February 8, 2009
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Punishing Bad Grades
A 15-year old boy was forced to wear a sign listing his grades out by a street.
The parents wanted to punish him for bringing home bad grades. Here is the link: Link
Do you think it is an acceptable punishment to make their son wear his grades in public?
Comments (259)
Ooooh, that’s mean.
Nope!
Plus, no one’s going to care that sees him. At least I wouldn’t…
poop.
No. That’s his private life. Good or bad grades.
That’s awful. I only ever get lectured, with privileges taken away, maybe.
That is mean.
I don’t think his parents should make him do that.
Poor guy. Wait when did they start giving out E’s?
Why does this always make news when a parent does this? This has to be like the fourth time I’ve read something like this.
If humiliation gets the kid’s act together, then so be it.
Public humiliation. No that sucks, they should just beat him and get it over with.
my first reaction was absolutely not…but it depends on the reason that the grades were bad. if he just wasn’t trying, it would make it a little more acceptable in my opinion. still, that’s kind of cruel
what’s an “E”? well at least he got an A on Phys. Ed. That doesnt look too bad.
ha, wow.
I’m pretty glad my parents skipped out on this sort of punishment.
Well considering that “E” isn’t an actual grade, this is a hoax.
That is mean,humiliation is not the best motivator.
i agree with it. it seems that today kids don’t care about their grades and teachers still pass them. my family and i dont understand how my little sister has been passing with C’s, D’s and F’s. she’s been lucky. it’s like they’ll accept anyhting before keeping them.
maybe a little embarassment will motivate them.
@trunthepaige - lol or that
That is HARSH…
i think it might work
That’s kinda fucked up.
No, that doesn’t help him to improve his grades.
@trunthepaige - Hahaha.
what the heck does E mean ?
@ducati623 - Well, in kindergarden they do Excellent, Acceptable and Comparable, here. Thats just what Im thinking, though this guy doesnt look kindergarden to me.
What happened to a good old fashioned beating? Or taking away TV/hangout with friends time. That’s what I got when I got bad grades.
@you_were_the_song_all_along - some places use “E” instead of “F”.
That is absolutely horrible. I would be really upset. But, it might motivate him to work harder next time.
Punishment is ineffective. They’re doing it all wrong. He’s going to be all kinds of fucked up.
Poor kid.
PS- I’m in adolescent psych, and it is my fourth psych class. My statements on the matter have a decent amount of credibility. Reinforcement ftw! (Punishment ftf.)
[edit] Also, do they even give out Es? If not then all signs point to this being a hoax. I mean, it has to be a hoax. All the comments on the website are supportive. That’s some fucked up shit. [/edit]
I don’t see public humiliation being something that would have forced me to make better grades. If anything, that’s kind of humiliating the parents as well? Woulnd’t you think? Just my opinion. I don’t see how showing someone’s grades to the world would make them try harder. My motivation for good grades was to beat my brother and sister. Never was it to not have to stand on the raodside displaying my grades.
Sure why not
the prospect of future humiliation should keep him in line
@imgoingto____FLY_x - Excellent?
But I dont see how thats bad…
No and really, if he doesn’t care enough to be making good grades then I hardly doubt he cares who knows about it. I think there are much more effective forms of discipline (not punishment) that actually ENCOURAGE and motivate kids.
Whoo! He got a C in Science and and A in PE.
So what? I suck at English too and I didn’t understand Algebra until Calculus.
He can still be something even if his grades suck now. Early high school. He still has a good chance.
It’s not the approach I would take, but I prefer to err on the side of assuming parents know how to get through to their own kids.
And yes, some schools give out Es instead of Fs. Apparently some Seattle area schools used to give out Ns, which would mean they fail the class but it doesn’t count against their GPA. That’s been changed back to Es.
Childhood trauma for $1,000, please.
@trunthepaige - Who beats kids who are that old?
That just encourages sympathy for the kid for having such jerks for parents. It certainly won’t improve his attitude about school or parental authority. I’ve known parents who had incorrigible kids and understand their frustration, but public ridicule is not the answer.
I think it depends entirely on what happened to make the kid fail. If he was sick alot then no thats a terrible punishment you can’t help heath problems, but if hes just lazy then yeah if it makes him less lazy then keep doing what ever works.
E? Alright.
@jediwa72 - “I think there are much more effective forms of discipline (not punishment) that actually ENCOURAGE and motivate kids.” Yes. You are absolutely right. I’ve learned a lot about punishment and behavior modification in my two years of psychology, and all I can say is: His parents will pay for this. This is one messed up form of “help.” (And I can’t wait to see it come back to bite them in the ass. Even as kind as I am, I really want to see this fail on them. Even if his grades go up, when he suffers from all sorts of ridiculous psychological disorders when he’s older, I’d love to hear their reaction. I’m going to bet they say the disorders aren’t their fault but the good grades are.)
