Comments on: Teen Forced to Wear ‘Thief’ Shirt after Shoplifting Incident

By: KC

KC — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 06:41:07 +0000

I understand Mom’s frustration with her daughter’s criminal actions, but she needs to understand that there is a fine line when doling out tough love to teenagers. I think making her daughter wear the shirt for a day or 2 is a better tactic than having her wear it any longer & having a heart to heart talk about how she is struggling to afford the things they NEED & has to put things they WANT aside. She should also explain that if her daughter really wanted the item(s) she’d stolen, she may want to find odd jobs to save up for them. If you can remember how hard life seemed when you were in junior high school, try to imagine the taunts & outright abuse/bullying the child is enduring from her peers. A single day of wearing that shirt would warrant a whole lot of commentary & teasing, but a week’s worth (or longer) sets the child up for a lot more than humiliation. Many parents are turning toward public humiliation to castigate their children’s infractions & I can only hope that they remember to balance out the negative reprimands with positive lessons. When we are angry or disgusted with our children, parents seem blind from the rage that one can easily cross the line from punishment to emotional abuse, & if that happens: it WILL come back to bite them on the blubber. I can only hope that Mom is not sadistic & is actually intending more harm than good. We cannot know what that family does behind closed doors & I’ve seen so many horribly abused & neglected children given punishments of public humiliation, then much worse when they are home. I hope something positive comes out of this “lesson” for Aaroneisha because it’s apparent that her home life is ‘topsy turvy’ & it had to be bad enough to be seen around her neighborhood, school & town with that shirt, but I feel a little sick from worry that her mother allowed her full name & likeness to be known to the world via this FOX news story. Being a female “tween-ager” (ages 11 – 14) is ridiculously hard enough with all of the changes & pressures they endure, but add on world-wide public humiliation & things can go from terribly awful to too much to bare.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:36:01 +0000

Great job mom!! I bet later on down the road, that girl will be a judge. Today’s kids need life lessons like that.

By: champagne 5511

champagne 5511 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:48:16 +0000

Go Mom.. When my son did this, we walked back to the store, the store owner got to decide my son’s punishment..This had nothing to do with whether he pressed charges or not. He had to spend 6 hrs per week at the local Senior Center for 6 weeks. He never did steal again. They still have the bird house he built 20 yrs. ago. There were 3 of them. The other parents didn’t do anything. When we went to court the Judge did lecture them. The judge asked my why I did what I did. I told the Judge I feel that the person who is hurt by the action is the one who should decide the punishment.

By: Buck Futter

Buck Futter — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:34:19 +0000

At least she wasn’t forced to wear a shirt that says “**** to the hard core” that would be cruel.

By: Lily

Lily — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:42:19 +0000

Go mom! More parents should take a cue from this.

By: Obother

Obother — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:33:45 +0000

The courts are making a faulty assumption that kids today have shame.
I bet in a week and a half they’ll be selling that shirt at the mall.

By: Heather Bridges

Heather Bridges — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:06:34 +0000

I think this is awesome! Seems like all parents do is cover up or bail out their kids when they break the law/rules. It’s great that she is teaching her a lesson in humility.