This… This is heartbreaking.

I don’t see anything constructive in these videos that parents take where they shame their children as punishment and then they post them online for EVERYONE to watch and laugh about. Isn’t it funny? Isn’t it just hilarious to watch a child be punished?

Cutting off someone’s hair as punishment seems especially cruel to me. Yes, hair grows back. Yes, it’s not like it physically hurts the child. But MENTALLY? Having your hair cut against your will is something that is meant to be demeaning and dehumanizing—even more so when you’re a teenager and your appearance is so important to you and your hair is your identity.

The incidents in history where women forcibly had their hair cut or their heads shaved just… I really hate that people are looking at this and other instances where parents are posting videos online where they do this to their children and laughing about it. There are other ways to go about disciplining your child that DON’T involve bullying.

Because that’s what these shaming videos are. They’re bullying.

It’s bad enough that other adults will bully children—that someone with authority over you will pick at you until you break—but to have your parent do the same? That formerly safe environment of home no longer feels safe.

Once parents publicly shame their children for bad behavior, it opens the door to the child’s peers for more bullying, and that will only make the situation worse. Because without that safe space of home, there’s no escaping feeling like a failure or feeling ugly.

Parents. Please. TALK to your kids about their behavior. Try—just TRY—to have patience with them. Don’t shame them for their actions. Humiliation is not constructive.