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30 Times Parents Came Up With Creative, Strange, And Random Ways To Deal With Misbehaving Kids
Everyone has their own parenting style, tailor-made to fit the unique relationship between them and their child. Some moms and dads are incredibly loving and gentle. Some believe that high control is the go-to approach. Others navigate raising their kids by trying to blend authority and kindness to ensure their little ones grow up to be happy, healthy, and rounded adults.
Parents of all kinds usually want what's best for their children, but the little quirks and weird shenanigans their daredevils pull sometimes catch them off guard. And while the consequences of broken rules can vary, this thread over on 'Ask Reddit' proves one thing to be true: some parents get extremely creative in dealing with misbehaving kids, and they try to bring the structure back into the household in the most baffling ways.
"What's the strangest punishment your parents ever gave you?" asked Redditor stuartwolf and received a deluge of responses from adults who revealed some of the most ridiculous discipline tactics ever performed. Below, we've gathered some stories for you to relate to — or at least be thankful that your parents didn't make you fill cut-open tennis balls with pennies for no reason at all. So continue scrolling and upvote your favorite ones!
Psst! Check out even more stories about absurd punishments from "insane" parents in Bored Panda's earlier piece right here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I had to write book reports on books of the Bible. I would have to read the book of the Bible, discuss the major themes, and explain how it related to my bad behavior. As a result, I really know my Bible and no longer believe in religion.
#2
When I was preparing for high school I sucked at writing, particularly long response/essay questions. To mediate this my dad spent a week having me write a different essay every day of the most simple and mundane tasks. The one that really sticks out in my mind was the first one, “How to put a football away”. By doing this, though it seemed inhumane at the time, I learned how to expand a simple thought into highly descriptive details and became a great writer throughout the rest of my school career.
#3
My parents said I was playing too much Skyrim when it came out, so they took the router with them to work every day. Good thing you don't need internet to play an offline single player game.
#4
My parents routinely took away my library card when I did something worth punishing.
So I memorized it.
When they caught on they refused to go to the library with me for the duration of my punishment.
So I started volunteering at the library once a week so they had to take me.
Ali H M Salehuddin 1 year ago
What's weird to me is the punishment itself (can't go to the library).
#5
Told this story before and was called Satan. I basically raised my little brother. When he was in middle school he was failing math. He would always forget to turn in assignments, refused tutoring and didn't study for quizzes. I told him if he failed I'd do something drastic. He failed on the year. So I deleted every save in his PS2. All of them. There were hundred of hours of saved games. Never saw him cry so hard in my life. He passed summer school with a B.
Edit: I am getting a lot of hate and will certainly get more in a minute but here is more to the story. This was a year long frustration. We would do homework together and he wouldn't hand it in and the teacher wouldn't accept it late. He refused to study. His pattern of behavior was out of control. For all the people saying I should have gave him blank memory cards and gave him the real ones later he would have seen right through it. He is smart. No, I deleted those files in front of him. He needed to change his behavior and I had a real hard time disciplining him as his brother and not his parent. I hated how hard he cried. It felt horrible. There was no other way. I know it was cruel.
Captain Awesome 1 year ago
Nah, not that bad really. He had warning, he got chances, and he still f****d up. And nothing else physical or emotionally abusive. I say fair.
#6
No punishment. And that in itself was punishment.
I totally bombed during my first semester in college. I took 16 credits and ended up with a 0.77 GPA for the semester. Yes, less than 1.0.
My parents were disappointed, but told me that they knew I could do better, and they knew I would do better. They forgave me and basically said "Ok, so you screwed up, now make it better and make us proud".
The fact that they were not upset really weighed on me. It REALLY put a ton of guilt and shame upon me, even though they didn't put those things on me, *I* did it to myself!
It really motivated me to not d**k around any longer in college. I buckled down and really succeeded.
Gardener of Weeden 1 year ago
That is actually the definition of GOOD parenting. The real goal is to have YOU realize how to correct your errors and not make the same mistakes. That you took the initiative to work harder and learn that lesson, I am sure made them proud.
