16-Year-Old Bullies A Kid For Being Poor, So Her Stepdad Takes Away All Her “Luxuries”
Bullying statistics are awfully sad. According to them, one in five children in the US is bullied and one in three has experienced harassment online.
The effects of it are dangerous. Kids that experience bullying often skip school, letting their grades deteriorate. But that’s, of course, not the worst of it. Bullying can lead to bad habits such as drinking and smoking, and also serious mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. In other words, it can be detrimental to a child’s future.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to remedy the situation. However, we should still try to make things better.
The following story is about a dad who found out that his step-daughter was a bully and decided to teach her a lesson. However, his wife thinks he’s going a bit too far. Scroll down below to read and judge it for yourself.
Bullying is a common occurrence at schools. However, that doesn’t make this behavior acceptable in the slightest
Image source: YuriArcursPeopleimages (not the actual photo)
When this father found out his step-daughter was a bully, he knew exactly how to teach her a lesson
Image crdits: Iakobchuk (not the actual photo)
Image credits: varyapigu (not the actual photo)
Image credits: LearningParenting215
The discipline method the parents chose was appropriate
Image credits: Monstera Production (not the actual photo)
When it comes to disciplining bullies, especially when they are teens, it can be hard to think of a right way to do it. After all, you do not want them to suffer, you are just trying to teach them a lesson.
Experts believe that meaningful or logical consequences is the best approach to deal with behavioral issues. In this case, the girl felt entitled and had too many privileges. Taking them away showed that her behavior wasn’t tolerable. In addition, she had to apologize to the student and do community service at school. All this should have helped her learn her lesson.
It does seem that the stepfather might be taking things too far
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual photo)
While the intentions of the step-dad are good, he might not get the result he is wanting. Taking away privileges is a good way to discipline, but doing so with so many things and for an unlimited amount of time might be too much. It may lead to a lot of resentment. This way, instead of learning a valuable lesson, the teen might focus on the dad being awful to her for way too long.
It also seems that the dad doesn’t trust that his step-daughter has changed. He does not mention sitting down and talking about how everything has been going, whether her perspective has changed. The communication line between them has closed and, when that’s the case, there’s no growth happening on the teen’s side.
Many people in the comments believed that the man’s actions were correct
Some, though, were not so convinced by his parenting methods
Her grades have dropped because she has stopped putting in the effort, thinking that her parents will backtrack on her punishment. She had a job before she got caught bullying, working for her parents, and it didn’t affect her grades. She’s a player. Bullies are nasty, self absorbed creatures and I think that her parents have done the right thing here.
I can't reply to SadieCat so I'm putting this here. I can see your point about the drastic change in circumstances affecting her worldview. I went through something similar in middle school, and looking back, I had all the signs of being depressed (not depression, a shorter term issue). I don't think OP lacks empathy, but is instead trying to teach his daughter empathy. She was one of those closed minded people you mentioned. I think one luxury they can afford and get for their daughter is therapy. If her grades continue to fall or she starts showing other signs of being depressed instead of just pissed, they should get her talking to someone. There were bound to be bumps with this big shift and it's reasonable to give it some time to level out.
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anyone who said YTA or ESH needs a reality check themselves. or a smack in the mouth.
Seriously. The kid still has access to a smart phone and a computer for school. She's still working, just not the higher paying nepo job she had. It doesn't sound like they grounded her or anything, just took away things that were unnecessary for a 16yo. The only thing I can agree with is maybe getting her a little beater car to drive.
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If one of my kids said that to me I'd put move them into a low-income school as well.
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Her grades have dropped because she has stopped putting in the effort, thinking that her parents will backtrack on her punishment. She had a job before she got caught bullying, working for her parents, and it didn’t affect her grades. She’s a player. Bullies are nasty, self absorbed creatures and I think that her parents have done the right thing here.
I can't reply to SadieCat so I'm putting this here. I can see your point about the drastic change in circumstances affecting her worldview. I went through something similar in middle school, and looking back, I had all the signs of being depressed (not depression, a shorter term issue). I don't think OP lacks empathy, but is instead trying to teach his daughter empathy. She was one of those closed minded people you mentioned. I think one luxury they can afford and get for their daughter is therapy. If her grades continue to fall or she starts showing other signs of being depressed instead of just pissed, they should get her talking to someone. There were bound to be bumps with this big shift and it's reasonable to give it some time to level out.
Load More Replies... anyone who said YTA or ESH needs a reality check themselves. or a smack in the mouth.
Seriously. The kid still has access to a smart phone and a computer for school. She's still working, just not the higher paying nepo job she had. It doesn't sound like they grounded her or anything, just took away things that were unnecessary for a 16yo. The only thing I can agree with is maybe getting her a little beater car to drive.
Load More Replies... If one of my kids said that to me I'd put move them into a low-income school as well.
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