"I Called My 5th Grade Teacher a Jackass"

Shaming an adult is a sever punishment. It scars them in the public's eye for the rest of their life. Punishing a kid in 5th grade by using the media means that in sixth grade his new teacher is already going to know he's a bad seed, and he knows this. He's going to expect them to look at him disapprovingly and so he'll act like the bad kid they already think him to be (whether or not they do think that, its already in his mind that they do). It will be this way in every grade from now on, he can never have a clean slate... ever! Public embarrassment isn't a joke, and his teacher is clearly a jackass for doing this to him.

I don't think it was the teacher that made him do it. Rather, it was his mom.

Considering it's his MOM who made him wear the sign, not the teacher...

I think it's great that a parent is taking a firm stand in behavior modification discipline for her child. Too often parents just don't care or don't make an effort to instill proper behavior. I speak as a teacher AND a parent.

The child embarrassed his teacher in front of the class (which makes it just that much harder to manage a classroom when one's students are disrespectful), so Mom embarrassed the kid. Besides, it's a parent's job to "humiliate" their children. That's why they take naked baby bath pics to show their girlfriends years down the road ;)

Wow. I cannot believe that you think the TEACHER is to blame here.

First, it was the student's PARENT who imposed this punishment on him.

Second, kids who act up will continue to act up until they are given an incentive to no longer act up. For some, that is positive reinforcement, for others, it is a spanking. The story said that this was the final straw, so that leads me to believe, reasonably, that this student had a history of this behavior and previous punishments had not worked.

The concept that you shouldn't punish someone because that punishment might reflect on the rest of their life is asinine. It is called consequences. Our actions have them.

This was certainly better than expulsion. If it taught him a lesson, it was well worth it. Also, as a society, we have a very short attention span. So even if his teacher NEXT year recognizes him, it likely won't make a difference...unless he CONTINUES to be a bad seed.

The more we, as a society, move away from making people accountable for their actions and move in to the nanny-state, pampered children society that we are now where a spanking is considered abuse and kids are no longer afraid of their parents or authority figures, therefore they have no respect for them, the worse we are going to be.

When I was in school, they had a "Paddle Permit" signed by my parents authorizing the school to, if the Principal deemed necessary (and they conferred with the parents), paddle a student as a consequence. This was not the FIRST consequence, it wasn't even the third or fifth. I got paddled the first time on the EIGTH time I broke the SAME rather serious rule. Then I went home and got it from my mom, and then my dad when he got home. I didn't do it again.

Now, kids have no respect for authority because they know there is nothing that can be done to them. All they have to do is even INSINUATE child abuse and a parent is in trouble.

The current generation of children is terrible...I can't imagine my kids kids generation.

I would also like to add to my novel above, Judge Ted Poe in Texas was a judge who was famous for doing this. He also had the lowest recidivism rate in the state. Making someone wear a sign saying they did something dumb on a street corner garnered more results than putting them in jail. Go figure.

When I was a kid I stole a candy box in a store. My Mom made me go back and give it back. I never stole again : shame is a powerful tool.

It is fantastic to see parents pinning a consequence on bad behavior. This child will grow up to have respect. He looks like he learned his lesson and will probably also grow up to be an upstanding citizen. I would be sad if his parents did not punish him. His parents sound like upstanding citizens who are doing an excellent job raising their child.

child abuse? letting your kid watch american idol is child abuse...

I think the appropriateness of the punishement can only be determined AFTER determining whether or not the teacher is, in fact, a jackass.

When you're in the fifth grade, yelling that your instructor is a jackass is a shameful act. I was taught as a child to show respect to my elders, regardless of whether or not they were actually a jackass.

It's this PC crap that consistently coddles the human ego that is creating all of these little jackasses that end up being problem adults later on. It seems the kid got just what he needed.

Ya gotta nip it in the bud, Andy. NIP IT!

This is a punishment? He gets to tell the world what he thought of his teacher and also proclaim his rebellious nature. It's a 5th grader's dream come true, and it looks like he's suppressing a smile. I'm surprised the other students aren't rushing to stand beside him with their own signs saying much worse.

We raised our kids that whatever you do in life, there are always consequences. As a parent, we were not able to hold their hand all the way through until they were 18. As my children grew into adults, they know this, and have made great choices in life.

I'm willing to bet at least a few people honked and shouted, "Good job!" Look at that grin on his face. He probably thinks it's pretty funny, too.

To say that a punishment works is not to say that it is an acceptable form of punishment.

