10-Year-Old Who Bullies A Classmate Gets Swift Dose Of Karma
Getting your kids to listen and really learn lessons when they've done something wrong can feel impossible. One Ohio father tried the long talks and emotional exchanges with his daughter. They just didn't take. So when her principal notified him she'd been involved in a bullying complaint, he went old school and came up with a punishment that required some legwork neither of them would ever forget.
A Concerning Note
When Matt Cox's daughter came home from school on a Friday afternoon, she handed him a note from the administrators. Along with her note, she guiltily explained she needed a ride on Monday morning.
Suspended
See, Kirsten was suspended from riding the bus for several days. Administrators doled out the punishment because 10-year-old Kirsten continued acting out on the daily bus route. Her crime was a heinous one.
Alleged Bully
According to administrators, Kirsten was bullying her classmates during their commute to school. Unable to curb her aggression, the school just outright banned her from the bus for a few days.
Repeat Behavior
Reading the suspension papers, Matt was disappointed in Kristen's behavior, though unfortunately, he wasn't entirely surprised. This marked the second time his daughter had faced the same punishment for the same infraction. She was developing a pattern of bullying.
Unacceptable
In his words, bullying was unacceptable. The reality that his child was the source of the problem made him angry, yet determined to nip it in the bud. Matt had to come up with a powerful way to teach Kirsten a lesson.
Need for Punishment
This punishment needed to leave a lasting impression, so he reasoned it should match the gravity of her mistake. “This is my small way of trying to stop it in my household," he said.
Dad's Plan
So Matt devised a plan and launched it into action. Monday morning arrived and, keeping to their normal routine, Kirsten got ready for school, ate her breakfast, and put on her backpack. They walked out to the car, and that's when Matt broke the news.
Start Walking
Instead of the typical parental lecture met with pouty facial exchanges in the rear view mirror, Matt climbed into the car and told Kirsten to start walking. That December morning, she would make the journey to school solely on her own two feet.
5 Mile Trip
For the next three days, Kirsten walked 5 miles to school. Matt wanted his daughter to think about the consequences of her actions. Every step would be a reminder of how her words had made other people feel, and Matt hoped, she'd gain an appreciation for riding the bus.
Parenting Stories
Feeling good about his hands-on parenting technique, Matt uploaded a video of Kirsten’s punishment walk to his Facebook account. The video caused a lot of stir fairly quickly, with many of Matt’s friends commenting and sharing it. Soon, it had gone viral, to very mixed reactions.
Mixed Reactions
Tons of parents praised Matt's techniques, cheering on his punishment as effective tough love. They agreed Matt had properly held Kirsten accountable, and ensured her safety by trailing in the car behind her. Others were less impressed.
Chilly
A large number of online spectators criticized Matt’s chosen method of discipline. They pointed to the fact that it was only 36 degrees on the day of the big walk, saying the punishment was overkill, bordering on cruel.
Parent Debate
Others pointed out the act of filming Kirsten's walk and posting it online qualified as public humiliation, ironically a form of bullying in itself. This vein of shaming kids has caught on in the current age of viral stories, leaving parents to wonder about the lasting emotional effects.
Public Humiliation
Borrowing from past practices like the stocks, judges across the country have participated in this recent uptick in public humiliation by including it in their sentencing orders. Usually it involves the guilty party wearing a sign that describes their misdeeds.
Doing What's Necessary
Some parents like Matt have integrated the tactic into their discipline arsenal. He absolutely disagreed with those dragging his strategy online. In his opinion, many parents don’t take matters of bullying as seriously as they should.
Facing Consequences
Determined to rip the bullying problem out by the root, he vowed that his children would face consequences for their actions. He wouldn't lump their bad behaviors into a “kids will be kids” mentality.
Bullying Trends
Given the surge in anti-bullying initiatives in schools across the U.S., Matt felt this issue qualified for memorable disciplinary action. Kirsten is on the cusp of transitioning into middle school, the age group most reported to struggle with bullying.
Lots of Kids
Studies show that 1 in 3 children in the U.S. experience bullying in their schools, with 70% of students overall witnessing incidents of bullying. In Matt's mind, he was doing his duty as a parent, to combat what's been labeled as an epidemic.
Justifying His Call
In response to the negativity, Matt posted an update on Kirsten. “Still has all her extremities intact, is happy and healthy, and seems to have a new outlook on bullying as well as a new appreciation for some of the simple things in life she used to take for granted.”
Regretful
Kirsten admitted she regrets her actions, and that her punishment did make her think things through, noting how it makes her feel when people aren’t nice to her. So far, she hasn't expressed any anger or embarrassment about her father's sharing her walk to school on social media.
Complicated Situation
In fact, the 10-year-old admitted she too has felt the negative effects of being bullied in school. Matt read comments on his video that detailed the experiences of others who'd been bullied by all three of his children. The truth is, with the prevalence of technology, kids have to worry about being targeted not just at school...
