Boy forced to wear 'thief' sign by mother
Is this taking things too far ? Or a desperate last resort ?
An Australian woman has been accused of child cruelty after she forced her young son to sit in public wearing a sign that read: "Do not trust me. I will steal from you as I am a thief."
The treatment of the child prompted outrage among other families in the park, who accused the woman of publicly humiliating him.
Diane Mayers was so disturbed that she called the child safety hotline.
"The boy just kept his head down and was staring at the ground," she told the Townsville Bulletin. "The parents had gone to all the trouble of printing two copies of the sign – one for the back and one for the front – and laminating them. A lot of work had gone in to it.
"A lot of people walked past and were laughing at him, including boys who would have been his age."
However, the boy's mother, who has not been named, has defended her actions, saying they were a last resort intended to shame him into giving up stealing.
"We've had a process over the last three years of him shoplifting and stealing whatever he can get his hands on," she said.
"I have taken him to the police station, had the police officers take him around, shown him a paddy wagon [police van], shown him all the cells, shown him the process of being charged."
Nothing had so far worked, she said, and last week the boy stole some chocolate, prompting her to take drastic action.
"I am hoping he has (learnt his lesson), I don't think he will be game to do it again, I really don't but time will tell, soon as I trust him to go out to a shop," she said.
Telegraph
You cannot shame someone to stop stealing, lying, cheating. Talk to him. That is the best and the only way
This is a total humiliation. If I have a son who does the same,I would seek for a professional help for him to be better instead of humiliating him. I will never do this to someone I love especially to my own child. It could traumatize the child which might lead to serious case. I do believe that being a mother is not an authority to do whatever you want to your child especially something abusive. I can't stand staring at a child being laughed by others. It will tear my heart. People in whatever age has feelings and deserve to be respected. There are many ways to teach a person and this way is something hard to digest.
the parents need counselling first, if in three years they have not recognised that their child might be having deep rooted problems.
thats going to be one disturbed person as he grows up, with lots of distrust and hatred for his parentss.
agree with jayca, may be he is kleptomaniac, just can't stop him self, but what his parents did with him, may be will lead to even worse, as he is publicully disgraced, so may be now he even do more..or may be he now stop it... but i am not sure about the second one.
She must be thinking she is smart... the boy needs counseling ..
Is the boy's age mentioned anywhere?
i agree with jayca... very well said...
Could be the boy is kleptomaniac, It's an illness that needs to be treated.. If the boy keep doing that. , the parents should be alarmed and have him consulted by a psychologist.
If his mother is not with him, he might steal again.
This boy must had some bad friends who encouraged him stealing or he saw them stealing.
Or the family of this boy did not plant the good deeds in him when was at a yunger age.
Every cause has a reason,
maybe his mother and father are miser, I do not think what the mother did is a good solution because a good solution will only come when you tackle the root cause of the problem.
I guess the question which need adressed her is:
1. What makes these theifs steel and what should be done to minimize the number of thefts?
In my opinion, there are other ways to help the boy other than shaming him on public... for example, bringing him to a psychologist.. or counselor.... The boy act of stealing could be a sign of a deeper problem... could be family issue or personal problem.