#7
They were mad I was playing too many video games (civilization, master of Orion II, world of warcraft I, Final fantasy I, 2, 3, tactics, ogre battle, Ur-Quan masters, okay, so I played lots of games...), so they made me go out with friends more. Now keep in mind, I did have friends and was social and would go out once or twice a week with them... but ANY video games were BAD.
So my parents forced me to go hang out in my buddies garage where they just drank and smoked up at 13 years old. A couple of them ended up getting into some serious drugs by around 16, and my parents still were forcing me to go hang out with them - because their parents were "good people" that will "sort him out".
Well, they never did.
I always thought it was funny that they considered cerebral strategy games more damaging to my development than hanging out with 13-16 year old drunks.
#8
Me and my brothers were fighting. As punishment our parents made us all read and give a book report. But I love to read, always have, so while my brothers got to read The Hardy Boys. I had to read a book about flower arranging.
After about 2 hours I came out crying about how I didn't want to read about flowers any more. They made me report on what I'd read so far. Apparently watching a crying 7yr old talk about how you can use baby's breath to accent other flowers is something you still laugh about 20 years later.
Fluffy Cat Sleeps 1 year ago
Bringing it up and laughing about any punishment years later is just mean.
#9
When I was 10, mom would take my NES games for a week.
When I was 13, mom would take my SNES games for a week.
When I was 16, mom would take my BLANK FLOPPY DISCS for a week.
I didn't explain the mistake to her until I moved out.
#10
Withheld dinner & I was only allowed to have bread and butter.
My mother is a terrible cook so I was super okay with this.
#11
If I cursed, my mom would make me go into the bathroom and say every curse I knew while looking in the mirror so "I could see how ugly I made myself look while cursing".
Well, I learned that if I wanted to curse with impunity all I had to do was say "A*s" and get sent to the bathroom where I could say any curse I could think of, punishment free, for as long as I wanted. lol
#12
I was not allowed to read unless it was specifically for school.
#13
I was always more the artist type. Didn't much care for throwing the football around or working on cars. I wasn't belittled or anything, my family let me do me.
But my step-father was an evil genius and when I did something that was considered a minor infraction he'd give me the option of either going to bed early or staying up till my normal bedtime but having to watch sports with him in the living room. And I couldn't just zone out or read. He'd sit there and make chit chat about the game or try explaining the rules or the players stats or something else I couldn't have cared less about.
I'm 34 and we still laugh about that sometimes. S**t was brutal.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
sounds like hell. Only way to make that worse would be to make you drink bud lite, which is not really anything at all.
#14
Was 14yo. First time getting wasted. Like REALLY wasted. Had 0,5l bottle of 80% alcohol. No memory of the night. Apparently two of my friends had carried me home and talked to my father who had only asked whether I had anything besides alcohol.
Next morning my parents made me breakfast in bed. No penalty. Just a weirdly nice conversation about what went wrong. At the end my father just said, "I'm not gonna tell you to not drink, I know that doesn't work. All I want you to do is make better decisions in life than I did" and left the room.
Later that day we went shopping and they bought me a new snowboard. Weird.
#15
Anytime i would come home hungover i would have to help my dad do manual labor outside in the heat. Fixing a lawnmower, planting/gardening, painting, robbing bees, you name it. He was always right there with me working too, he just always needed my help. I just thought it was just a shitty coincidence and my parents had no idea that i even drank, but once i was an adult i realized it was definitely no coincidence. They were on to me the whole time.
#16
For some reason my parents allowed my brother and I to have a very basic bow and arrow which we were allowed to shoot at a cardboard box in the backyard. I, being very young and very dumb, crawled into the box while my brother was firing. Parents were not pleased and to demonstrate how dangerous what I had done was, they made me lay on the couch for the whole day and pretend I was in a hospital bed.