That’s pretty harsh.
what the hell is an E??? they never had E’s when I was in school.
And that’s fucking retarded. The kid is probably going to be so pissed off at his parents he’s going to have all this repressed anger and end up being some crazy killer one day.
sure, why not. at least they know how he’s doing in school.
What is an E? Really. Why not use an F. Sounds more appropriate. Oh well. Hope he isn’t too ashamed.
wtf? No, that’s not okay!
I applaud the parents.
Am I the only person who finds this hilarious?
My parents never had to punish me. I punished myself when I got bad grades. Sometimes, though, kids don’t have intrinsic motivation. They need something external. Humilation? Not a great motivator, at least not in my book.
@DyingWhileIWaitToDie - I see. I was under the impression that there was a universal grading scale (A+ thru F).
Does anyone know if an E is worse than F or just another grade between D-F? I am curious.
It’ll probably improve his grades.
It’ll also probably screw him over later on in life.
But then again, it’s nothing a little therapy can’t fix.
(I’m being slightly sarcastic here.)
@ducati623 - @Secret_Qt - My first school gave out E’s and when I transferred to another high school, they gave out F’s, so I told people and they’re like “wtf?” Even colleges do F’s. It’s dumb.
@FireMapleSong - I LOLed for about 5 minutes, so no, you’re not the only one.
Hells yeah! Maybe a little humility will help a kid!
In my school, E = excellent, but that’s not the vibe I’m getting here?
Anyway, I find it kind of funny. It can’t be THAT detrimental, can it? It’s not like he’s parading around going “I HAVE AN STD” or something. It’s just grades. I wouldn’t mind.
@nattata - Very large and mean fathers. or maybe a few brothers and uncles and can help the single mother
hes going to be all kinds of fucked up
@naguyin - In my high school, they tried to say that receiving a grade of E was better for a student’s self-esteem than receiving a grade of F. Personally, I do not see how it is any different. It is still the lowest possible grade.
I have to admit that I giggled a little bit at this story. I do feel kind of bad, though. That’s just harsh!
@polishswede - I agree. My concern was that people in the reading this would assume an E is just as bad as an F. But in fact it could just be like a D-.
I find it hard to believe that the parents could justify a public trial. But I am not a parent.
what is an E?
@storiesandsinker - If we knew the kid, we would probably be the assholes standing around making fun of his sign.
Maybe this is the kick in the behind to get him to actually starting thinking seriously about his future! If anything least its a good way to advertise how dumb he is!
No.
noo
thats mean
If my parents did that to me if I had bad grades it would probably make them get worse.
Actually, I’m not really graded on anything; I homeschool. And when I took the CAT test every year I always scored on the 99th percentile . . .
Eh…that’s just wrong. How about telling him to use his time wisely and study, rather than standing around on a street corner?
FYI- F being the lower form of the grading system, denoting failure, the lowest. In the mid-twentieth century, many American educational institutions—especially in the Midwest (particularly the State of Michigan)—began to use the letters A, B, C, D, and E. The only difference here is that failure is denoted by E instead of F, which is not used by these schools. By comparison, the grade E is sometimes used in Canada as a conditional failing grade.
That’s absolutely brilliant.
hopefully he’ll learn from this.
public humiliation like this is horrible, but i’d be angry if the only subject my kid did well in was PE.
That would be embarrassing and I think they are taking it a little too far, but if it works then maybe not.
Taking away privileges is always a good idea when kids need to focus more on school.
@jillcarmel - It’s an “F” grade (Fail, Not Passing, Incomplete…etc.)
just kick him out of the house when he’s 18 and then he’ll regret failing school.
That would make me work harder…
And my school does give out E’s.
@trunthepaige - Or all of them. I see. lol
I think that depends on the kid. If it would get the kid to work harder in school and get better grades then I see nothing wrong with it. However, if it would anger the kid or otherwise make them less interested in school then there is a serious problem with that punishment.
If the parents really cared, they would’ve known what grades he had before the report card. They don’t deserve to punish him if they don’t even do anything to help him. This is disgusting.
I doubt this will inspire him to do better in school.
E? Haha. That sucks, I only get yelled at and am forced to focus on homework more.
i think it would’ve been more appropriate for his parents to just take away privileges and tech stuff (cell phone, laptop, etc.). public humiliation is too harsh, in my opinion. if my parents made me do that, i’d cry lol
his parents can punish him any way they want. if my kid came home with grades that bad…. i don’t know what i’d do but i’d definitely think about making him/her wear a sign on the street. grounded for a month! two months!
That’s fucking ridiculous. and his grades are better then mine
i think grades have naught to do with the content of his character, so i think that it is a cruel punishment to demean him, a full, multi-faceted human being, to a few numbers. after all, one’s future does not always have to do with his scholastic achievements.
