Why Are Parents 'Shaming' Their Children On The Internet?

Why Are Parents 'Shaming' Their Children On The Internet?
mom.me

Remember when you were a teenager and your mum showed your new beau photos of you sitting on the potty when you were a toddler? Scarred you for life, right?

Well, that's nothing compared to how these kids are going to feel when they grow up.

They've been photographed by their parents as part of a new 'Baby Shaming' trend that is sweeping the internet.

Parents publicly humiliate their children by getting them to hold signs 'confessing' to everyday childhood milestones, like crayoning on the walls, tantrums, toileting accidents and so on and so on i.e. pretty much all the things we experienced growing up, but can now rest easy knowing our parents didn't capture and share our momentary lapse of dignity with millions.

In one photo, shared on the website Mom.me, one little girl innocently beams as she holds a sign reading: "I took my diaper off, pooped on the floor, and made Mommy clean it up. I therefore give her permission to use any and all of my baby photos for embarrassment purposes."

Another sign, hung around a sleeping boy's neck, reads: "I roll around on the floor, screaming like my hair is on fire any time my Mommy puts me down to do housework."

All innocent fun? Maybe. But as the parent of a 12-year-old girl who would rather crawl into a hole and die rather than have us mention her babyhood years to her friends, it could be a trend that ends up biting these parents on the bum.

Unlike us, these kids won't be able to hide (or, preferably, burn) the photo album, because we're in the digital age now and embarrassing photos last forever.

Which is a point these parents – or anyone else thinking about 'shaming' their children - might want to bear in mind for when they get older.

Just think how you might feel when your kid gets trolled by his school friends over his 'shaming' photo.

And just imagine how he or she might take their revenge in your dotage – by hanging a sign around your neck as you take your afternoon nap with the message: "Ooops. Naughty mummy. I've just shat myself!"

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