#17
Not my parents but my sister was babysitting me and I was being an a*s so she sent me to my room. Now I had a TV so it wasn't a big deal but the buttons on it were broke so you had to use the remote. She set it to the 24/7 weather radar channel and muted it and walked out with the remote. Total b***h move
#18
I beat up a bully, my mom had a strong conversation with me, and then took me out for Sushi.
#19
One time I forged my mom's signature on a school discipline warning thing. She made me write my own signature 500 times "so I wouldn't write the wrong name again"
#20
When I was little, my mom's go-to punishment was to make me kneel on uncooked rice for about 15 minutes. Had to keep a straight back or else the time was increased. She did this because that was how her mom punished her and her brother. She eventually stopped using this punishment after she set some clear boundaries with my very controlling grandmother. She never felt right making me do it. My little sister never had to go through it...I kind of resented that for a while, but eventually was grateful she didn't experience it.
Laura Ketteridge 1 year ago
Abusive behaviour trying to disguise itself as punishment. So glad to hear this 'punishment' was stopped.
#21
I was being a d**k as a teen (I think I was 15) and tormenting my little brother by grossing him out. Stuff like burping in his face when he didn't expect it, making him smell my feet, etc, and he really hated it. It made me laugh and I called him a pussy for being grossed out so easily.
After he came to her crying one day about it, my mom warned me that if I didn't stop, I'd be very sorry.
**I didn't listen. Worst mistake of my childhood.**
My mom ran a small "doggy daycare" / pet grooming business. The next time I did this to my brother, she put me to work cleaning filthy dog kennels - without gloves, and without a scooper.
Worse, she introduced me to what dog "a**l glands" are, which groomers often have to "express." Around 3 times a day that week, I had to express dog a**l glands. I was not allowed to wear gloves. I puked. Every. Single. Time.
She planned on the punishment lasting all week, but my bro asked her to let me off the hook after he saw how defeated and broken I looked by Wednesday.
Just Another Girl 1 year ago
No gloves, though? I feel like that’s too far because of exposure to disease and parasites.
#22
I would get grounded to the front porch because when I was grounded in my room I would entertain myself with literally anything, even lint from the carpet. So my dad finally had enough and made me sit on the front porch and I wasnt allowed to talk to anyone except to say that im grounded and cant talk
#23
My mom always told me I would end up in prison.
As punishment, she would make me sit in time out under an office desk with a slat back chair turned upside down on top so the back covered the opening like bars.
Come dinner time she fed me hard rolls and water because "That's what they serve in prison."
I found out years later, while not good food, prison food is much better than hard rolls and water.
#24
I had to fill cut-open tennis balls with pennies.
I’m still... not sure what that was about.
I was innocent btw.
#25
Me and my sister were fighting after i tried to steal some of her chili fries and she stabbed me with a fork. Dad took us out back and tied us up face to face with a rope. Told us when you figure out how to work together you will be able to get out.
#26
When my brother and I were little we started to play with our toys instead of cleaning them like we were told to, so my dad took us to the kitchen and made us kneel on rice until my mom saw us and had us get up.
When my brother was around 7 or 8 he would chew on the collar of his shirts and make holes in them so my dad made him start eating these dog chews as punishment. He then was even more angry when my brother finished the first one and asked for a second because of how much he liked it.
#27
When I was 6 I did something stupid that angered my dad and I wasn't allowed to mention anything related to Pokemon for a month
#28
MY CRIME: I was 8 years old and decided to go on a corn field to hunt foxes with hammer and home made shurikens. I didnt tell anyone and I was gone several hours. When they found me...
MY PUNISHMENT: I had to run home barefoot on dusty road in front of my father who was on a bicycle. While i was running he was telling me a story about a boy who also went on fox hunt. When parents found him, they drenched him with gasoline and kept smacking him with a stick until sausages fell from his body.
I didnt mind the running, but that story gave me creeps for several years...
#29
I got a bad grade on a math test in elementary school. As my dad dropped me off for the day, I quickly told him he needed to sign something (the test). He was SO FURIOUS, that even though I was already late for school, he drove the 2 miles back home, spanked me and made me *walk* to school. I was soooo late.
