Recently, throughout the world of social media, parents have began to latch onto a new method of discipline for their children: Facebook and YouTube. What has been going on is the posting of videos containing parents publicly shaming their kids in various different ways. From Sherman Hemsley haircuts to intense verbal abuse, parents have decided that this is the only solution for their child’s misbehavior.
These videos have been gaining millions of views on YouTube and Facebook which, leaves me to wonder, what is the fascination with the types of videos? And also can these parents really not think of no other kind of disciplinary method?
Just Sunday on Facebook, a video was posted with a Denver mom, Valerie Starks, reprimanding her 13-year-old daughter for posting provocative photos online, pretending to be a 19 years old, claiming that she was a “freak,” and having friends who were grown men. Throughout the video, you can see the girl crying.
This video got more than 11 million views, with thousands of comments praising Starks for her decision, stating that she may have even saved her daughter from online predators.
Public shaming has gained such a large amount of popularity that a Georgia barber has even decided to try and take advantage of the situation.
Barber Russell Fredrick, co-owner of A-1 Kutz, has decided to offer, free of charge, the “Benjamin Button Special” for parents who wanted to teach their child “a lesson.” Supporters have stated that they felt that it was the perfect punishment for kids who wanted “to act grown.”
Fredrick has even stated that after he decided to use this form of discipline for his child, last fall, he saw immediate results. His son’s previously low grades began to skyrocket dramatically.
Fredrick told The Washington Post, “When you go to discipline kids these days, they can’t necessarily use physical punishment they way parents did in the past, but they have to do something. If you don’t, and your kid ends up doing something crazy, everyone is going to say the problems started at home.” He also added that “giving your child a haircut that makes them look like a mini-George Jefferson should be a last resort.”
My perspective on the matter would be that I feel that this is something that can be potentially scarring for the children that have to go through an ordeal like this. It’s just another version of bullying. A parent should play the role of someone who provides comfort for a child, not a bully. When a parent decides to take part in publicly humiliating their child, it not only promotes the idea, to the child, that they can no longer feel safe in their home but, it enhances the idea that the act of public humiliation is something that is both a common and acceptable form of discipline, when it’s actually the exact opposite.
Due to the fact that things on the Internet never die, posts like these could end up being something that could end up creating terrible long-term effects. The act of public shaming is something that can really tear down a child’s confidence.
Every parent is entitled to discipline their children any way that they choose, but this just doesn’t seen like the way to do it. If a parent were to choose to take such drastic measures as these, it should be something that is kept private within their household not, online for the whole world to see. These children may deserve to be disciplined for their bad behavior, but maybe there is another way to do so.
Is The New Parenting Trend Public Humiliation?
