A mother gains online attention for the shirt she compelled her son to wear to school.
“He was calling other boys stupid (and) calling them idiots,” the Texas mom, Star, who asked that she be identified by her first name only, told KTRK-TV. “I’m a very old-school parent. I don’t coddle my children. I don’t sugarcoat the world to them.”
Star wanted as many people as possible to know that her son was a bully, so she posted a picture of the boy wearing the T-shirt to her Facebook account. Star wrote, “I posted it to reach out to the parents of any of the kids my son may have bu.llied so that each one of them couId get a personal apology.”
Although some people felt that Star went too far when it came to pu.nishing her bu.lly son, Star stood behind her actions and defended her.self aga.inst cri.tics in the online co.mmunity. “I wanted to know what he learned from it, and he said, ‘I learned that I didn’t like the way that that felt, and I don’t want anybody else to feel that way because of me,’” Star said. “That’s exactIy what I wanted him to take from it.” Professionals in the child development world do not support Star’s pu.nishment.
Although her son was a bu.lly who was hurting other children, a child psychiatrist at Baylor College of Medicine denounced Star’s treatment of her son. “Not a good idea to embarrass your child and solidify a negative identity in an elementary school child,” the child psychiatrist said. “She needs to find somebody to help her, and I think the school is one resource.” AIthough Star had critics on social media and across the internet, she claimed that her son’s school district approved of her decision. Splendora ISD said, “parents have the right to make important decisions and take certain actions on behalf of their child.” What do you think about this mom’s punishment of her bu.lly son?
