Raising a teenager can be one of the most challenging stages in life. There’s no manual, and opinions on parenting vary widely, which leads to debates and sometimes even disputes, especially online.
Take, for example, a recent story that ignited strong reactions. A father punished his daughter in a way that many people felt went too far. Let’s delve into what happened and see if you think he crossed the line.
My daughter, who is 16 and a junior in high school, has been acting out lately. She has been making unkind comments about people’s appearances and belongings and being generally insensitive. Normally, she’s polite, but my wife thinks she may be picking up bad habits from new friends at school.
One of the main targets of her behavior has been our housemaid. She criticizes her appearance, her clothes, and even her work, calling her offensive names. After many discussions about how her behavior was affecting everyone, especially the housemaid, I warned my daughter that I would punish her if it happened again.
Last week, when my daughter called our housemaid “filthy,” I grounded her by not letting her attend a party she was excited about. She threw a tantrum and accused our housemaid of lying. That was just the beginning.
A few days later, my daughter couldn’t find her iPhone and asked me to call it. To our shock, it was discovered in our housemaid’s bag. My daughter repeatedly called her a thief. However, when I checked our indoor camera, I saw my daughter herself had placed her iPhone in the housemaid’s bag. I was furious and apologized to our housemaid, giving her the rest of the day off.
I then confronted my daughter with the evidence. She was speechless. I told her that what she did was extremely wrong and offensive and that she was grounded. As part of her punishment, I made her spend the night in the backyard. She cried and begged, saying she couldn’t stand dirt, insects, and the hot weather, but I held firm. My wife suggested a lighter punishment, but I felt the seriousness of her actions required this.
The reason I chose this specific punishment was because my daughter often claims to be a germaphobe, using it as an excuse to insult others’ hygiene and appearance. Spending a night in the safe, but uncomfortable, backyard full of dirt and bugs, seemed like an appropriate way to make her realize the impact of her words and actions.
One might wonder why I didn’t assign her other chores as a punishment. The reason is, I had tried that before, but it didn’t work. She stopped eating for days to avoid doing the chores, resulting in a visit to the emergency department for low blood pressure.