#30
Wasn't allowed to go trick-or-treating that year because I didn't lie to my babysitter about not having eaten breakfast that day.
What do you think ?
Cat Palmer 1 year ago
This genuinely needs a trigger warning. I only managed the first few before giving up on what is basically "my parent was an abusive POS - LOL!". If that's what you need to think for your own mental wellbeing then you do you, but let's not pretend these stories of children being hit / starved / humiliated by their caregivers are anything other than reports of historic child abuse.
Llama_flower93 1 year ago
My parents once caught my sister online after midnight, which they said was against the rules. They cut off the internet, but my brother just plugged it back in once they went to sleep. How old were we? Sister 24, brother 20, me 19. My parents neglected us and every once in a while when they got fed up would "put their foot down" for like a day, then give up. My parents were so preoccupied with their dysfunctional marriage they didn't notice we grew up.
Kelly Lee 1 year ago
When my teenage son decided it was okay to be VERY disrespectful and disobedient I took away all his electronics and electronic privileges for other rooms of the house. He could earn back one of his items each week for good behavior but would lose them all again for disrespect. After those 6 weeks, he never disrespected us again. Find out what the kid really likes or really hates and combine with natural or logical consequences.
Zheraa 1 year ago
I think you need to reconsider what respect means. A hint: It doesn't mean being scared of punishment.
Load More Replies...
Jill Bussey 1 year ago
I am appalled at the punishments meted out to these people. Physical abuse is never the right thing to do.
DrBronxx 1 year ago (edited)
When I was around 12, my mum asked my brother and I to clean our room, and we were watching TV. We basically ignored her, and she was getting more and more annoyed. So, my father just walked into the room, unplugged the TV, and cut the plug off. He then turned to us and quietly said "go clean your room". I've never moved so fast in my life. To be clear - I don't think this was abusive at all, unlike a lot of the examples in this list, but it was damn effective.
Lisa H 1 year ago
When I was 14, my brother and I forgot to do a chore (I think it was cleaning out the dishwasher), and when my dad found out, he screamed at us and he threatened to shoot the dogs. As if that wasn't traumatic enough, I told my school counselor the next day (not trying to get him in trouble, just wanted to get it off my chest) and she reported him to the police. They ended up talking to him (he wasn't arrested or anything) and, BOY, was he MAD about that. He straight told me that next time something is bothering me to just keep it to myself so I don't get anyone else in trouble. Basically, never express my feelings ever again. I still haven't forgiven him for that, but I know he won't remember anyway.
Leo Domitrix 1 year ago
You have to be licensed to use a car, but not have children or (in the US) buy a gun. This explains a *lot*.
Brian Scadden 1 year ago
The only true thing you said was about the children. To use a car you don't have to be licensed except to drive it on public roads. Everywhere else (farms, private roads, rec. areas, ect) it isn't required. And i would add that no ID is required to purchase a car from any retailer. And in the US to buy a gun from a retailer you do have to have an ID and a background check per the law. Please stop spreading false info.
Load More Replies... Metallicd3ath 1 year ago
So what I'm getting from the comments is that you can't punish children, or else it's abusive. If your kid doesn't like what you did, that's abuse. I agree that a number of these went too far, but it just makes me question what an "okay" punishment is because even some mundane sounding ones were getting called abuse.
Mark Smith 1 year ago
As a 13 year old, we lived in the middle of nowhere, on a country road, surrounded by corn fields in an ancient farmhouse. Punishment was making me pick corn in the dark until Reckoning Hour. I lost a toe or two to the Reckoner, but believe me, by the time I was 16, I never sassed my elders again!
Panda·mo·ni·um 1 year ago
Not by a parent and not necessarily a 'punishment' per se but it stung. When I was 14 during history class my teacher stepped out of the room for a moment, while he was gone I went to his desk and got out an unopened box of #2 pencils (around 15-20 count) sharpened all of them and stuck them in the ceiling tiles above his desk. I was hoping for the response a typical jackass teenager would want when he returned and noticed them; who did this? You're going to be in trouble when I find out ect. To my dismay, he looked up, crossed his arms and said "Simple minds simply amused". Almost 40yrs later I still feel the burn. Mr. Grove educated me more than he ever knew that day.