HAH that sucks. mostly because people now know his grades nationwide.
How could you trust someone who would do that to you?
Kathi
Depends… was he just doing poorly, or was he purposely neglecting his work and skipping? If it’s the former, then the parents are assholes. If its the latter, then whatever.
I enjoy creative punishment.
@NightCometh - when the privileges are what are detracting from his scholastic achievement, anyway. it isn’t always distractions that are the problem- if he really isn’t very smart and needs a tutor, rather than taking away video games or television which might distract him. or perhaps it is some sort of mental preoccupation that needs care, some emotional problem which prevents him from paying proper attention to his education.
that sucks -_-
Uh, no.
I never got punished for grades. I got punished for not trying, but I suck at math so if I brought home a D, my mom was happy.
But if it’s english or some such thing, I better have at least a B+.
Is this for real? It’s horrible & humiliating!!
Ridiculous. This punishment will most likely only work to create (or bolster) feelings of resentment towards his parents for subjecting him to a public humiliation. It could also effect how he views authority figures and can’t be good for his self-esteem.
On the other hand, and I’m not endorsing what his parents did in the least, depending on his personality there is a slight chance this could very well drive him to do better to avoid such punishment in the future.
I’ve noticed some posters on the article saying that they commend the parents on their approach and would like to try it with their kids. I’m going to say right now that there are much better ways of reinforcing or teaching good behaviors than forcing public humiliation on your child.
That’s terrible.
Hmmm maybe it will work. Embarrass him to get better grades? OR it could make him resent his parents and have the opposite effect.
wow–that is just wrong. I sympathize for him because although I was an honour roll student back in my day, my parents still were so hard on me and to this day I still have a hard time shaking the idea that I am never good enough. I say the parents deserve an E.
If it’s because he is not trying and as long as he doesn’t already have any major self esteem issues (though, what high school get doesn’t have at least some insecurities), I don’t see anything wrong with it. In the article, the kid said he didn’t want to be out there again so it sounds like it worked. I work in a couple of schools, and I think kids are too coddled when it comes to their education.
I don’t think this would be appropriate for elementary school kids though.
@Innuendo__X - i know it’s a weird observation but I have that same Tommy polka dot bra you’re wearing..haha =P
Wth is “E”? Other than that, parents sometimes have to what they have to do. I don’t think it’s that embarassing. He doesn’t look like he’s crying or anything.
NO!
@naguyin - in other words,,, the school cant spell either,,, f means failing,,, e i assume means efficient,,,,, dont sound the same to me,,,,,
this kinda stuff should be left within the compounds of the school and home. public humiliation is not the way to go in education.
Dude, that’s harsh…
Yup. I think it’s acceptable. Will it be effective? I don’t know. I don’t know the kid well enough.
1) they do that in Japan except the grades are blown up and put on the side of the school. many students commit suicide because of bad grades
2) I’m guessing, because of the letters shown, that this his his progress report, not actual grade. my school uses that system for progress and numbers for actual grade.
3) kid shouldn’t have bad grades anyway, not unless he wants to stay wherever he is for the rest of his life. My mom will tell anyone what my grades are, good or bad. She just harps on the bad ones [few and far in between, btw] longer.
Just like cracking the DNA,
Given the evidence of someone carries the DNA
of a Killer, Can U put him/her in jail before commiting
that Crime? So parent stop parenoid; Maybe oneday
they will proud of their Sports Star Kid, note that he got
an A in P/E
Alway look at the good side of ur life!
There is a distinct line between punishment and humiliation.
Are good grades worth your child’s confidence and self esteem?
I don’t think so. I wouldn’t do that to my kid. Kids these days are already lacking self worth.
I had terrible grades until I started caring about my future, I got punished, but not like this.
If my parents had done this to me I’m pretty sure I’d be more full of angst then motivation.
@mejicojohn - A, B, C, D, E…F
what the heck is an E? if you are a failure you are a failure. but remember you are not a failure if you fail. great men have failed in the past. so by shielding the students from failing we are breeding a bunch of children that does not know that they are failures. oh wells. the child would have learned his lesson. punishment is cruel. but a punishment without a reason is worse. a reason needs to preceed punishment. a follow up needs to follow a punishment. if i were the child i’ll be glad that i had parents that cared enough sense to show that the education is not about school. it is about your future.
also why is he only taking 3 real classes? i remember that when i went to school i would take out lunch so i can take one more class. what kind of school does he attend? we are dumbing down our educational system.
Hahaha, it’s hilarious… is it effective? I don’t know, I would have to ask the boy.
I’ve heard of this being done before. These seem to me like parents who don’t know how to help their children. Shaming them, making a public spectacle of them… it won’t make their grades go up. As a punishment they should have been made to see a tutor, or had some privileges taken away until their grades went up.
