A Texas mother who learned her son was bullying classmates at his elementary school found a unique way to teach him a lesson.
The resident of Splendora, a town about 40 miles northeast of Houston, told KTRK-TV that her son was calling other boys “stupid” and “idiots.”
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“I’m a very old-school parent,” said the boy’s mother, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, Star. “I don’t coddle my children. I don’t sugar coat the world to them.”
Star made her son wear a gray t-shirt with the words “I AM A BULLY” written in capital letters on the front and back to class at Greenleaf Elementary School. The phrase was accompanied with a sad face.
She then posted a photo to Facebook and reached out to any parents whose children may have been bullied so they could each get a personal apology.
Star later removed the post after receiving some negative feedback, though she still contends that she made the right decision in her choice of punishment.
“I did what I had to do to stop it from progressing,” she said. “I wanted to do something that would teach him why he can’t do those things – why he needs to take other people into consideration.”
The school’s teachers and counselor were also “100 percent on board” and “understood” her reasoning, Star said. The concerned mother consulted with all three of her son’s teachers and the counselor before enforcing the punishment, the school district said in a statement.
Mom has son wear 'I am a bully' shirt to teach him a lesson https://t.co/fTmXnpxPw1 pic.twitter.com/VfHw8xoayI
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At the end of it all, her son learned a valuable lesson, she said.
“I wanted to know what he learned from it, and he said, ‘I learned that I didn’t like the way that that felt and I don’t want anybody else to feel that way because of me,'” Star said. “That’s exactly what I wanted him to take from it.”
(H/T: KTRK-TV)