In a world where social media reigns supreme, one mother from the UK found herself in hot water after publicly shaming her son for bullying a classmate. Meet Lisa Harper, a 30-year-old mom from Derbyshire, whose 12-year-old son recently faced disciplinary action at school for intentionally stepping on a new girl’s foot, damaging her shoe in the process. In an attempt to correct her son’s behavior, Lisa took to Facebook with a post that quickly sparked controversy.
She shared, “I’m utterly appalled that my son, Jake, thought it would be okay to stomp on a new girl’s foot at school, breaking her new shoes! Jake, if you so much as look at her in a bullying way again, I’ll hand you over to her parents for whatever chores they deem fit. Say goodbye to your pocket money, because you’ll be buying that girl a new pair of shoes and some flowers! #NoBullyZone”
In a bold move, Lisa tagged Jake in the post, which soon went viral, garnering over 11,000 shares and 54,000 likes. While some praised her parenting style, many others criticized her for humiliating her son publicly. One commenter noted, “Why make it worse for him? This will stick with him forever. A mistake at 12, online for all to see.”
Eventually, Lisa made the post private but not before defending her actions. She explained that she had a serious conversation with her son privately, but felt it was important for his friends to see that his actions have consequences. “I don’t care if people disagree with my parenting style. My son made a girl feel terrible, and that’s not okay. The embarrassment she felt was far worse than anything I did to him,” she stated.
After the incident, Lisa reported feeling regret about the post’s virality, saying, “I wanted to teach him a lesson, not for the whole world to see. This was his first mistake, and I’m determined it’ll be his last.”
While it’s commendable that Lisa wants to raise her son to be kind, publicly shaming him might not be the best approach. In fact, studies show that bullying often stems from children grappling with their own insecurities or external pressures. Shaming kids can lead to increased frustration rather than promoting understanding.
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In summary, while Lisa Harper’s intentions were good, her approach to discipline might not have been the most effective. Children learn better when they are shown kindness and respect, even when addressing their mistakes.