10 year forced to wear thrift stoores clothes as punishment

[sam_gordon]

I think the girl could have easily learnt the lesson that she was the same person wearing the thrift store clothes as she was wearing her expensive labels. She could have learnt to judge the person not the outfit

OK. How?

 

[Hikergirl]

No, I think the thrift store is a deliberate part of the punishment. Thrift store clothing has visible signs of being worn and are less likely to fit or be cute than say clothing from Walmart.

It's splitting hairs, but it kind of bugs me that people are referring to the father's fiancée as the mom. She isn't. And I think it does change the context of the punishment, because the relationship dynamic would matter in this situation.

Actually that isn't always correct. You can find great labels, even designer at Thrift stores. Not of all it is worn and ragedy either. Unless there are pictures we have no idea what this kid was wearing.

I don't see the issue of this punishment. I think we have become too soft on out kids so we can protect their fragile egos. A little dose of your own medicine is good for you once in awhile, even as a child.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Actually that isn't always correct. You can find great labels, even designer at Thrift stores. Not of all it is worn and ragedy either. Unless there are pictures we have no idea what this kid was wearing.

I don't see the issue of this punishment. I think we have become too soft on out kids so we can protect their fragile egos. A little dose of your own medicine is good for you once in awhile, even as a child.

I googled the article in question and the idea was definitely to buy the kind of frumpy outfits my mother thought was adorable. They aren't actually that ugly, just dated.(there were pictures)

But I didn't really mean raggedy, I just meant obviously previously worn and washed multiple times.

I think thrift store quality depends on where you live. Consignment oriented stores tend to have more name brand. Goodwill tends to be a real mix of everything, and a lot of it is ugly.

I definitely agree with your last paragraph.

 

[Hikergirl]

I googled the article in question and the idea was definitely to buy the kind of frumpy outfits my mother thought was adorable. They aren't actually that ugly, just dated.(there were pictures)

But I didn't really mean raggedy, I just meant obviously previously worn and washed multiple times.

I think thrift store quality depends on where you live. Consignment oriented stores tend to have more name brand. Goodwill tends to be a real mix of everything, and a lot of it is ugly.

I definitely agree with your last paragraph.

I didn't look for the article, just read what was in the OP, thanks for explaining.

I check our local thrift store regularly, and I don't find as much as I used too, but there are definitely some gems in there.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Maybe now that the girl has had the experience from the other side of things, maybe she'll think twice about trying to humiliate others for what they wear.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I guess I punished myself.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think the punishment is fitting. I could be really supportive of it if I didn't have a couple nagging questions.

First, was Dad involved? Having Dad's fiance hand this punishment out might not have been the best choice.

Second, how did this go viral? Did Dad's fiance video something and post it online to maximize humiliation? If so, I have an issue with that. That sort of makes me wonder if Dad's fiance only did it for the potential online attention, which I would not find the least bit admiral.

But quietly giving the girl a taste of her how medicine seems very fitting. I just think this likely went further than that.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I think the punishment is fitting. I could be really supportive of it if I didn't have a couple nagging questions.

First, was Dad involved? Having Dad's fiance hand this punishment out might not have been the best choice.

Second, how did this go viral? Did Dad's fiance video something and post it online to maximize humiliation? If so, I have an issue with that. That sort of makes me wonder if Dad's fiance only did it for the potential online attention, which I would not find the least bit admiral.

But quietly giving the girl a taste of her how medicine seems very fitting. I just think this likely went further than that.

I don't think it went viral. The local news picked it up and spread it from there. The more detailed story was more human interest- supposedly the girl apologized to the person she was bullying.

I think the OP probably stumbled across it as an upworthy post or something along those lines on Facebook. The pics have the girl's face blurred out for privacy reasons and they aren't really as bad as the OP makes them sound. It's the type of clothes my mother would have dressed us in the 80s- you know, dresses that make a 10 year old look 10 and not 14. We were pretty embarrassed to be seen in those, too- mom had an inexplicable fondness for floral prints.

I agree with your other comment, but for all we know, the fiancé may be more of a mother figure- a lot of people put marriage off but still are de facto parents. I think my aunt and uncle lived together for 6 years before making it official, which was most of the youngest kid's life.

 

[Kaytie]

I can bet this kid learned nothing except humiliation is apparently the right thing to do.

Well, a few of the articles have her saying she did learn a lesson

You don't think putting her in thrift store clothes to shame her drives home that thrift store clothes are bad?

