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Extreme Discipline on EBay

Jodi - posted on 03/02/2011 ( 22 moms have responded )

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Mom Sells Beyblades on EBay for Playing in Bathtub with Toys



Discipline is a tricky subject. Ask any parent and they will tell you that there are different disciplines that work and some that don't. In the Bible, Proverbs 13:24



"Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline

them."



There is no mention about selling toys on eBay when it concerns discipline. When a mother who was frustrated and at wit's end with her two young boys playing with a Hasbro toy called "Beyblades" in the bathtub she placed the items for sale along with a picture and description of her son's destructive play with the toy it quickly garnered the attention of 4Chan (a community of bidders on eBay that will rally around a cause). The bidding soared to over $999,999 before it was over.



There is no mention whether or not the toys actually sold but it raises the question:



Why not just take the toys away or give them different toys to play with in the bathtub? Whatever happened to the rubber duck? The mother chose to go public and humiliate the youngsters publicly.



The frustrated mom created a spectacle and lots of drama, along with countless news reports. Is this the correct discipline for these boys? We wonder why so many children are the way they are today and we need look no further then this example.



I've told this story before and it is worth telling again about discipline and youngsters.



When one of our girls was young, she chose to slam the door repeatedly. My husband simply and quietly went to her room and opened the door, examining the hinges. He said, "I'll be right back, I need a screwdriver to remove the door. If you slam it - you lose it."



The end result was that there were no more door slamming events in the house. We didn't have to sell the door on eBay. The sincere threat of permanently removing the door was enough to evoke change.



Of course, sometimes you have to follow through on the threats. Otherwise the idleness becomes apparent and they will lose the effectiveness.



http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...



You can see the full information, pictures and screen shots of the EBay listing here:



http://www.urlesque.com/2011/02/17/4-cha...



Your thoughts?

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22 Comments

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Joy - posted on 03/04/2011

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I don't think it was mean to sell the toy, but it was mean to intentionally and maliciously publicly humiliate her children.

And I highly doubt she got the high bid on those toys. If you click on the pictures of the comments posted on the ebay screen, you'll see something about her reporting someone for making false bids or something like that. I think someone was just messing with her.

Nikkole - posted on 03/03/2011

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I would sell my sons toys if he wouldn't listen to me after the 100th time but I WOULD NEVER post pictures of him crying like that, what a HORRIBLE thing to do!

Jenn - posted on 03/03/2011

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Posting the picture went too far, but I actually see selling the toy as a good life lesson. You break it you buy it. Oh - you don't have money? Sell something. So long as they were warned what the consequence would be, why is it mean to sell the toy to pay for damage that they caused?

Stephanie - posted on 03/03/2011

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As a side note...I hope the Ebay high bidder actually paid her and she put this money in an account for her kids. That's one way to start repairing the harm she's done. ; )

Stephanie - posted on 03/03/2011

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Wow, posting the pic of the boys with one crying was cruel. To even take a pic while he was in that state is cruel, let alone post it on the internet. I can see her saying in warning "Ok boys, Im gonna take your toys away if you don't knock it off"...."Last chance, I swear I'll sell your toys on Ebay if you don't stop it!!!"....and I can see her doing it to make a point to them BUT I cannot see posting the pic like that and making such an issue for the whole world to see. That's really mean and I'm sure it broke her son's trust. She humiliated him and made him vulnerable in front of the world. How could you ever repair that?

Tara - posted on 03/03/2011

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I do not believe in arbitrary punishment, so if she had never warned those boys that she would indeed sell them if they did not stop using the tub (assuming she caught them at least once before selling the toys) then to me it's way extreme. If however she caught them, said "see this scratch? That's the last time you are to use those toys in the tub. If you do it again I will sell them on ebay and any damages will be paid for by you, through your allowance and the sale of your toys. Than she had every right to sell them. But at no time do I think it's right for posting pics of your kids as discipline or punishment. I don't even really have that many pics of my kids online at all. And I would never post anything that is humiliating or degrading.
She's a few sandwiches short of a picnic in my books.