Very often, when you hear someone say that a severe form of punishment was their "last resort" with an unruly child you will find that the parents' previous methods of discipline were uneven or almost nonexistent. In my opinion, public humiliation and physical violence do not help the situation, they only make it worse in the long run.

He does seem to be enjoying it. It may have been more effective to require him to make amends to the teacher directly. He could do chores for the teacher, either at school or at home. Something difficult and unpleasant.

Lol, he has an Argentina shirt!
Then i read the article, but is so random to see my national soccer team shirt on this guy.

It might have worked had the media left it alone. What was shame instead turned into fame.

I'm a big fan of letting the punishment fit the crime. A day cleaning up poop at a stables or a dog park would have been ideal.

A good spanking with a belt or switch would've done the trick, but since liberals decided we can't raise our own children anymore, I guess this will have to do. No, it is not child abuse and anyone who thinks it is has never witnessed real child abuse. Parents are not allowed to parent anymore. Yesterday, I was at a restaurant and it was filled with families. All the parents were there to drink beer and let their kids run wild. At one point, in between having kids kick my disabled mother in the back of the ankle for the ninth time and one that kept putting his ass into my father's elbow while he was trying to eat, I witnessed a kid trying to get his father's attention. The father was of course more interested in his beer than his child so eventually the kid reared back as hard as he could and punched dad in the kidney. Hard...really hard. Hard enough to hear it over the roar of all the other drunk parents and misbehaving children. What did the father do? He tilted his head forward, arched his brow, and said EVAN long and drawn out like. What did the kid do? Looked at the father like the jackass he was and went back to being an insufferable brat. Parents have know clue how to discipline their kids these days because everyone is so quick to yell abuse. This mother deserves an award of some sort for coming up with this punishment. Kudos to her.

A grin isn't indicative of shame or lack thereof. Some people respond to scolding with a smile, not because they're being insolent but because that's the way they deflect the stress of the situation. If a kid is smiling while I'm dressing him down, it doesn't mean that I demand "you think this is funny?" The real assessment of whether this works or not is if the behavior is repeated.

Considering that this is the mother's idea, and that this comes after several previous attempts to curb the antisocial behavior, I can't say that it's a bad idea. At the very least, there are several kids back in the school that are happy to see a disruptive child gone even for a day. Despite what people think of kids today, I've found that the vast majority of my students are wonderfully behaved, curious and even a bit smart-alecky, and that one or two problem kids annoy not just the teacher but everyone else.

Child abuse? The very fact that you'd think such a thing might be child abuse trivializes the real abuse that children suffer every day.

This is brilliant - makes an impression without damaging the child, and serves as a reminder to other children as well.

How about putting a sign on the high paid executives that our tax dollars bailed out. A sign with how much bonus they received for failing at their jobs!

This is SO not child abuse. When you've got people out there who beat, starve or kill their kids it's ridiculous to say this kid is being abused. I hate how parents today are "damned if you do, damned if you don't" when it comes to disciplining their kids. If you're thinking this punishment is wrong, but you turn around and complain about someone else's kids for being unruly you really need to reconsider what you believe!

I wish I could remember who said, "Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lesson afterward."

Vernon Law. Googled it in 10 seconds. The Internet can be a useful thing, dooflotchie.

It's not child abuse and he's not smiling, it looks like more of a grimace. Will it be effective? Who knows but sometimes grounding, time outs, taking away privileges, extra chores and yes, even spanking doesn't work either. You have to try everything until it has the desired effect. Good for this mom!

His mom clearly agreed to it so no it's not abuse it's just another form of the "dunce hat". Punishment through negative attention is a good way of discipline, the military uses this teaching tool often in training.

Has it been established that the teacher was not, in fact, a jackass? The truth could be a defense.

I've read all the comments above. I don't think this child will be traumatized by this experience. However, I don't know how effective a lesson it is, and it may even reinforce the behavior his mother says she is trying to extinguish.

The 'consequence' for insulting Mr. Smith is that he stands in a public place announcing that he called Mr. Smith a jackass. No wonder the big grin on his face!

A better approach, I think, would have been to stand in front of the class (the same people who heard him make the statement), and read a pre-approved essay not only apologizing, but describing to the class what "defect of character" (for want of a better expression) led him to make this error, and what he has learned.

But to put him out in public, wearing a big grin on his face, holding a sign announcing that he had called Mr. Smith a jackass, seems like more of a passive-aggressive reward than a punishment, by giving him a public forum to repeat the insult to a vastly larger audience.

The Mom's intent may have been good, but her response doesn't seem to have been well thought through.