i think that 7 and 5 is not an appropriate age for that cruel punishment, but i like the idea for an older child

I agree with pink. That's a great way to get the point across to a preteen/teenager.

Not a chance. Deliberate public humiliation is cruel and I can't see ever using it as a form of discipline.

A good way to guarantee some steep therapy bills.

This reminds me of the story from a few days ago about the boy who was publicly humiliated by his teacher and classmates. This is not an acceptable way to deal with children under any circumstances.

I can't imagine any positive results coming from this.

Ditto to Greggie.

I'm with you Greggie, I think it will continue the 5 year old's lack of respect for his mother. The mother is acting more like a child than an adult in control. She's losing even more respect with her children. She needs a parenting course.

I don't use time-outs either for discipline. I'm a firm believer in removing privileges when my child is misbehaving. Matching the punishment with the behavior. Don't play nice in the park, after a few warnings we go home. Don't share a toy remove the toys for a few days. etc.

kids never learn through embarassement, they only learn to resent thier parents more, its parental bullying in my opinion.

It's also not a lesson in humility, it's a lesson by humiliation. Saying "I'll never have a girlfriend" isn't humble, it's flat-out putting himself down.

I don't ever think it's right to try to humiliate children into submission. She should be addressing where these behaviors come from. Her 5 and 7 year old have bad theft problems? Where is that coming from?? This is exactly the sort of thing you see on bad day time tv shows where the kids are saying Yes my mom ruined my childhood. Way to raise your child in a loving environment.

I think that's a little far, but there's some ways I think it could work. I read about a mom who's kids were whining and embarassing her at the grocery store. She told them that if they didn't stop she was going to do something really embarassing. Well they didn't stop and she stopped in the middle of the aisle and started belting out oldies at the top of her lungs. She said they were so embarassed that's it's been quite awhile and still they're perfect angels anytime they go out in public for fear mom will belt out oldies again.

i love honey's comment! i think that if you belted out into song is one thing, because in actuallity you are embarassing yourself, even though the kids may feel embarrassed...

i think the public humiliation thing is gross and i agree with everyoen above, it will led to lots o therapy, AND i still don't think it will help these kids, it will get to the point where MAYBE they think if their mother or a classmate does something wrong they will do everything in their best interest to embarrass that individual!

the other thing that bothers me is that if these children are 5 and 7, and she has still yet to teach them any manners, what was she thinking in the first place? there are certain kids of "discipline" for younger kids just by saying "yes" or "no", but obviously she didn't have the time to do that when they were younger!

i like that approach better honey693

Honey, I think that's totally different. That embarrasses them, but doesn't knock down their self-esteem. It's also a good idea. *lol*

Honey693, nice. i like that idea.

5 and 7 are to young for such punishment. if it was a 16 year old holding a sine that said "I disrespect my mother" now, i can see that working. the no girlfrind thing and 7 thing dont sit well with me.

Honey693... thank you for sharing that... i think it's a) hysterical, b) effective and c) REALLY hysterical!!! i hope i remember that one!

Honey693 - great idea! But, I agree with Greggie that is totally different than what this mom did here. How can you so totally crush a kid's self-esteem and spirit? I think the mom went too far, especially for the age of the kids involved.

Honey-lol. It is totally different as Greggie and martini have said. No humor to be found in the sign holding tale.

I completely disagree with this mother's approach. I find her need to humiliate her children disturbing.

What a bxtch! Some people just weren't meant to be parents. A shame they can't realize it soon enough.

She's going to raise a bunch of bullies with this approach. Nice job Mom.

I do like honey's example though - a little embarassment is different than bullying.

Discipline HAS TO allow a child to retain their self-respect. They should feel badly about the incorrect behavior, not themselves. Honey's example is a great example of something that shows children the impact of their behavior without belittling who they are. Frankly, I think the sign-on-the-corner Mom is verging on emotional abuse.

I find it interesting that the kid held a sign that says "I can't respect my mom"...well he's never gonna respect you know, good job mom!

I agree with you guys. This is not an effective form of discipline. They need a visit from Supernanny. I'd love to see her reaction to the street walking.

horrible. these kids are too little, you make mistakes as a child.

this is from a couple of years ago, and i thought this was "okay" because the girl is 14 and the parents are running out of options. http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-11-16-punishment_x.htm

That is so interesting lickety split. I'd be curious to see how that girl is doing now!

This lady needs counciling beyond compare.
This is too embarrassing even for some of my children. I bet she didn't try everything to go to that much extreme to punish her children.

I use to spank my children before they got too old because there is a certain point where they get really embarrassed in there teen years. The worst case of a spanking I have done is with my daughter, she was about 7 years old and I told her she was very naughty so I took her by the hand pulled up her skirt and spanked her 6 times on the seat of her panted bottom.

I think this might of helped this lady but I think the limit between a spanking and abuse is 7 spanks and on the panted bottom. I WOULD NEVER spank my child bare.