The harsh reality is that none of our children are flawless, despite our best efforts to think otherwise.
I’m not saying that most parents aren’t doing a good job; far from it. What I’m saying is that childhood is a time of rapid learning, during which almost everyone will make mistakes that they will later regret.
Perhaps more important than the actual events in these situations is how the child handles the situation, grows from it, and moves on.
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This is the exact reason we introduce the idea of punishment at a young age: when a child misbehaves, they must bear the repercussions of their actions. They learn a small lesson from it, and maybe* they won’t repeat the same action.
Of course, there is a wide range of punishments available, from a symbolic smack on the wrist to techniques that the offending child is unlikely to forget.
Either way, one father’s decision for his daughter most definitely falls under the later of those two groups. She was overheard making fun of a fellow pupil who was balding after treatment. It’s easy to assume that her father wasn’t impressed when he learned.
He made the decision to take action to make sure she didn’t do it again. In order for her to understand what it was like to be in her victim’s position, he shaved her head bald.
He has undoubtedly received a lot of backlash online for his scolding technique, but he doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. Conversely, he told CafeMom that he believed it to be a very appropriate response.
To add to the turmoil, he also revealed to CafeMom that his daughter is seeing the other girl’s ex-boyfriend.
“They were having an argument in class about stupid teenage gossip regarding my daughter’s boyfriend. At some point the other girl mentioned how my daughter’s boyfriend was just using her for sex (this was actually a big shock to me as I had no idea she was sexually active) and called my daughter a slut.
“That’s what escalated the situation and resulted in the wig incident. Supposedly they have been arguing in class ever since my daughter started dating the guy in question. Basically just stupid teenage ‘he said she said’ nonsense.“Not how I’ve raised my daughter to treat people and it truly disgusted me to hear how she acted from her deputy principle. She showed no remorse. She tried to excuse her behavior by saying the girl in question deserved it. Again, I don’t care what she said, that behavior is inexcusable.”
Backlash
The dad is open about the fact that many people – the girl’s mother included – believe he took things too far by forcing her to shave her head.
“I came up with the punishment because I thought my daughter had an extreme lack of empathy for the girl she bullied,” he says.
“My daughter knows this and that is what really disgusted me with her behavior. It demonstrated a complete and utter lack of empathy. I hoped that her going to school bald and walking a mile in the other girl’s shoes would teach her a lesson.”
We want to know what you think. Was it too far to shave his daughter’s head for what she did? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.
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