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Mother explains why she made her son wear 'I'm a thief' sign
Herald Sun ^ | 24th August 2011 | Brooke Baskin and Lendl Ryan

Posted on 08/23/2011 1:45:28 PM PDT by naturalman1975

MUM has ignited a national debate after making her 10-year-old son stand in a busy park wearing a sign saying, "Do not trust me. I will steal from you as I am a thief".

The mother, who confessed to having a criminal past when she was young, said it was to ensure he did not follow in her footsteps, the Herald Sun reported.

"I have lived a life that most people would not dream of and I am trying to stop my child from going down the same road as I did, because even though I have sorted myself out, it took me 10 years to do," said the single mother of three children.

The woman said she had tried everything to stop her son shoplifting and stealing - visits to courthouses, chats with police, visits to police cells and even a trip to a youth detention centre.

Finding a stash of chocolates in her son's drawer after a trip to the corner shop to buy milk last week was the last straw.

"I have put him into courses, I have had counselling done, I have done everything I can," she said.

"I think he has learnt his lesson. I think that hour (in the park) is enough for him to go: 'I don't ever want to do this again'.

"I did the same thing as my son, shoplifting as a teenager, and then it escalated because I didn't have a mum there to teach me right from wrong."

(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: discipline; parenting; publichumiliation; shame

1 posted on 08/23/2011 1:45:29 PM PDT by naturalman1975
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To: naturalman1975

TOUGH LOVE. Good for her.


2 posted on 08/23/2011 1:48:19 PM PDT by 5thGenTexan
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To: naturalman1975

Should be mandatory.


3 posted on 08/23/2011 1:50:11 PM PDT by SkyDancer (You know, they invented wheelbarrows to teach government employees how to walk on their hind legs.)
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To: naturalman1975

Reminds me of my wife and I raising our lovely daughter, teaching her right from wrong as she was growing up. Don’t take up smoking, no drinking before you’re 21 and even then in moderation, etc. It seemed we were conveying to her to do as we say, not as we DID. If this is what it takes to straighten this kid out then the hell with pop psycology.


4 posted on 08/23/2011 1:57:25 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
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To: naturalman1975

Son #2 went to the New Haven Coliseum years ago with his friend Jamie and Jamie’s parents. They were 10ish at the time. They thought it would be fun to clog one of the toilets in the mens room.

Jamie’s mom, God bless her, found out and took them back into the mens room and made them pull the toilet paper out of the toilet with their bare hands. Neither of them ever did anything like that again.

I wonder what the men thought about this woman dragging to kids back into the mens room. She did yell out a warning and let the guys know that she was coming in and she a nurse and she’d seen it all :-)


5 posted on 08/23/2011 2:03:25 PM PDT by KosmicKitty (WARNING: Hormonally crazed woman ahead!!)
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To: naturalman1975

Good for her and the nosy, busy bodies should shut up. Only a lefty or someone with no kids would complain.


6 posted on 08/23/2011 2:05:09 PM PDT by goat granny
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To: naturalman1975
Good on her!, I say.

Stigma (used judiciously) can be a very useful societal tool. The Detroit schools are going to give all kids government food for breakfast, lunch and dinner to eliminate the stigma the poor kids supposedly feel.

Bah! The only thing that ever kept welfare under control at all was that it was shameful to receive it. Now, a quarter of the country (or some such ridiculous number) is on Food Stamps and proud as punch.

7 posted on 08/23/2011 4:34:41 PM PDT by BfloGuy (Workers and consumers are, of course, identical.)
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To: naturalman1975

Good Parenting 101A. Just read Dr. Spock and do the opposite.


8 posted on 08/24/2011 12:25:34 AM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (SP12: They called Reagan "unelectable", too.)
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To: naturalman1975

The media screws up again by not publishing the punk’s face. THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT! His face should have been in the newspaper so he felt the scope of shame necessary for him to change his behavior.

No matter where you go, the MSM sucks.


9 posted on 08/24/2011 12:26:53 AM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (SP12: They called Reagan "unelectable", too.)
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