face this kind of humiliation again.
Is it the parents' fault for being unable to cope with the behavioral issues of their children?
It is arguable that this works, publicly shaming your children to get them to stop doing something wrong. The children would become so embarrassed and this would ideally make them stop misbehaving. But is it the proper thing to do as a parent? Children can sometimes be an annoying handful of misfits, but they're just children. They have a childhood to enjoy, and negative experiences aren't going to help with that.
Publicly punishing your children will probably have negative effects. It could cause the child to be bullied at school, and be made fun of by their peers. This could also harm the child's self-esteem. If this is essentially what the parents are aiming for, isn't this just mean? It's just plain wrong when parents want their children to be made fun of simply to improve their behavior. It's one thing to ground them, and another entirely to tell the world that they have bad kids.
There are also parents in Atlanta who are giving their kids "old man" haircuts (the "Benjamin Button"), where the entire crown of the child is shaved clean like that of a senior. As if social media shaming wasn't bad enough, these kids have to go through teasing at school because of their comical haircuts.
There is no denying that the majority of the time, this method works. It may seem harsh and just outright mean, but the kids do respond better afterwards. They are embarrassed and want to try and be better to avoid having to face this kind of humiliation again.
Is it the parents' fault for being unable to cope with the behavioral issues of their children?
Unfortunately, some parents do fail to realize the aftereffects of the punishment given as you have stated above. Children are just children. Is it really worth it to embarrass them so severely just to learn a lesson? However, the creative haircut method has shown to be effective and I can only imagine what other new punishments might come next.
ReplyDeleteI believe that parents are at times considered to be at fault for being unable to cope with the behavioural issues of their own children because it is the parents whom raised them up that way. Children may have done wrong things, but they are only kids that wouldn't know better. How would you as a child feel from such a punishment?
ReplyDeleteSometimes, it is hard to define the difference between discipline and punishment. I agree with your point that sometimes, parents don't understand that publicly humiliating their child on social media can have consequences to it that can negatively affect their child. I understand that this method works, however I don't think it works for the right reason. This makes the child fearful of their parent; they behave out of fear instead of understanding why they should behave in the first place.
ReplyDelete