Cyberbullying
Posting nearly anything on social media can prompt completely unwelcome comments, so teens are coming up with creative and powerful ways to respond to their bullies. When a video of teenage explorer Jade Hameister was posted online, internet trolls couldn't help but leave sexist jokes in the comment section. Rather than let the haters get her down, Jade made them eat their words.
Following Her Dreams
You might think only normal kids like Kirsten Cox face bullies on a regular basis, but that's far from the truth. Australian 19-year-old Jade Hameister was a prodigy — and she's still earned plenty of critics.
Travel Junkie
Jade's dreams have always included travel, but her version of "travel" doesn't involve luxury resorts, tourist attractions, or even tour guide-led expeditions. Jade is more interested in pushing herself against whatever Mother Nature has to offer.
Young Explorer
Jade has been drawn to adventure since she was just six years old, as her and her father journeyed to the top of Australia’s highest peak, Mt. Kosciuszko. Jade was an ambitious girl from the get go, and that drive to see and change the world only increased as she grew.
An Adventurous Family
"I have been brought up in a very adventurous family," Jade said in an interview with Jacada Travel's The Explorer Magazine. "While I was a young girl growing up, my dad was off climbing the seven summits, and both my parents took me and my brother on little adventures every year."
A Hike of a Lifetime
At 12 years old, Jade completed the Everest Base Camp trek, an arduous hike at high altitudes that typically takes two weeks to finish. "I wanted to see what dad had climbed to the top of in 2011," Jade said regarding her motive.
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Powerful Women
And though Jade had always been inspired by her dear father, she particularly looked up to women who followed their guts and defied the odds. While in the midst of her journey to the Everest Base Camp, Jade befriended two women whose accomplishments wowed her.
A New Mission
One of the women had once skied to the South Pole alone, and the other was the first woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. But rather than simply applaud them, their achievements inspired Jade to embark on her own expedition.
Jade's Polar Quest
According to Jade's personal website, in April 2016, she became the youngest person to ever ski to the North Pole "from anywhere outside the Last Degree" at just 14 years old. She was then recognized by the Australian Geographic Society as 2016's Young Adventurer of the Year.
Documenting Jade
National Geographic documented her physically and mentally challenging journey to the North Pole for its documentary Jade's Polar Dream. But even this wasn't enough to satisfy Jade's need for something new and exciting.
TEDx Trailblazer
Because Jade was kicking butt and taking names, the little trailblazer gave a TEDx Talk in August 2016, which highlighted her belief that young girls should never be discouraged from chasing their dreams. The world recorder-breaker wanted to act as an example to girls around the world.
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A Meaningful Question
In her talk, titled "My Journey to the North Pole and Beyond," she asked "What if the focus shifted from how we appear, to the possibilities of what we can do?" This was just her intro.
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Discouraging Messages
"As a young woman I live in a world where I'm constantly bombarded with messages to be less, to eat less, to wear less, to be skinnier, to shrink my ambitions to fit in, to wait for my Prince Charming to come and save me, or to avoid activities 'that are for boys,'" she continued.
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The Future of Our World
She voiced that the world's future would be much brighter if women decided to ignore these societal messages and refuse to play it safe, using her accomplishments as proof of what's possible. Not everyone was on board.
Make Me a Sandwich
When Jade's talk was uploaded to YouTube, the video garnered many nasty comments that said "make me a sandwich." In case you haven't heard the blatantly sexist phrase, it references the outdated idea that women "belong in the kitchen."
Haters Gon' Hate
Though these comments and others like them were at first disheartening, Jade wasn't one to let internet trolls win. In fact, she was preparing for another adventure — one that would capture the attention of kids everywhere.
The Polar Hat Trick
In January 2018, Jade Hameister became the youngest person to complete the incredibly difficult Polar Hat Trick, which is a three-tiered feat that entails skiing around the North Pole, crossing Greenland's largest icecap, and around the South Pole.
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Nearing the South Pole
Throughout her 373-mile journey on skis (while pulling a 220-pound sled), she couldn't stop thinking of the ridiculous sandwich comments on her old TEDx Talk, even considering bringing a literal sandwich to the South Pole as a joke. She needed to do something.
South Pole Sandwich
But the more Jade thought on it, the more she realized it was an epic way to respond to her ghastly internet trolls. "The camp we were staying at was less than a (kilometer) away from the actual pole, so we were like, 'Let's just do it,'" Jade explained to CNN.
Eat It XX
She posted a photo of herself standing tall at the very top (or bottom in this case) of the South Pole on her social media profiles, hysterically captioning it "I made you a sandwich (ham & cheese), now ski 37 days and 600km to the South Pole and you can eat it xx."
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