Good for him, some kids respond better to shaming than any other punishment. My kid would rather walk across broken glass barefoot than have to do something like this, just the threat of doing this is enough to drive the message home.
Posted on 04/21/2006 7:56:55 AM PDT by Abathar
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A girl who skipped school Thursday received an unusual punishment from her father.
When Don Wesselman found out his daughter, Samantha, had skipped her freshman classes at Bonner Springs High School to hang out with friends, he gave her two choices.
"I told her she could either get disciplinary actions at home, or she could go up the street and hold a sign for 30 minutes," Wesselman told KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Mo.
She chose told hold up the sign, which read: "I skipped school so I don't have to learn so my Dad made me this sign so I can be ready for the future. God Bless."
Motorists and passers-by saw her holding up the sign.
The girl received some sympathetic looks, but others cheered the father's discipline.
"Outstanding -- that's the only thing I can say about that," a bystander said.
"I feel the parents don't do enough of that. I'm raised the old world way, and kids have got to learn there are rules and regulations," a passer-by said.
"I bet she won't do it again because that's embarrassing. I guarantee you that daughter won't do that again -- to see everybody knowing that you skipped school -- she won't do that again," a witness said.
"I think I put my foot down and she isn't going to do it again," Wesselman said.
After her 30 minutes were up, Samantha handed over the sign to her father, who said they'd be having a conversation later over why she skipped school.
Wesselman said he got the idea for the sign from another parent in New York who did something similar a few years ago.
Good for him, some kids respond better to shaming than any other punishment. My kid would rather walk across broken glass barefoot than have to do something like this, just the threat of doing this is enough to drive the message home.
Praises for this father. I am just excited that she has a father in the home who obviously loves her. She is already two steps ahead of many, many chidren.
Only 30 minutes!!!
What a softie.
I'm sure the ACLU / Human Rights Intl. / ad nauseam will find something to whine about this common-sense approach. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they sued the father.
Great. Would setting up Stocks with a permanent sign be too over-the-top?
I'll bet she'll be a lot more careful not to get caught next time.
I'm not sure. Isn't the shame of disappointing the father enough? Does she need to be publicly humiliated? It seems to me likely that the child will remember this as her father's intentional humiliation of her, rather than her humiliation of herself. (But the father knows her better than I do, so I guess I shouldn't judge.)
Back in my day, we had bigger signs with heavier... and it rained all... cold and snowy... uphill... tornado even...
LOL! It would have been a few hours if it was my kid...
LOL!!! Very, very funny! Classic!
Excellent. This MAN is a good father and frankly she is a good daughter. All kids make foolish choices at times, but she made a wise choice for the sign.
I guarantee any children she may have will also learn this lesson.
Yeah, but I bet you were dressed. We didn't even have clothes.
I skipped school and now have to hold a sign showing my propensity towards run-on sentences. :( LOL.
That's great, but you forgot the part about having to walk 6 miles to carry them.
I'm still on restriction, a fact my 82-year-old father reminded me of when I turned 50 last summer. ;)
It worked for the Colonials.
This father deserves plaudits for actually carrying through with the punishment.
Skipped school to hang out? My gosh.
Oops, I missed the part about her having a choice. The sign was her choice (over private punishment). In that light, the father's actions seem more admirable to me.
Oops, I missed the part about her having a choice. The sign was her choice (over private punishment). In that light, the father's actions seem more admirable to me.
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