Apparently she contributed to the clothing selection, although without realizing the ultimate goal of the shopping excursion.

Lol, that's what I wondered too. I wouldn't be buying stuff at the thrift store if 2 outfits cost me $50.

I couldn't find an article saying how many items or outfits were purchased. Simply because she wore the outfits two consecutive days doesn't mean that's all they bought.

To maybe alleviate some of the distress in this thread, this blog http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2013/05/fashion-bully-11-forced-to-wear-thrift-shop-clothes/ quotes Kaylee addressing Ally as mom, and shows that the decision was made by the father and the fiancée.

 

[mummabear]

OK. How?

Because she was the same person in the thrifty store clothes her parents made her wear as she was in the clothes she wanted to wear, I doubt she would have been impressed if her friends had treated her differently.

 

[Kaytie]

Because she was the same person in the thrifty store clothes her parents made her wear as she was in the clothes she wanted to wear, I doubt she would have been impressed if her friends had treated her differently.

She did learn what it's like to be made fun of for how you dress.

 

[Kellykins1218]

She just said she bought clothes that she didn't think the girl would like to wear. She didn't say it was because the clothes were from a thrift store. I

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't think it went viral. The local news picked it up and spread it from there. The more detailed story was more human interest- supposedly the girl apologized to the person she was bullying.

And how did the local news pick it up?

 

[Hikergirl]

And how did the local news pick it up?

Right. I have no issues with the punishment itself, but what kind of person goes to the news with this kind of stuff?

 

[mom2rtk]

Right. I have no issues with the punishment itself, but what kind of person goes to the news with this kind of stuff?

Even if she did't go to the news herself, she must have been "out there" with it enough for them to pick it up.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I think it's a good punishment.

My son is a self proclaimed "sneaker head." He loves name brand sneakers. Jordan's, lebrons, Air Max, etc. He doesn't care where his clothes comes from but his sneakers must be name brand. I didn't raise him this way but it's his "thing."

If my son were to make fun of a kid or bully a kid over their clothes the best punishment would be to make him wear Payless/Walmart/target shoes. It would be the death of him.

I don't have a problem with Payless shoes. I actually just bought DD 4 pairs of sandals there last week.

 

[because]

I don't think this was the right way to deal with this. The girl should have been taught there is nothing wrong with buying clothes at a thrift store instead of parents backing up her belief that thrift store clothes are horrible

A Utah woman forced her fiance's 10-year-old daughter to wear an unflattering wardrobe to school after a teacher said the girl was bullying another classmate over the way she dresses.

A teacher at the Viewmont Elementary school in Murray last week emailed Mark, the father of Kaylee, and his fianceé Ally, explaining that she was harassing another student for three weeks, Fox13 reports. The last names of the family were not revealed to protect their privacy.

“She would take her out on the playground and call her names, and tell her she was a slob and tell her she dressed like a sleaze,” Allly told the station.

As punishment, Ally went to a local thrift shop and purchased around $50 worth of clothing that she thought her daughter wouldn’t want to wear. Kaylee said she cried when she first saw the clothes, Fox13 reports.

Kaylee added that students talked behind her back about the clothes when she wore them to school last week. Her teacher was notified beforehand and the punishment lasted two days.

“We did it because we wanted our daughter to learn something very valuable that touched home and touched her heart,” Ally said.
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I have to agree with some of the above posters, since this was the girl's dad's fiancé who instituted this punishment, I wonder if this is more about her future step-monster making her do this or if it really was the clothes. It would be interesting to know if Dad supported this and especially if her Mom was consulted and agreed to the punishment.

 

[BLAZEY]

Rather than use thrift store clothes, maybe the stepmother to be could have gone through the child's own clothes and picked out 2 or 3 of the oldest outfits and pack up the rest and have her wear the same 2 or 3 outfits for a month. The clothes would wear out pretty quick after being washed so frequently, and have to wear the same outfits over and over again would drive the message home.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I think it just reinforced that thrift shops are bad. The brat should have been taken to the girls house, apologized and then told her that from now on she would be her best friend and protect her from other bullies. She could have also offered to share some of her favorite outfits with her. She needs to learn compassion and empathy.

 

[Kitty 34]

This whole thing reminds me of when my Mom forced me to to wear the goofy frock dress I had made in my 7th grade Home Ec class. I wore it once and never ever sewed another dress again!!!