On the opposite side, the parents should read a parenting book or two.
no, i don’t think it’s right. I give the parents an F on parenting.
this is awesome. i wish more parents were like this.
No.
@suggestivetongue - i don’t view this as a shaming. its a consequences of your failure. would you rather have the child face his failure now or when he is 30 year old unemployed boomerang child? personally i would have taken him out of school and made him work, pay rent, and utilities. let him have the chance to see what life would be without education. it is not a parents’ responsibility to educate a child. it is a privilege.
i ahve never heard of E as being a grade…
ONLY IF the PARENTS are willing to stand out there and take part of the blame. Have they helped him at all? Have they tried to provide the right environment? Have they allowed him too much freedom? Don’t punish someone in public for something that should be private between the student, parents, and teachers.
@supsoo - A punishment is just a punishment if you don’t learn from it. From what I’ve learned regarding developmental psychology it could be more harmful than beneficial. He’s going to fear his parents and resent them, rather than take a step in the right direction and learn to make the right choices (studying VS having fun, or whatever other reason made his grades decline)… It IS a parents job to educate a child. Not regarding history, or math perhaps, but regarding life yeah.
if he brought those kind of performance to his work then he wouldn’t be wearing a sign. he would be wearing signs with a can in hand. i say this is 100000000000x better.
Holy crap. I’d run away from home.
Because that’s soooooo gonna mean he’ll have better grades the next time around, right?
….
That’s ridiculous! Public humiliation should not be a parent’s way of punishing their child.
i didn’t know it got down to E’s
@suggestivetongue - i’m sorry but i have to whole heartedly disagree. punishment is not a punishment is not a punishment. there is a punishment. there is a punishment for a reason. there is a punishment for a reason and a followup as to why the punishment was doled out. the worst type of punishment is the one where the one being punished doesn’t know why he is being punished. a little better one is the punished knowing why he is being punished. the best punishment is the one where the punished understands why he is being punished and can discuss why he was punished and what is expected of him in the future. for me the worst type of deterrant to failure is the expectations that my parents and God has of me. thank you.
No, that makes no sense and would probably have the opposite effect. I think bad grades usually stem from a deeper problem, not always laziness: struggling with comprehension, not being challenged enough,etc. Those things should be looked at, not publicly humiliating a kid who may be trying his hardest and just not getting it. If it is laziness, that behavior should be addressed as well.
to measure the justification of such punishment, maybe we should ask instead: what good can come of it?
reducing a kid’s self-esteem will only produce more bad grades. overall really, really bad parenting skills.
If you want a teenager to change, you humiliate them. It’s really the only way. That and food. Food isn’t a punishment. I like these parents. That kid’s gonna be scarred for two years then realize that it’s really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Unless he’s emo, then he’ll kill himself.
Which is okay, because it means there’s one less emo kid in the world.
Haha. I hope he learned his lesson!
Those parents = my heroes.
Well, maybe not, but there’s something to be said for a good old fashioned public shaming. In the old days it was the pillory or the dunce cap. Society somehow managed to eke out an existence.
no.
@supsoo - I suppose what I was getting at was the difference between punishment and discipline, which I guess I should have made clearer. There have been a lot of studies done on the difference between, and which is “better” for certain situations.
I certainly agree that the best type of punishment is that in which the (child/teen/whomever) knows what they did wrong, and knows why they are being punished. Personally, I would have done something more constructive that related to they did wrong though. Such as setting up a structured study session.
Again, we may disagree on that, and whatever, that’s great. To each their own.
I know if this was my punishment, my grades would go up pretty damn fast, which I suppose is the point.
He’ll probably thank them when he’s older, if he gets his act together. If not, a psychiatrist will hear all about it, I’m sure.
Hey, if it motivates his ass, by all means.
@suggestivetongue - personally i would tell the kid to get out. because that is his future. but i would take him back when he says that he learned his lesson.
@supsoo - True, but there is no behavior modification being done there. You tell them to get out, they leave, and I’m sure they’ll understand what is at stake. At the same time though, if it is a behavior problem that prevented them from getting the good grades in the first place then there wouldn’t have been any steps taken to change that.
No. It’s not addressing the real issues. All it does is humilate him. Even if it does “work” and he gets better grades, at what cost? Just because a certain tactic acheives the desired result doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good one.
Wow. That’s not cool.
I would have told my parents no and been done with it.
@suggestivetongue - i’m glad i’m not a parent yet. thanks for the input.
At least he got an A in P.E.!
No, it isn’t. That punishment will just demean and discourage him more. Stupid parents!
@naguyin - when karla says that, i give her a hug and tell her im proud of her,,,,,
@Aslans_daughter - I agree. We put so much blame on the kids, when in reality the problem is probably greatly affected by the fact that the parents are there less and less and provide no stability in respect to studying, school, homework, education, etc.
However much shame that kid felt, the parents should double for themselves.
No, that’s not appropriate.
