That bullying has absolutely no place in the world is something that we’re all taught – or at least, all should be taught – from the earliest of ages.
Making someone else’s life a misery, coercing or forcing them to do things against their will, harassing or intimidating or subjecting them to abuse are despicable practices. In an ideal world, bullying isn’t something anyone should be put through.
Sadly, we don’t live in an ideal world, and bullying remains rife in schools and work places, sometimes even at home. The best approach to tackling bullies differs depending on who you’re asking, but one mom from Texas went viral a few years ago after handling a particularly sensitive situation in a manner that drew praise and criticism in equal measure.
I have always told my children that they can be whoever they want to be, express themselves in whatever way comes natural to them. An ironclad rule that’s always existed in my household, however, is that bullying will never be tolerated.
Fortunately, I’ve never fielded the dreaded phone call from school or another child’s parent to inform me that my sons have been bullying anyone else. That said, I have spent time in the past wondering just how I’ll go about disciplining them should that day ever come.
One mother in Texas was faced with that predicament back in 2018, and her controversial response ended up getting a lot of traction online. As per reports, the mom in question, Star, was made aware that her fifth grade son was calling other boys “stupid” and “idiots.”
So, Star took action. “I did what I had to do to stop it from progressing,” the mom told KTRK at the time. “I’m a very old-school parent. I don’t coddle my children. I don’t sugarcoat the world to them.”
And it turns out that what Star deemed the appropriate response to her son’s harmful actions was forcing him to wear a t-shirt to school that read: “I am a BULLY”.
The mom also posted a picture of her son wearing the shirt to her Facebook account, writing: “I posted it to reach out to the parents of any of the kids my son may have bullied so that each one of them couId get a personal apology.”
Needless to say, the decision to publicly punish her son was met with mixed reactions online, with people divided as to whether or not Star was going too far.
Dr. Richard Pesikoff, a child psychiatrist, stated his belief that the unusual punishment could have actually done more harm than good.
“Not a good idea to embarrass your child and solidify a negative identity in an elementary school child. She needs to find somebody to help her and I think the school is one resource,” he said, according to KTRK.
Star, meanwhile, said her son’s school was 100 percent on-board and that they understood why she made her son wear the t-shirt. The mom ultimately took the picture down from Facebook after receiving negative feedback.
What do you think of this punishment? Did this mother take things too far? Let us know in the comments.