As parents, we try to teach our children to distinguish between right and wrong, but we often fail for various reasons. A father discovered that his daughter was bullying a classmate who was suffering from cancer.
Things escalated to the point where she even took the girl’s wig. This enraged the father, who decided to take action by punishing his daughter in a way that sparked controversy and a wide range of online reactions.
The father eventually removed the post after being criticized for how he treated his bullying daughter. “My wife and I have a 16-year-old daughter together, of whom I have sole custody (she moved on with her new family)… My daughter recently got into trouble at school for mocking a classmate who lost her hair due to cancer treatment. Including pulling off her wig,” he began his post.
“Apparently, there were previous tensions between them, but I don’t believe that justifies her behavior.” He gave his daughter two options to choose from after learning of what happened and what she had done in order to teach her a lesson. The first was to destroy all her equipment, and the second was to go to the hair salon and receive a buzz cut. The girl opted for the latter and shaved her head to go to school.
“… Everyone thinks I went too far. Her mother was furious with me saying that it would make her a target for bullying (a little target, teach her compassion),” the father wrote.
Although few people agreed with him, he believed he had done the right thing. Many people took the time to express their opinion on the situation. Someone wrote, “Your daughter is a bully because you are a bully. I seriously doubt this is the first time you’ve used abuse and humiliation to ‘teach her a lesson’.”
Another person added, “There’s a term for what you did. It’s called child abuse. Taking away her electronics would have been an appropriate punishment. Grounding her would have been an appropriate punishment. Disregarding her right to bodily autonomy and humiliating her is not an appropriate punishment. It’s unlikely she’ll learn from it and, if anything, it could perpetuate a cycle of bullying.”
However, there were also those who praised his parenting. “I fully support your decision. You’re her father, so you have every right to do it, it’s not abusive, it’s real life. If she feels comfortable attacking someone for something they have no choice over, she needs to see how it feels,” someone wrote in support of the father.
“She’ll see what impact actions like hers have on the victim, and that will teach her a very important lesson,” another supporter added.
So, what do you think? Do you think the father’s punishment was excessive? Let us know your opinion by leaving a comment below.