Ashley=) - posted on 03/03/2011

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What ever floats your boat i guess.Its not how i deal with issues in my home.I find it way to extreme.

I personally feel and its not to rise any of you, but if you have to go to an extreme like that to teach your children, then somethings wrong.Theres more less crazy ways to make a point as a mother whilst teaching your children right from wrong etc then doing that.

Shannen - posted on 03/03/2011

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I would for sure have sold those toys. I would NOT in a million years do that to my child. That is wrong and just plain mean. Even if she were to describe why she was selling them that photo should never have been posted. Hell i don't even post photos of my kids on FB.

Tracey - posted on 03/03/2011

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I agree on taking the toys away and selling or donating them to a charity shop but I wouldn't put the kids pictures on ebay.
If you have a sanction for your children you should always follow through. They need to know boundaries and consequencies, assuming of course they are old enough to understand.

Stifler's - posted on 03/02/2011

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I would sell their stuff on ebay to make a point if it got to the point where confiscation didn't work. I wouldn't post pictures of them crying or a spiel about how I was disciplining my children by selling items though, no one cares they just want to buy the item.

Deanna - posted on 03/02/2011

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LOL Ok. I get it where a lot of people consider this extreme. However, whereas I wouldn't have put the kids in the photos I wouldn't have had a problem with making my kids pay for it either. They tore it up and they must have been told repeatedly to stop. (one would think)
So No I don't think she should have put the kids in the photos but I do not see a problem with selling the toys if the kids knew what was going to happen if they kept upp the behavior.

Kri - posted on 03/02/2011

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I understand taking away the toys. I tell my sons that if they continue leaving toys randomly on the floor or leaving the bonus room looking like a tornado came through, then if the dog eats the toys I will not buy replacements and if I have to clean up the bonus room after them I will simply take everything on the floor to Goodwill. I would not, however, go around telling everyone about it or sell it on ebay with a lengthy explanation as to why. That is personal. I can get across the wrongness of behavior without utterly humiliating my kids.

Discipline is not about humiliation. It's about teaching what is and is not acceptable behavior.

Teresa - posted on 03/02/2011

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Posting pics and humiliating the boys? Yeah, not cool.

Selling the toys though? Smart and could help fund their college educations. ;)

Joy - posted on 03/02/2011

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I've taken toys away from my son countless times. In fact, I have what I call a "Saturday Box" in my garage. He loses a toy, it goes in the box and he gets it back Saturday. Now, to be perfectly honest, I don't always give him his toys back the very NEXT Saturday, but every few weeks or so we go into the garage on a Saturday and he gets to drag the box back inside and reclaim all of his toys. I would never publicly humiliate him like that woman did her sons.

Jodi - posted on 03/02/2011

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I think there is a HUGE difference between selling the items if they are worth some money (because I'd do that too if pushed to that limit), and selling it, listing the reasons and the humiliating photographs. That's just nasty, and to me, seems to have been done totally out of anger.

Katherine - posted on 03/02/2011

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I saw this, totally wacko. She got a lot of crap for it. I think I saw it in Strollerderby or cafemom.

Julianne - posted on 03/02/2011

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thats horribly mean..

Pansy - posted on 03/02/2011

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I wouldn't have posted pics of my children ... but hell yeah I would sell their toys if they were worth money and my children were listening to my rules and respecting them.

I wouldn't have posted some diatribe about WHY I was selling them, I just would.

Nikki - posted on 03/02/2011

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OMG The photo of that little boy makes me really sad. What a bitch, that's humiliating and immoral.

Kate CP - posted on 03/02/2011

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Well...he is. :P

Jodi - posted on 03/02/2011

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Kate....did you just call your husband a nutter? LMAO!!!

Kate CP - posted on 03/02/2011

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I think it's just mean. And stupid. And it doesn't work.

My husband is also a member of 4chan...and I find it very, very sad that an internet community of nutters is a better parent than this woman. :P

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