Ruth Harper 1 year ago
I was a massive introvert, so grounding me never worked. The one thing that worked was the punishment for when I ate in my room like I wasn't supposed to. We lived in the Philippines, so roaches were a big problem (ants too). But I loved eating and reading at the same time in my bed. Every time I got caught, my door was taken away for a week. I mostly stopped eating in my room after not too many times.
David Bruce 1 year ago
this is why america needs to instill a "licence to procreate" policy as told in an inconvenient book by glen beck
Mark Smith 1 year ago
As a younger child, our nanny glued grains of rice to a wooden broom handle, then would have us kneel on the broom handle while we said our chants. If we erred in the chants, we had to start over, holding an ice cube in each hand. If we erred a second time, she would turn on a space heater about 3 inches from our feet. Needless to say, I never made an error in chants after age 6!
Becka Button 1 year ago
Whenever I annoyed my dad in public he would look at me and say that's a lap, and even if I annoyed him the tiniest bit he would add another lap. When we went home afterwards he would make me run around our entire half acre backyard for as many laps as he had counted. The ground is super uneven and I would sprain my ankle but he would just say I was being dramatic and told me to keep going as I cried the whole way. :)
MeMosabe 1 year ago
When my daughters were little (about 15 yrs ago), I banned them from singing the song from Ponyo, because they sang it *constantly*. punishment was to be grounded from the computer/videos for a month. They reminded me about it about a year ago and I lifted the ban, but they didn't sing it. Oh, well.
Mary Peace 1 year ago
So sad to read these stories of abuse that people suffered such a long time ago, the kids couldn't do anything about it at the time, and no-one can now.
Pieter LeGrande 1 year ago
As with many BP lists, it would be really nice to hear the other side(s) of the stories.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
so basically parents who are reasonable and parents who are abusive. ok.
Marcus Lynch 1 year ago
My wife and I used to talk about our first son "Mitchel" who we sold to the circus whenever our other two boys would act up. They figured out he was made up in elementary school after asking Grandma about him. Worked for about 7 years.
Zheraa 1 year ago
You punished your children by threatening to traffick them? Way to go, Marcus.
Load More Replies... Cat Palmer 1 year ago
This genuinely needs a trigger warning. I only managed the first few before giving up on what is basically "my parent was an abusive POS - LOL!". If that's what you need to think for your own mental wellbeing then you do you, but let's not pretend these stories of children being hit / starved / humiliated by their caregivers are anything other than reports of historic child abuse.
Llama_flower93 1 year ago
My parents once caught my sister online after midnight, which they said was against the rules. They cut off the internet, but my brother just plugged it back in once they went to sleep. How old were we? Sister 24, brother 20, me 19. My parents neglected us and every once in a while when they got fed up would "put their foot down" for like a day, then give up. My parents were so preoccupied with their dysfunctional marriage they didn't notice we grew up.
Kelly Lee 1 year ago
When my teenage son decided it was okay to be VERY disrespectful and disobedient I took away all his electronics and electronic privileges for other rooms of the house. He could earn back one of his items each week for good behavior but would lose them all again for disrespect. After those 6 weeks, he never disrespected us again. Find out what the kid really likes or really hates and combine with natural or logical consequences.
Zheraa 1 year ago
I think you need to reconsider what respect means. A hint: It doesn't mean being scared of punishment.
Load More Replies... Jill Bussey 1 year ago
I am appalled at the punishments meted out to these people. Physical abuse is never the right thing to do.
DrBronxx 1 year ago (edited)
When I was around 12, my mum asked my brother and I to clean our room, and we were watching TV. We basically ignored her, and she was getting more and more annoyed. So, my father just walked into the room, unplugged the TV, and cut the plug off. He then turned to us and quietly said "go clean your room". I've never moved so fast in my life. To be clear - I don't think this was abusive at all, unlike a lot of the examples in this list, but it was damn effective.
