Public Shaming For Cussing

The latest incident of public shaming or humiliation hit the news today, January 21, 2014. The video has drawn quite a bit of attention and generated mixed comments: in support of and condemning the practice of public shaming.

See:

Fed-Up Mom Endorses Public Punishment After Son Cussed Out Teacher

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/texas-boy-cussing-public-shaming_n_4631648.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl12%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D432755

About two years ago, the video of Tommy Jordan shooting his daughter’s laptop went viral.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/dad-shot-daughters-laptop-would-do-it-again_n_1276243.html

Posted on a Thursday, by Monday, 21.4 million had watched the eight and a half minute clip. Experts were critical; the majority of parents were not. 74% of 93,000 polled viewers agreed with Jordan’s actions:

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/laptop-shooting-dad-after-21-million-views-says-hed-do-6C10406916?franchiseSlug=technolog

Moreover, Jordan said he’d do it again. And his daughter wasn’t too keen on the being “too emotionally damaged now to be a productive member of society” perception of opponents to the “practice” of public shaming. She asked her father to post a comment asking what other jobs the victims of laptop-homicide were eligible for because being a stripper, the job-choice of most of the commenters, was not her cup of tea.

Some judges have passed public shaming sentences:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/domesticpolicy/can-public-shaming-be-good-criminal-punishment-20130909

Now look at the following photo. It depicts a boy identified as a bully being punished via public shaming by wearing a sign that reads: I AM A BULLY  HONK! IF YOU HATE BULLIES.

Bully

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-belkin/humiliating-children-to-teach-them-_b_1435315.html

By some ironic twist, is it possible that the public humiliation of bullying in and of itself is bullying?

See: Public Humiliation Is the Same As Bullying

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nile-cappello/public-humiliation-is-the-same-as-bullying_b_4045962.html

Perhaps cybershaming is a form of cyberbullying?

See the very recent article:

Mom Cybershames Daughter for Online Bullying. Who’s the Bully Now?

http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/mom-cyber-shames-daughter-online-bullying-39-bully-192100101.html

The concept of shaming as a form of discipline is nothing new. It’s been around probably since Homo sapiens developed abstract thought some 130,000 years ago. We’ve come a long way from the days of stoning sexually immoral people and wearing a dunce cap in a corner:

Bully1

One thing seems clear: public shaming, now magnified astronomically via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, isn’t going away. Why would it? We have judges doing it. Parents do it. Public shaming occurs at work. And trolls and other unsavory “Dark Side” characters republish and add vitriol to the messages.

Back in the classroom a few decades ago, your classmates might have seen you wearing a dunce cap and sitting in a corner. Can you imagine what it must be to have 21 million people in a 5-day period know that you were disrespectful to your dad and see how he patiently explained away what he was about to do, and then watch as he shoots your laptop?

The word “public” now takes on new significance when you consider that 21 million people – that’s more than the population of New YorkState – saw your “shaming.”

Roy

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