Some Parents Need To Be Put On Blast

It is heartwarming to observe so many parents fulfill their role as very good mothers and fathers. These wonderful human beings provide for their children even if sacrifice is a part of their care and they do whatever it takes to protect them. They also teach them and reinforce various boundaries with loving and guiding hands. Great parents also unconditionally respect their children.

This story is not about these parents that I classify as ideal parents. Instead, it brings attention to an opposite type of parents whose disturbing presence has become amplified on social media.

Who Are These Mothers and Fathers?

Various social media platforms have enabled many parents whom I consider terrible to publicly shame their children before large audiences. It is as though they have the desire to display the power and control that they have over their children in pursuit of achieving hero status. I believe that these parents want others to admire their parenting style. I also think that these crude parents desire to show other parents how to handle situations with children in a manner they think is the absolute best.

The reality is that any parent who creates and shares content that ridicules, embarrasses, and demeans their children before the eyes of others is wrong. Additionally, the physical abuse that results from brutal punches, hits, and beatings that parents use as a public punishment shown on social media hurts their children in unspeakable ways. The same is true for the parents who use profane, lewd, loud, and offensive language against their children on video.

This type of reckless and disrespectful parenting produces some of the following damaging results for their children and young people regardless of their age:

- they are likely to be targeted and bullied by peers and others within their school or community,

- in severe cases of recorded child abuse or live streamed incidents, child protection and law enforcement agencies may become involved with families if parents or children are identified and reported as well as if their location is known,

- their self-confidence is stripped away because of the humiliation that is endured,

- anti-social behaviors may develop as their defense mechanism, and

- mental health conditions could result that require specialized treatment.

Just Stop It!

This is not my first story that condemns parents for the bad choices they make that directly involve their children on social media. I also published a story about parents who exploit their children for personal notoriety and financial gain. The link to this article follows.

Writing stories about the parental misuse of social media is not enough. There are things that people who observe disturbing images and watch derogatory videos that capture the ways that parents demean and otherwise harm their children can do.

My list of responses to this problem follows.

1. Avoid following, liking, or subscribing to content creators who use their platforms to humiliate their children.

2. Stop watching demeaning content the moment it is realized that parents are shaming their children in any manner.

3. Publicly denounce any video that harms a featured child in the comment section of the post. Take a stand and let the creator know why they are wrong for treating their child in such a disrespectful manner.

4. Report the creator for publishing harmful content involving their child using the appropriate protocols on the social media platform.

5. If the offending parent can be identified, anonymously speak out against their actions in some of the following ways:

- notify their employer to let them know how inappropriate their employee’s actions were or share the video, especially if they work with children and families or in a high profile position,

- locate and inform the child protective service agency in their area,

--file a report with the police in the region where the person lives if you can identify them, and

- if it is a celebrity, notify the network or company they are affiliated with and speak out against their actions.

Parents just need to stop their outrageous behavior against their children on social media.

The Final Word

I was recently appalled and saddened at the same time by a video that I watched on Facebook of a celebrity humiliating their young grandchild for something very minor. The teacher told the family that the kindergartener cut some of their hair while using scissors at school. The child also made snips in their pants. (I remember doing similar things when I was a child. It assumes that cutting one’s hair and other objects tends to be what small children do when they have access to scissors when they are not closely supervised by an adult.)

Instead of this celebrity speaking to their grandchild or reprimanding them in the privacy of their home, they created a video that lasted several minutes. The little child was filled with fear as their grandparents spoke to them sternly and ridiculed them nonstop on Facebook live. As the video concluded, the child’s eyes were filled with fear as they repeated that they would think as they tapped the side of their head with their little forefinger. The actions of the youngster were so monotonous that I do not believe that they understood what was going on. The grandparent wanted the child to activate reasoning skills that they were probably not developmentally ready to utilize.

Hair cut from the head grows back and cut clothing can be repaired. However, the child’s shattered feelings and emotions cannot be repaired so easily. Unfortunately, the actions of this famous person were very unnecessary and extremely cruel.

Not only did I leave a detailed comment about the degradation associated with the video, but I will also reach out to the network they are affiliated with.

Social media content consumers must stop patronizing content creators who blatantly belittle their children.

If you enjoyed this story, consider sharing it on your social media platforms. Also, please consider adding a tip to help fund my work to increase family engagement in education.

I am also a content creator on YouTube. Be sure to visit my "Ignite Family Engagement" channel to view my videos related to the role of parents in education. Here is the link:

Thank you.

This story was originally published on Medium.com in ILLUMINATION-Curated.