Would you do this???

[bunnzy]

Tasha Henderson got tired of her 14-year-old daughter's poor grades, her chronic lateness to class and her talking back to her teachers, so she decided to teach the girl a lesson.

 

She made Coretha stand at a busy Oklahoma City intersection Nov. 4 with a cardboard sign that read: "I don't do my homework and I act up in school, so my parents are preparing me for my future. Will work for food."

 

"This may not work. I'm not a professional," said Henderson, a 34-year-old mother of three. "But I felt I owed it to my child to at least try."

 

In fact, Henderson has seen a turnaround in her daughter's behavior in the past week and a half. But the punishment prompted letters and calls to talk radio from people either praising the woman or blasting her for publicly humiliating her daughter.

 

"The parents of that girl need more education than she does if they can't see that the worst scenario in this case is to kill their daughter psychologically," Suzanne Ball said in a letter to The Oklahoman.

 

Marvin Lyle, 52, said in an interview: "I don't see anything wrong with it. I see the other extreme where parents don't care what the kids do, and at least she wants to help her kid."

 

Coretha has been getting C's and D's as a freshman at Edmond Memorial High in this well-to-do Oklahoma City suburb. Edmond Memorial is considered one of the top high schools in the state in academics.

 

While Henderson stood next to her daughter at the intersection, a passing motorist called police with a report of psychological abuse, and an Oklahoma City police officer took a report. Mother and daughter were asked to leave after about an hour, and no citation was issued. But the report was forwarded to the state Department of Human Services.

 

"There wasn't any criminal act involved that the officer could see that would require any criminal investigation," Master Sgt. Charles Phillips said. "DHS may follow up."

 

DHS spokesman Doug Doe would not comment on whether an investigation was opened, but suggested such a case would probably not be a high priority.

 

Tasha Henderson said her daughter's attendance has been perfect and her behavior has been better since the incident.

 

Coretha, a soft-spoken girl, acknowledged the punishment was humiliating but said it got her attention. "I won't talk back," she said quietly, hanging her head.

 

She already has been forced by her parents to give up basketball and track because of slipping grades, and said she hopes to improve in school so she can play next year.

 

Donald Wertlieb, a professor of child development at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University, warned that such punishment could do extreme emotional damage. He said rewarding positive behavior is more effective.

 

"The trick is to catch them being good," he said. "It sounds like this mother has not had a chance to catch her child being good or is so upset over seeing her be bad, that's where the focus is."

[lovephreakout]

yea i'd do that!! if thats the only way to get it throught that girls head that she has a wonderful educational opportunity in front of her and she is deciding to waste it..

 

thats a taste of the real world right there

[slubberdegullion]

Sorry, I don't buy the "Better Education Through Public Humiliation" thing.

 

Frankly, I fault the instructors. It's their job to teach, to motivate, to inspire and to facilitate learning. If the young lady hasn't been reached by their methods, that's the fault of the teachers, not the student.

 

dons asbestos undies, awaits flaming

[bab]

Sorry, I don't buy the "Better Education Through Public Humiliation" thing.

 

Frankly, I fault the instructors. It's their job to teach, to motivate, to inspire and to facilitate learning. If the young lady hasn't been reached by their methods, that's the fault of the teachers, not the student.

 

dons asbestos undies, awaits flaming

 

 

While I think that the methods were a bit extreme, you gotta be kidding. If a student doesn't do their homework, it's the teacher's fault??? That makes no sense. I sorry, I don't care who you are. You aren't going to inspire me to enjoy breaking down sentences into parts of speech. Not gonna happen.

 

P.S. Nice undies...

[AlmostMarried77]

Some blame might be attributable to the teachers, however parents do need to accept responsibility for their childs behaviour. The whole attitude of just trying to be a friend to your child doesn't work and you can't expect social services and schools to pick up the pieces for your own short comings in how you've raised your own child.

 

This parent must have let things slide for a long time, maybe she should have been standing at the next intersection with a sign for herself:

"I failed to discipline my child properly for 14 years, will work for her food"

[Iluvsiamese]

I don't think that it is fair or possible to judge this parent without more information. What do you do once you have exhausted all other avenues and without success? How do we know if she did/did not? You can't lay blame with teachers entirely, or with parents entirely. At some point, this kid has to learn that, ultimately, she is responsible for her behaviour and must learn that there are consequences for all of it, good or bad. It is up to her to decide if she is willing to accept these consequences or make the necessary changes to get what she really wants. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You can put a student in the best school, give them the best books, the best teachers and the best tutors. But if they refuse to learn and refuse to work, then what do you do? Inspiration is a wonderful thing, but if they refuse to be inspired then all is lost. Perhaps the problem lies with the parents who continue to bail kids out to the point where there is no reason for them to make any effort. I have met parents who do their kids homework for them and saw projects supposedly from grade two students that were better than what was turned in by high school students. Yes, I want my kids to do well in school. The key part of that is "my kids." I already went through school.

[slubberdegullion]

If a student doesn't do their homework, it's the teacher's fault???

Yep. Not exclusively, of course; parents also have to take on a role, but the driving force must be the educational system, to reach those kids that otherwise don't get reached.

You aren't going to inspire me to enjoy breaking down sentences into parts of speech.

It's not about enjoying it, it's about understanding the importance of being able, in this case, to use the language properly. something that some members of LS - present company excepted - could use a little more tutoring in! but I digress...

P.S. Nice undies...

Thanx! Gotta love those Nomex Fruit-of-the-Looms!