Probably not the most effective means. And I think other forms of discipline would work far better. However, it’s better than being uninvolved with his grades.
An E as in complete or you failed?
It reminds me of the dunce cap from way back when.
I think it’s harsh… I mean, who would do that to their son? Obviosuly these parents?!?
i think this is horrible, if anything it embarrasses him, not punish nor helps him.
Personally, I think it’s crap, but that’s just me.
it’s a bit harsh
i’d use this as a last resort though..
it’s partly his fault.
he’s lucky that he has parents who care about his future.
woah….
that would stop me from getting bad grades!!!
NO! I would just get even more mad if my parents make me do this. I just get banned from doing something until my grades improved, not necessarily being “grounded” because my parents doesn’t do that.
You have to be a complete lazy fuck not to be able to at least pull a “c” out a high school class. Kid deserved it. And for all that think an ‘E’ doesn’t make sense they should take a second look at the alphabet. Last I checked it went a,b,c,d,e not a,b,c,d,f, so logically speaking an “E” would follow a “D”.
parents are obsessive.
it’s ridiculous.
Wow, that’s nuts. No way.
@lil_squirrel4ever - Lol! That’s awesome.
Agh, the internet ate the rest of my comment.
In continuation of my thought, there needs to be a balance. This is an example of one extreme, what we might call “old school” (e.g., the pillory, dunce cap, etc). The other is what our school system currently does, which is to place self esteem over education and doing away with grades almost entirely. God forbid students feel bad about themselves! My sister’s stepkids’ school does this, and it’s a small wonder why the eldest doesn’t really care—because she has no incentive to learn. If the student has a real learning disability (e.g., dyslexia, aphasia, dysgraphia, etc) then obviously appropriate accommodations need to be made. But ADD/ADHD (or any of the myriad of excuses they’ve cooked up) is no reason to mentally handicap — in the sense of golf scoring — a child. We need different methods of teaching, not absolving students and teachers of the responsibility to find a way to facilitate learning.
I think that’s hysterical <3
i thynk itz pretty fukd up
What the heck?
NONONO
there are better ways of punishment than that, only encourages resentment.
humiliating, one of those thigns i can almost nv forgive my parents for, but something you laugh at later on in life
Who gets “E”‘s?
But anyways, that seems like a really strange form of punishment…. Just ground the kid for a week or take away the cell phone or something o.O
it depends on the child. if they are likely to be scarred for life by it, then no.
but if they’re able to learn the lesson and not be scarred for life … then yes, haha
Pretty creative =D
That’s pretty mean. I mean, with an E in English, does he even know what “shaky” means?
Definitely not encouraging or helpful. Humiliating and belittling? Yes.
There are better ways to punish for bad grades.
My number one choice would have to be the FEATHER DUSTER. Yeahhhh.
That shit is hilarious. Man, you always post the funniest articles on your blog. You’ve officially won me over with this posting.
Future = shaky. Brilliant.
I just think that’s completely cruel and damaging. I understand that it might be an effective move, but still there was no need for that. I’m kinda disgusted by the comments under that article from the link.
If it works…awesome
But it makes him hate school…
Wow… i dont know what to say about this post
Getting mix emotions here
Its embarrassing…something i never wana go through
That may be his parents intention to motivate him to do well in school
but its soo messed up – they should find some other ways to discipline him
to be honest I dont care what my parents say i would NEVER* wear that sign and stand in the street corner like that
No. His only punishment should be to study harder and his parents should help with that. They gave him his genes after all. It also depends on what school district he’s in and if the teachers actually give a damn about their students or not.
God, that is fucked.
You don’t shame someone into personal success. You encourage, sweet jesus!
Awesome
@naguyin - Seriously? Those teachers deserve an F for missing the point! Haha…
I mean, it’s going to happen eventually when his friends find out he didn’t get into college or when he gets a crap job, you know (not that college is for everyone and not that people who don’t go to college aren’t smart)? I think it just serves as an indicator as to how his future might be like if he doesn’t make better choices.
I don’t think it’s fair. I know the parents want to punish the kids, but the Reverend has some not so great ideas at doing it.
His son isn’t something that should be gawked at.
like everyone else I’m also wondering what in the world is an “E” ?!
this is not only humiliating, but also stupid!
I honsetly think thats a little degrading, to force your own child to put their grades out in the public like this.
That’s actually quite a good idea, too bad my parents didn’t do this to me, I hated how they don’t care about my future I would love them to me push me harder in life, I don’t even have a job yet.
No. Humiliating someone is totally not a morale-booster.
That’s not very constructive.
punishment is required, but i dont think that is appropriate
that kid will just feel ashamed, forget about trying to improve his grades
For those who don’t know. The E replaced the F some years back because school programs felt that the F was too shocking a grade.
My school went from F to E to N, all of them are pretty bad when it’s written in that scary red pen.
