Couldn't find what you looking for?

TRY OUR SEARCH!

Let's Turn The Tide And Fight To Stop Shaming Kids

by — Last updated: 2015-07-20 in Children's & Teens Health

Table of Contents

Those photos and videos in which parents shame and humiliate their own kids on the internet? They have to stop. Now, a petition is underway to make it happen.

Thankfully, not everyone is so eager to jump on the social-media shaming bandwagon. Just recently, Florida father of four Wayman Gresham uploaded what appeared to be yet another child-shaming video. The electric razor, the son sitting on a chair with his head bowed, and the opening words "I'm going to teach my son a lesson" seemed to tell it all. Until, that is, he said: "Wait a minute. Come here boy, give me a hug."

"There's no way in the world I would ever embarrass my son like that," Gresham went on to tell his 20 million + viewers. "It doesn't take all that. Good parenting starts before he even gets to the point of being out of control." 

Now, a group of prominent positive-parenting advocates has come together, not just to condemn the practice of shaming kids — online and offline — but to call for change. 

In a powerful video explaining why shaming is no different from other forms of abuse, and certainly no way to raise emotionally-healthy and happy children, they urge Facebook to amend its user agreement to ban adult bullying. That shouldn't be too difficult, should it? Facebook already says it's committed to making sure people are free from acts of hate and harassment on their platform, after all. You, too, can add your voice to their campaign by signing their petition to help make internet shaming a thing of the past.

SteadyHealth spoke to one of the campaign's founders, Lori Petro. She told us: "Our mission is to stop the public shaming of children on social media, bring awareness to the detrimental effects of shaming, and to provide parents and all people who work with children alternatives to shame-based parenting. We can stop shaming and hurting our children, and instead teach through love because parenting beyond punishment is possible. "

"The trend of public shaming won't end until adults stand up and say, 'this isn't okay!'," Lori said. 
 
"Kids can't stick up for themselves. In response to shame-based parenting, children are left believing they are unworthy of love, incapable of making good choices, and some of them have gone so far as to take their own lives. Children and adolescents who are made to feel unworthy and incapable become overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness, incompetence, and worthlessness."
 
The campaign goes beyond amending Facebook's policies, however. "We want to educate and support parents and other adults, regarding the detriments of shaming and provide people learning opportunities to help them implement appropriate alternatives to humiliating treatment," Lori explains."Doing so will ensure that children and adolescents learn the life skills that will help them successfully navigate life's challenges. We offer education and support via the resources on our page so that families can begin to parent with love instead of shame."
Do you support this message of love and human dignity, and want the epidemic of public shaming to stop? Sign the petition, linked in our links and sources box below.