Mum Creates Her Own ‘Juvenile Detention Centre’ to Punish Her Bully Daughter

Sometimes, you have to play your biggest Mum Card™ to prevent your child from running off the rails, and that is exactly what this mum has done.

When Amanda Mitchell, from Newfoundland, Canada, found out that her 9-year-old daughter had been misbehaving at school, she opted to deal out a heavy punishment designed to straighten her child out immediately — she turned her bedroom into “Mommy’s Juvenile Detention” to teach her a lesson.

Amanda’s daughter Hannah had been bullying one of her friends, lying to teachers and wandering about the school when she was meant to be in her classroom. When her teacher subsequently called her to let her know, Amanda took action.

She completely stripped her daughter’s bedroom until she was left with only her bed and a pillow, then assigned her a set amount of clothing for the week. She also set up a series of “lines” that Hannah must copy out every afternoon after school.

In a move that many are criticising as being too harsh, the mum has decided that she will not stand for her daughter acting like an “asshole” (direct quotes there) and will do whatever she can to prevent her ending up in jail as an adult.

She shared this with her social media followers:

I don’t usually post this kind of stuff but I’m so disgusted and disappointed in Hannah’s behaviour this week I just have to share.

Long story short, I get a call from her teacher on Friday explaining how Hannah has been acting up all week in class, for substitutes and in other classes. At least two days in a row has been found wandering the halls during lunch when she is required to remain with her class. Was picking on one of her best friends and really hurt the little one’s feelings. Lying to other teachers about her own (AMAZING) teacher. And generally acting like a little asshole.

Yes, I just said asshole, why? Because she’s acting like one. I know she’s not an asshole but if the shoe fits, right?

The result: an empty room. She has nothing. Welcome to Mommy’s Juvenile Detention, little girl. She will wear the same outfit (complete with her anti-bullying shirt) all week. I will wash it at night once she goes to bed but I won’t tell her that. Harsh? Not in my opinion. If she grows up to break the law then the result is jail and that’s not what I want for my children. I think the problem with this generation is inadequate punishment. Punishment is bad we should only use positive reinforcement and ignore all bad behaviour – NOT in this house.

So this child will earn her things back one at a time. Every day this week she will write lines… 50 times each:

I will not lie

I will be kind to everyone

I will behave at school

I am my own person and I make my own choices (she’s been trying to blame her bad behaviour on a friend)

I am responsible for my own actions

And then this child will learn the hard way that we do not act like assholes.

While many parents are applauding Amanda for her parenting, others are critical, declaring that the punishment is too severe.

“Wow. I really feel that this is extreme … How old is your child? I feel that taking away toys, electronics etc. But making your child wear the same outfit to school for a week and stripping her entire room is going overboard,” wrote one commenter on her social media post.

She estimated that about 90% of the comments were supportive, but about 20 messages disagreed with her child’s punishment, calling her “nasty and telling me I’m a terrible parent.” Amanda said the feedback caused her to re-think her punishment a little bit, conceding that it may have been a little over the top.

She stated that her daughter won’t be wearing the same outfit every day and instead will rotate through four anti-bullying shirts. Also, the little girl now only has to copy 25 lines instead of 50.

Mitchell said she was just trying to dole out what she thought was adequate punishment, adding that her daughter is usually very well-behaved.

She told Global News that her daughter was a bit shocked when she first saw her room but was contrite after they talked about why the behaviour was happening.

“She’s been very apologetic, very remorseful,” Mitchell said. “She wrote a letter to her friend she was mean to. She wrote a letter to her teacher.”

She said her daughter has already earned a few of her belongings back, including some books, her side table and lamp.

All I can say is — Wow! Go mum! Also, I know what a nine-year-old’s bedroom looks like, so I know how much work that must have been to clear it all out before she came home from school. Terrific effort!