Parenting Tip: 5 reasons why you should stop public shaming of kids

By publicly shaming your child on the Internet, you might have just harmed him more than you may ever know. Here are a few reasons why you should never do so.

By: Paras Hemrajani | | Updated: December 1, 2019 11:53 pm

It may seem like it’s your duty to point-out mistakes but doing this publicly can be quite damaging to your relationship.©Shutterstock

The Internet is a great medium where you can share your thoughts and it brings people closer. But it is not a place where you may publicly shame your kids. Embarrassing your child or revealing their mistakes on the Internet has become a new parenting trend. Pointing out behaviour that you find shame-worthy in public can harm your relationship with your child. It may seem like it’s your duty to point-out mistakes but doing this publicly can be quite damaging to your relationship. There is no set way of encouraging your baby to do the right thing. There is, however, a wrong way and that is public shaming. Instead of encouraging your child to rise above his current level, you may instead isolate him and reduce his trust in you. Here are some important reasons why you should avoid public shaming of kids.

You are teaching them to be bullies

Talking to your kids about why bullying is bad in school will not help if you bully them at home. When you bully your child, you are telling him that it’s ok to behave like a bully. Being a parent, you should lead by example and teach your kid how to handle a situation in a mature way instead of being cruel to others.

It defines your kid in front of the public

One mistake doesn’t reflect on who the kid is. But your mistake of publicly shaming him will define him in front of others. Doing something bad doesn’t make him bad. Rather, it makes your child human. Shaming a child on the Internet will define him as a person to the whole world, especially if the post goes viral. Strangers will associate your baby with that one simple mistake. Unlike adults, children don’t have mental maturity that can help them with this situation. So, they find other things to define them like alcohol use or drugs.

You lose your child’s trust

Sharing personal details on the Internet will make your child lose trust in you. Trust is the cornerstone of a relationship. This will push your baby away from you and he will never come to you for help again, no matter how big the problem is. If your kid doesn’t seek out guidance from you, then he will seek it from somewhere else, where the advice that he will get may not be for his own good.

You will regret it too

You must have done it at the heat of the moment, but you will realise that there was no need for such a reaction, and this will make you feel guilty. When you release that the punishment didn’t match the crime, you will feel sad and blame yourself for your behaviour.

It’s bad for your kid’s emotional health

Guilt improves a child’s personality as it makes him realise that he must not repeat this mistake again. Shame, on the other hand, colours his opinion about himself. Public shaming of kids impact self-esteem and could cause depression and addiction.

Published : December 1, 2019 5:50 pm | Updated:December 1, 2019 11:53 pm

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