My response to this is ambiguous. First of all it’s not my place to judge one parent’s actions towards raising their kids. While having said that is pretty cool cause it makes the kid really care about the kids when he sees how others view a guy who’s got such terrible grades. He might have had the idea that grades don’t mean much, but this really takes that notion and completely smashes it to the ground.
I don’t have a problem with it. Maybe his parents have tried other things that haven’t worked. A little humiliation as a child is much better than living on the streets as an adult.
he took all the crap subjects, that’s why. he’s only 15; mind you an E even without trying is a bit worrying- perhaps the kid’s just thick.
Scared for life, that’s for sure. So no!
i think that the punishment was perfect. that showed that he was really ashamed at his grades and now it will, hopefully, prompt him to do better. the A in PE really does say a lot about what his focuses are.
These days, traditional punishments don’t seem to be working with kids. They care only for their reputation, their social life. Thus, I think the humiliation would work. I’m not a big fan of it, but if all else fails, go for it.
I’m just a impressed that the parents of a kid who gets bad grades actually gave a damn…
(I’m not entirely sure that humiliating him in public was the best way to go though…)
Wow… punishment is one thing, but public humiliation like that is just… disgusting, I think. These people should be cited for child abuse. Way to bruise his self-confidence!
It depends on whether or not he just isn’t doing his work. If he’s really having trouble and doesn’t understand the material, he needs help, he shouldn’t be punished; but if he’s just lazy, yeah, I think that’s a good punishment.
while it probably served as a wake up call for the boy, i’d assume that it was more due to humiliation, than realizing the importance of grades. it might have been a temporarily effective ploy to get him thinking about his future, but i doubt it will have too much of a positive, lasting impression. i don’t know very many cases where belittling someone truly works. if he’s really having issues with his grades and school participation, i am one-hundred percent certain that there’s a better way to go about treating that disinterest and lack of effort. putting a kid on a street corner with a sign conveying his grades … in theory, i guess it was a good idea, but … in action? personally, i wouldn’t be more inclined to work harder after that. i don’t know how that kid really felt about it, but i can’t imagine that a fear of being put out on a street corner to hold a sign is going to be enough of a threat to getting good grades once he’s 18 and out from under his parents’ control. he’s going to have to find something new to motivate him, something that probably could have been addressed NOW, rather than sticking him with a humiliating and not very beneficial task.
I don’t get the point. For most kids wearing a sign like that wouldn’t affect them all that much. I honsetly don’t see where punishment is going to make his grades any better. Figure out why they are what they are!
@naguyin - thanks for telling me -if I had kids in school now I would think it was excellent.lol
I personally believe that getting bad grades isn’t something that deserves a punishment. If someone is getting bad grades, they obviously need help. Punishing them in any way will just make them feel worse about themselves, feel stressed, and will not help the situation at all (especially in this way…all grades should be private, good or bad). They need to look at why he’s getting the bad grades and help him solve the problem. If it’s because he’s lazy/slacking, then maybe a small punishment could help him, like taking certain privileges away until his grades go up. But if he’s truly having difficulties, punishing won’t help and they need to get him the help he needs. Some parents also need to realize that their kids aren’t going to be good at everything and there will be certain subjects that they just won’t get high grades in. And, as long as they try their best, thats ok. There were certain subjects i stuggled with in school and i worked my ass off to get a C, and i was damn proud that i managed to pass something that was so difficult for me. Unfortunately, a lot of people see a low grade as a bad one, no matter what.
@jillcarmel - Yes, i got confused about that too. When i was in elementary school, E did mean excellent!
Absolutely not. That is almost as bad as the scarlet ‘A’ Hester Prynne had to wear. It is humiliating and not constructive at all.
I’m a pretty firm believer that most punishments/exhortations for most things should remain private.
No, they should just take certain privilages from him until he gets his grades back up.
Again? 2-3 years ago a lady made her son stand out on the street corner with a sign saying something like, “I don’t do my homework, so I’m failing.” …I think she worked “lazy” in there somewhere, too. I never heard the final outcome, but at the time of making national news they were talking child abuse charges.
I think these parents should have to stand out on a street corner with signs that I say, “I failed to teach my child proper study habits and let him run amuck.”
i don’t know . . . it would depend on the situation. if he was trying to get attention, I would actually think this was a decent idea, so long as he wasn’t doing anything while wearing the sign because of an order. But then again, if it was because he didn’t understand (honesty) what was happening in the class, I would try to help him fix it, either by finding him a tutor or by going to extra classes.
No. I think that’s horrible. It is senseless and cruel to put excessive academic pressure on someone; also, I think it is counterproductive and damaging.
What exactly does E stand for? If it replaces F which meant Fail, does it mean no Effort? I don’t think you should make your kids embarrass themselves like that. That’s wrong. Take away privileges or something.
