Man has 12-year Old Son Publicly Atone for Theft

Good for him. His son stole $100 from a family member so his father made him stand on the corner with a sign letting everyone know, that he is a thief.

It brings to memory the treatment nuisances used to get from the stocks or pillory. Hope the kid learns his lesson, although a psychologist doesn't seem to think so. I don't agree with his observation however. You would have to be pretty hard headed to not learn from that kind of embarassment.

Jose spent five hours on the curb Tuesday, with the elder Gonzalez keeping an eye on him from his nearby pawnshop. Gonzalez says the boy could be back on the curb Thursday. Florida psychologist James Huysman, whose practice has included treating children publicly humiliated by reality-TV shows, contends children don’t gain insight from such a public atonement.

Link

Some will say this is a bad thing that the parent did, but i bet his boy doesn't do it again for a while.

CX.

I would be the first to agree that children need to be dealt with as individuals. Some learn from a good discussion, others need a bit more. I also don't know what problems this man has had from his son in the past. It may be this a habitual problem for his son.

But all things being equal. I have never seen humiliation teach anything but bitternes and hatred. Humiliate someone, especially your own children, and they will always remember it. And they will always be waiting for the right moment to repay you.

This young man needs to understand why stealing is not acceptable. He needs to be able to see himself in his victims shoes. This should have been dealt with internally amongst the family.

I just think this will come back to haunt the father later in this young mans life.

I'd do the exact same thing if my son stole from family members. Granted I'd probably drive to the next county over so he wouldn't be totally mortified if his friends/friends parents drove by.

Sorry, I'm in agreement with the father.
But then again, I turned my own son it at the age of 6 for shoplifting a pack of gum. Even made them get the manager to have a "talk" with him.

Amazingly, he's made it to 19 without being scarred for life.
We actually had a laugh about it, now.

Since the boy is young his arms shouldn't be cut off. But I think he learned his lesson, my brother does this to. Stealing from family members is cruel, I mean ask for it, die for it but don't steal it. If one steals from a family member, you won't be able to trust them anymore and that harms the family relationship people normally have. You can't live a life that way, good thing is his dad made him regret it deeply. Hope it doesn't damage him psychically.

reply to post by BlesUTP

It could have been worse I guess (not condoning it by any means). Look what a Dad in Cambodia did when he found his son at an internet cafe instead of school.

Police are now looking for the father who apparently fled the scene and they called a locksmith to free the child after neighbours reported it.
Story here

I like the fact that it teaches the child of the consequences of his action. As far as I can tell the father used this as the only punishment so good for him. Hope the child thinks again.

I am surprised the moral police haven'y arrested the parents. Lesson learned and I am sure he won't end up like the martin kid.

Now I don't know the kid, but at that exact age, I i know I would've gone raging mad and probably have done something much worse than theft.

Either he will learn from it or it will aggravate his situation. Anyhow, everybody reacts differently to situations, to insinuate with certitude that he will have learned his lesson is naive.

Hope he turns out well, I know I wouldn't have ( but then again, I never could've stolen money from, well anyone for that matter ).

Peace

It's really hard to judge an act like this just because it is so hard to discipline children. Certain techniques work while certain ones do work. It all depends on your child. I have no problem with this type of punishment but for me to do this it would have to have been 3 strikes or something.

Originally posted by chiefsmom
Sorry, I'm in agreement with the father.
But then again, I turned my own son it at the age of 6 for shoplifting a pack of gum. Even made them get the manager to have a "talk" with him.

Amazingly, he's made it to 19 without being scarred for life.
We actually had a laugh about it, now.

My mom did this to me when I stole a pack of gum. I guess I was five or six. I had to apologize to every cashier and the manager. That was the end of my life as a petty criminal.

Children NEED natural consequences for their actions. Otherwise they're in for a rude awakening.

I guess he wont be stealing again any time soon lol.

Mind you I would have handled it differently but each to thier own. I am a proud dad and I can proudly say all of my elder kids work and work hard, my youngest is still at school.

None of them has ever stolen, if they want something they have to work and save for it

reply to post by chiefsmom

My dad did the same to me. I think I was 10. He marched me back to the shop and made me tell them what I had done. They were surprised to say the least. Then when my brother did something a little more serious (1100 pound robbery aged 16) he locked him in the house and went and got the police. Bruv ended up spending six months in Borstal. Some lessons are hard but need to be learned.