Amanda Mitchell/FacebookA strict parent has come under fire after she went to extreme lengths to punish her daughter for bullying.
Amanda Mitchell, from Canada, turned her nine-year-old daughter’s bedroom into a ‘juvenile detention centre’ after finding out she was bullying another girl.
Mitchell stripped her daughter’s bedroom of everything, apart from her bed and left her one set of clothes.
Posting her actions on Facebook, Mitchell wrote:
Welcome to Mummy’s Juvenile Detention Center [sic] little girl.
AmandaMitchell/FacebookShe also explained how her daughter would be made to wear the same outfit every day for a week, which included an anti-bullying shirt, Global News reports.
However, she did admit she’d wash the clothes, saying:
I will wash it at night once she goes to bed, but I won’t tell her that.
Mitchell also explained how everyday for the week of punishment, her daughter will have to write the phrases; ‘I will not lie’, ‘I will be kind to everyone’, ‘I will behave at school’, and ‘I am responsible for my own actions’ 50 times each.
She added:
And then this child will learn the hard way that we do not act like assh*les.
Preempting the backlash from other parents, Mitchell wrote:
Harsh? Not in my opinion. If she grows up to break the law then the result is jail and that’s not what I want for my children.
I think the problem with this generation is inadequate punishment.
Punishment is bad, we should only use positive reinforcement and ignore all bad behaviour — NOT in this house.
Mitchell said her daughter is usually very well behaved and her actions – which caused the extreme punishment – were out of the ordinary.
The mother-of-two said she spoke to her daughter to make sure her acting out was not for any other reason:
When she came home to find it, she was a little bit shocked at first, but once she got over her shock, we sat down and we talked about why this behaviour was happening.
While some fellow parents praised Mitchell for her tough anti-bullying stance, some feedback did cause Mitchell to re-think her punishment.
One person wrote:
Wow. I really feel that this is extreme and [borderline] abuse. How old is your child? I feel that taking away toys, electronics etc. But making your child wear the same outfit to school for a week and stripping her entire room…overboard.
Mitchell defended herself, saying:
I know that I’m not doing harm to her. I’m doing everything I can to help her. I told her I’m doing this because I love her and want her to grow up to be a well-rounded individual.
Her daughter also had the chance to ‘earn’ her belongings back, including books, a bedside table and a lamp.
Mitchell added:
I just want people to know that I’m not a terrible parent. I try really hard to be a great mom.
I’ve been a single mom for most of their lives and I’ve worked really hard to provide a good life for them.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.