Frankly, I’m waiting to hear about this fellow with the sign going all Columbine or Virginia Tech. With that sign, he has more reason than most to dislike the educational system.
Hey it is alot better than an ass whipping. And with grades like that he would have been beat to the bone
It’s mean, but HELL YEAH! If your kid is NOT trying in school, and you know they are going to wreck their futures for whatever stupidness they’re obsessed with (tv, games, etc) then yeah.
Some humiliation will not want them to do that again. Some times, you HAVE to learn the hard way.
It’s harsh, but I don’t think it’s cruel. While other methods are available to encourage him, none of us know what the parents/teachers/counselors have already tried. Maybe this is the best option for him…
it depends..if the parents are complete a**holes and did it for their own gratification and used discipline as the reason, then no it isn’t right. there are parents out there and purposely treat their children as bullies would. BUT, if that kid is a pain in the a** and needs a reality check in which his parents are fed up? Do what you gotta do….
Sometimes u gotta take things to the next level and come completely from left field to get someones’ attention..
awesome. I think its a great idea, but it wouldn’t work for all kids. Some kids wouldn’t care even if they were embarassed.
my old high school gives out E’s. i think it makes more sense anyway.
I give the parents a B- for originality. Similar practices have been used to punish minor criminals in a variety of areas and times, which I suspect was their inspiration.
No, that is not acceptable at all. There are other ways to punish him. But more likely, they need to set rules for him with homework, studying, etc. and find out if he needs some type of remedial education or mentoring.
Wow. That is just terrible.
@you_were_the_song_all_along - The school that I went to gives out E’s instead of F’s. It means the same thing, but I forget what the reason was for changing it.
Yes!
Maybe it’s because I did spend the first 9 years of my life in another country – but I do think that kids nowadays are given excuses when they do not get good grades.
I remember when my teacher would announce who was the top person in our class and who was second. Third was an embarrassing rank, worse than if you didn’t get called on at all. Whenever I was second, I would try even harder to be first.
And if I didn’t bring home a 10 (our grades were ranked from 0-10) I would have to answer to my parents.
That kid is going to remember this and learn from it. I say we should have more parents like his!
btw – I really enjoy your posts!
Oh ouch.
I glad I did not have to wear my GCSE’s final grades mainly all D and E, please note that G is the lowest grade you can get which is a pass grade, I was glad I did not get any U (there are two tiers A*-C which is higher tier and D-G foundation, if you fail to get a grade for either tier depending what you get entry for you get a U grade which means you fail the course.
@trunthepaige - haha i was thinking the same thing!
If you think this is bad, then GO TO CHINA. Then…you wouldn’t be surprised by this at all.
Chinese schools publicly rank their class & every single big test score on a big board placed OUTSIDE of the school building (which is really on the streets) for all passers to see. Each student’s name & whatever score they got are all displayed. This system has been used in all Chinese high schools for about a decade already.
So yea. Our world needs some reforming.
lol that’s hella lame. yeah, wtf “e”? lol
it would suck if his friends rolled by.
Yeah, if that’s what the parents think is best, then that’s what should happen. I don’t know the kid, so i don’t know what will motivate him.
Still, he has my pity. That would be humiliating.
Maybe just once to teach him a lesson, if nothing else worked. Idk if I would do that though…
i think it would’ve been better to string him up by his ankles and allow the villagers to poke him with pipe cleaners .
I think they stole this idea off the parents who made their kid stand outside with a sign that advertised that he was a thief.
I think its an acceptable punishment
People need to stop babying their kids, and if it takes a bit of humiliation to get them to realize that he needs to try harder next time, then so be it.
Of course, there are other things the parents could have done thats probably more effective, such as taking him to tutors or teaching him themselves, talking to him about the importance of education, helping him find something in school that is interesting to him, etc.
i think the last suggestion would have helped, he just need to find something that interests him thats all, a little intrinsic motivation.
@ducati623 - Shit, that’s what I was thinking. WTF IS AN E FOR?!
If other forms of punishment didn’t work than I see nothing wrong with this. This is not the first time this has happened.
Yeah, after reading the article, I stand completely by what I said.
actually, i think this is somewhat awesome.
@Pyrra - ummm here, they’re not allowed to fail a kid, ever, until they hit HS
@naguyin - oh i was going to ask the same thing =P
ummm…seems kinda extreme to me….
doesn’t seem fair either…what about his “artsy” classes?
maybe he’s an amazing photographer or something =P
Hahahaha.
I can’t say whether or not this would work on him, but I’d definitely get better grades to avoid this kind of crap.
shit liars.
