I'm getting really tired of seeing parents make headlines for punishing their children in the most humiliating ways. In the latest episode of what I'm unofficially titling Parents Behaving Badly, Gentry and Renee Nickell of Crestview, Florida, decided to punish their daughter by humiliating her.
The Nickell's made their 13-year-old daughter spend 90 minutes at a busy intersection holding a sign that read:
I'm a self-entitled teenager w/no respect for authority. I'm also super smart, yet I have 3 'D's' because I DON'T CARE.
Read more ¿Qué más?: Parents who use public humiliation as punishment should be ashamed of themselves
Pictures of the incident were taken by passing motorists at the corner of Ferdon Boulevard and U.S. Highway 90 in Crestview. Later, the Nickells were surprised that when their daughter's punishment went viral, many were angered and upset.
Really, is it so hard to believe that humiliation as a punishement would not be celebrated and applauded? What seems unbelievable to me is thinking that humiliating someone will teach them to be respectful. Teaching respect by disrepecting someone just doesn't add up.
Public humiliation as punishment is nothing new. There was a time when people would be put in the pillory (you know, those wooden contraptions you sick your head and arms in) in public squares for all to see. Those were barbaric times, haven't we evolved past that? Don't our children deserve better parenting?
Unfortunately, the Nickell's are not alone, they are just one example in what keeps becoming a longer line of parents behaving badly.