Recently, there has been a slew of news stories about parents who have found a more creative means to punish their Teens. While you may be considering using this as a means to punish your Tween, this should be used with extreme caution and thought out in regards to whether this is the best means to get your point across.
At some point, your Tween is going to get into trouble. That’s what kids at all ages do. But as they get older, it can be harder to find a way to communicate the fact that what they did was wrong. Timeouts are no longer effective and grounding doesn’t always work. But before you resort to what other parents are doing, it is important to consider both the consequences and whether or not public humiliation will work to get your message across.
One of the things you have to consider with a very public punishment is that it is public. This means that people are going to take pictures of your Tween in all of their humiliation. While your goal is to make a point, these photographs will likely wind up on the internet and follow your Tween. They may pop up in a news story. Later on, they may appear as part of your Tween’s internet profile and be seen by employers. These pictures will never really die on the internet even if you attempt to erase them later on. Sometimes, the pictures are used for nefarious purposes and a picture of your Tween could pop up on some inappropriate websites.
Aside from the picture-taking, the round of public humiliation also reflects on your parenting skills. Many parents who have tried this means of punishment have been subjected to questioning and criticism about their parenting skills. While some will applaud it, there will always be detractors who will criticize your every move. You may feel the need to defend yourself and your parenting skills. Once you take your punishment public, it is no longer about your Tween getting the message but it is also about exposing yourself to the public eye. This level of public scrutiny can be very invasive in nature.
While public punishment may work for the express purpose of getting the point across, there are consequences that can be far reaching for both you and your Tween. You need to consider weighing the crime and figuring out if it is worth the price that you will have to pay when being publicly open about your Tween’s offense. However, you should never do this rashly and in the heat of anger because once you open the door to the public, it will be impossible to shut it again.