I once stumbled upon an idea by a dad who said that we ought not to view kids as children, but rather as “humans in progress.” And as such, of course they will need to be taught certain things as they grow.
And while there are a slew of methods for teaching kids life lessons, not everyone necessarily agrees on them, especially when said lessons come in the form of punishments.
This 39-year-old mother of two shared a story of how she turned her son’s incredibly racist anecdote into a serious life lesson. Unfortunately, the dad was not too supportive of the punishment, as it “didn’t fit the crime,” prompting a Reddit post for the internet to decide who was wrong here.
More info: Reddit
While parenting is a worthwhile experience, it does come with its challenges, like when you have to teach your kids hard social life lessons
Image credits: byronv2
So, Reddit user u/SnooPaintings9288 approached the r/AmITheA-Hole community with a short story of how she punished her son for an insensitive racist joke and how the dad ended up getting into an argument with her for said punishment.
But, let's rewind. The family has a cat that loves having a go at their take-out food. It just so happened that they ordered some Chinese food and the courier had just arrived. This was the cue for the daughter to pick up the cat and carry it upstairs.
This mother went to Reddit to figure out if she was harsh with her punishment of her son who said a racist joke
As she was doing so, the Reddit user, i.e. the mother, was at the door, accepting the order. During that time, the 13-year-old son decided to loudly say “make sure [to] hide the cat from the Chinese guy.” Both mom and the courier heard it very clearly, and she saw just how upset the courier got because of it.
One apology later, the mom stormed over to the son, who refused to accept that his joke was extremely insensitive towards the courier. She ended up forcing him to do some atoning in the form of a sincere apology to the delivery guy, and to write a one-page paper on Chinese culture as well as how jokes like his perpetuate racism.
The next day, she took him to the restaurant and had him read the apology. The courier appreciated the gesture and shared some stories of what he goes through as a courier on a daily basis.
Well, later that night, mom and dad got into an argument regarding the punishment. In his eyes, it seemed too much as it was hella embarrassing for the son and that it was “just a joke,” making the mom think she may have overreacted. Hence the post on Reddit.
Image credits: u/SnooPaintings9288
However, the internet was not having any of it—even if it was a joke, comments like that still humiliate and demean not just one person, but an entire group of people. People agreed that the punishment did in fact fit the crime, and should have been extended to the dad too, which some speculated is the reason the son said something like that in the first place.
In any case, the story got quite a bit of attention, garnering nearly 53,000 user upvotes and getting over 200 Reddit awards with 2,600 people voicing their opinion on the matter.
People online showed support, not only cause they thought the punishment fit the crime, but also because it taught a lesson
You can read through the entire post as well as all 2,600 comments if you’re that kind of a person here. But before you go, tell us your thoughts and what you would have done in the comment section below!