@smile@revelife - really? maybe here too im just not sure when they chjanged it if they did.
but, then they wonder why hschoolers dont know how to do anything
@Pyrra - hahah yeah, and they just end up lowering standards in HS or creating more courses with lower standards…its good and bad, I mean if you’re actually PLANNING to go into something where you dont NEED the higher stuff, then I say for sure, go for it, but if you’re not SURE then I dont think its right that just because some teacher didnt take the time to teach you properly (and teaching includes motivation) that you should be FORCED to take a lower standard one because you havent mastered something that if someone who cared about decided to teach you, you would understand no problem
but the reason they did that is becuase they want the kids to stay with ppl in the same age group to aid their social development…apparently it doesnt matter once they hit HS…
@awokenfatality - that makes no sense. when you’re a parent, and your child wouldn’t even try to get the grades, you have to do everythin in your power (within legal confines of course) to get them on track. less you want him living in your basement for the rest of his life.
That’s kind of a lame punishment. Who cares, obviously not him or he would have worked harder in the first place.
i’m a high school student, and i can say without a shadow of a doubt that THAT IS A BRILLIANT IDEA. if kids knew they had actual punishment awaiting them for failing, maybe my generation wouldn’t be so poised to be complete failures. i approve completely.
I don’t believe that public humiliation is an effective punishment. He just needed a good grounding or something.
Wow, cannot imagine parents doing that. very harsh ! embarassing
Won’t that bring his self-esteem down ?
That’s a little harsh (kind of funny too, but I feel bad for him). BTW, what the Hell is an E? Excellent Fail? Extordinary Fail? I don’t get it….
@imgoingto____FLY_x - I wanna know the same!
I know there’s a P and an I, but what’s the E for??
There’s an E letter grade?
No, that just mean.
Kids today come in all forms. So some that get bad grades are really indifferent to being on punishment. They either shape up or go around not giving a crap. So sure it’s harsh and embarrassing, but, I’m sure he’ll think twice before deciding he wants to be lazy. Honestly it IS his future and the grades he gets now define where he may go in the future. Does it hurt to have a little pride in the work one does in school? It looks better when you’re thinking of college. Even if it’s community college. And if he’s failed, doesn’t he have to repeat that grade if he doesn’t pass Summer school?
I got mediocre grades and my dad pressed and pressed for me to do better. He didn’t take things away. He lectured like crazy and those were the things that followed me when I was in high school. But then again, I wasn’t like every other teenager. So what worked for my father and I might not work for the next person. I think his parents were trying to teach him a lesson. Maybe they tried everything else and it wasn’t getting through. I don’t see what’s so unfair about wanting a kid to straighten up and fly right. It WOULD be refreshing to know that the people who will be in the workforce once I’m old and wrinkly have an good education on their shoulders.
At least he doesn’t have to deal with the humiliation of having Fs on the sign. That would be truly demeaning.
@NiCeIcE - I don’t mean that the parents don’t have to know. They have every right to. Just that everyone else in school doesn’t have to know his grade.
Is this the first time they’ve had a problem with him on this subject? I doubt it! I’ve had four kids. Until you wear the parents shoes, you really shoulden’t judge them.(His peers probably don’t even care-that’s sad)
no way! i think that is cruel. His grades are his own business. Not the public’s. His parents should have found a different way of punishment than public humiliation.
OMFG.
lol.
wtf’s an E?
Parents will be parents.
E’s? Hmm…is that new or is he that dumb?
hopefully he’s a good athelete.
No, I don’t think it teaches the right lessons. Would the young man learn from this if he doesn’t care about other’s opinions? Lessons are better learned when there is a point to them.
That’s a funny way to punish him. You know what? If those were MY kids’ grades I’d want them to be embarrassed by them too!!! If he’s too ashamed to show everyone his grades, MAYBE he should get better grades!!! It’s not like it’s the teachers making him do that. Because seriously, my mom could ground me ’till the end of days and I wouldn’t care.. but telling my friends, other family members, and neighbors and stuff my grades… THAT would be more punishment than anything, it would make me want to better myself by realizing what I was doing wrong.
What the hell is an E? Excellent? “EF”? lol
It’s mean and I wouldn’t do it, but it’s the parents’ decision.
That’s some shit my parents will probably do.
AND LOL, THE FATHER WAS A PASTOR
no wonder
E? lol
Well, it’s a tad bit odd- but parents are odd.
@trunthepaige - lol, beating is a great motivator
Why’s everyone freaking out? It’s not that big of a deal to embarrass him a little. Kids need to take their grades more seriously. Most of the time, that’s your future, and they’re too immature to understand that a lot of the time.
With those grades? Hell yes.
It’s not good parenting to hold a child up to public ridicule, no matter what his transgressions. That should be a private family matter and dealt with by the parents alone. That’s what they’re for. Of course, the fact that his parents (who, presumably, wrote the sign) were themselves unable to spell “shakey” right doesn’t bode well for their own aspirations. They might want to cut out their son’s TV time in favor of more study… and join him themselves!
E is a letter grade??
no way thats worse than asian punishment
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