Teen Forced To Wear "I'm A Thief" Shirt

[tropicsgoddess]

This 7th grader girl was forced by her mother to wear this "I'm a thief" shirt after she was arrested for shoplifting. It seems like there's been quite a bit of parents using similar tactics to get through to their kids as tough love. Personally, if I had a child, I wouldn't use a tactic like that unless it was an absolute last resort. Ground them for a long time, yep. Military or Catholic school? Yep. The scared straight kinda programs? Yep. Boot camp? Yep. I honestly think that whole humiliate your kid by wearing signage as punishment is gonna get old quick and backfire one of these days.

Link!

[fireheart17]

I remember hearing a story about two girls who were caught shoplifting. They were underage, so they thought they were invincible. Once their dad picked them up, they thought they got off easy. They were wrong.

Once they all got home, their bedooms contained nothing more than a mattress, a change of clothes and a hairbrush. Each. All their other stuff was locked away, furniture, clothing, electronics, the lot. They had to earn it back over time for good behaviour. They were grounded for the most part: school, help dad and home.

Oh and he also tipped off Child Protection Services, so the girls couldn't ring up and complain that they were being neglected or similar.

[Seifer]

Unfortunately, for some teens, only a punishment of social embarrassment is going to hit them hard enough that they might change their behavior. Maybe now that she has this title of "Thief" looming over her head, the girl will understand how serious the consequences can be for theft. It's not just a "prank" or something "fun" to do when you go out with friends.

Edit:

This may sound weird, but did anyone else start hearing the Bed Intruder song in their head while they were reading the teen's "I'm a thief" shirt?

[Rageaholic]

I don't agree with these punishments either, but I think in some extreme cases (where all else fails), they may be warrented.

[Andara Bledin]

Even the threat of social embarrassment would have been massively effective on my brother, who was excessively self-conscious as a kid. It never had to come to that (taking away his toys usually was enough.

^-.-^

[tropicsgoddess]

This may sound weird, but did anyone else start hearing the Bed Intruder song in their head while they were reading the teen's "I'm a thief" shirt?

I thought I was the only one that thought of the Bed Intruder when I saw the teen's shirt!

[Bloodsoul]

Why do I have a feeling the mother played "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" in her youth?

[powerboy]

I honestly see no problem with that punishment. If anything, it would make them remember that even more, then just a grounding.

[Tanasi]

I'm going to go with the Mother's judgement on this one. She knows the kid best and it wearing such a shirt is what it takes to stop the behavior then so be it. The kid did have the choice of not stealing. I'm gratful that I've not had this problem with my kids, now smart mouths are a different story.

[crashhelmet]

Why do I have a feeling the mother played "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" in her youth?

maybe she read/saw the movie for The Scarlet Letter?

[MournBlade]

This may sound weird, but did anyone else start hearing the Bed Intruder song in their head while they were reading the teen's "I'm a thief" shirt?

LMAO same here.
I wonder when the temporary tattos on the forehead will begin.
If it works and shocks them into stopping - do it.

[Slytovhand]

I like the 'if it's effective, use it' ideology. Presuming, of course, that other measures have been taken, and haven't worked.

It sure beats the hell out of being caught again and again, getting a slap over the wrist, and then getting into a really bad crowd, and ending up in juvie for petty shoplifting.

However, I do also like the idea of removing all of a child's play things (and other stuff) until they 'conform'... however, I think understanding why is more important that mere conformity.

[fireheart17]

However, I do also like the idea of removing all of a child's play things (and other stuff) until they 'conform'... however, I think understanding why is more important that mere conformity.

It wasn't just their playthings from my story, it was EVERYTHING in their room-right down to the bed frame and the posters on the walls. It was no better than a prison room basically and they had to earn things back via the good behaviour system.