Lisa H 1 year ago
When I was 14, my brother and I forgot to do a chore (I think it was cleaning out the dishwasher), and when my dad found out, he screamed at us and he threatened to shoot the dogs. As if that wasn't traumatic enough, I told my school counselor the next day (not trying to get him in trouble, just wanted to get it off my chest) and she reported him to the police. They ended up talking to him (he wasn't arrested or anything) and, BOY, was he MAD about that. He straight told me that next time something is bothering me to just keep it to myself so I don't get anyone else in trouble. Basically, never express my feelings ever again. I still haven't forgiven him for that, but I know he won't remember anyway.
Leo Domitrix 1 year ago
You have to be licensed to use a car, but not have children or (in the US) buy a gun. This explains a *lot*.
Brian Scadden 1 year ago
The only true thing you said was about the children. To use a car you don't have to be licensed except to drive it on public roads. Everywhere else (farms, private roads, rec. areas, ect) it isn't required. And i would add that no ID is required to purchase a car from any retailer. And in the US to buy a gun from a retailer you do have to have an ID and a background check per the law. Please stop spreading false info.
Load More Replies... Metallicd3ath 1 year ago
So what I'm getting from the comments is that you can't punish children, or else it's abusive. If your kid doesn't like what you did, that's abuse. I agree that a number of these went too far, but it just makes me question what an "okay" punishment is because even some mundane sounding ones were getting called abuse.
Mark Smith 1 year ago
As a 13 year old, we lived in the middle of nowhere, on a country road, surrounded by corn fields in an ancient farmhouse. Punishment was making me pick corn in the dark until Reckoning Hour. I lost a toe or two to the Reckoner, but believe me, by the time I was 16, I never sassed my elders again!
Panda·mo·ni·um 1 year ago
Not by a parent and not necessarily a 'punishment' per se but it stung. When I was 14 during history class my teacher stepped out of the room for a moment, while he was gone I went to his desk and got out an unopened box of #2 pencils (around 15-20 count) sharpened all of them and stuck them in the ceiling tiles above his desk. I was hoping for the response a typical jackass teenager would want when he returned and noticed them; who did this? You're going to be in trouble when I find out ect. To my dismay, he looked up, crossed his arms and said "Simple minds simply amused". Almost 40yrs later I still feel the burn. Mr. Grove educated me more than he ever knew that day.
Ruth Harper 1 year ago
I was a massive introvert, so grounding me never worked. The one thing that worked was the punishment for when I ate in my room like I wasn't supposed to. We lived in the Philippines, so roaches were a big problem (ants too). But I loved eating and reading at the same time in my bed. Every time I got caught, my door was taken away for a week. I mostly stopped eating in my room after not too many times.
David Bruce 1 year ago
this is why america needs to instill a "licence to procreate" policy as told in an inconvenient book by glen beck
Mark Smith 1 year ago
As a younger child, our nanny glued grains of rice to a wooden broom handle, then would have us kneel on the broom handle while we said our chants. If we erred in the chants, we had to start over, holding an ice cube in each hand. If we erred a second time, she would turn on a space heater about 3 inches from our feet. Needless to say, I never made an error in chants after age 6!
Becka Button 1 year ago
Whenever I annoyed my dad in public he would look at me and say that's a lap, and even if I annoyed him the tiniest bit he would add another lap. When we went home afterwards he would make me run around our entire half acre backyard for as many laps as he had counted. The ground is super uneven and I would sprain my ankle but he would just say I was being dramatic and told me to keep going as I cried the whole way. :)
MeMosabe 1 year ago
When my daughters were little (about 15 yrs ago), I banned them from singing the song from Ponyo, because they sang it *constantly*. punishment was to be grounded from the computer/videos for a month. They reminded me about it about a year ago and I lifted the ban, but they didn't sing it. Oh, well.
Mary Peace 1 year ago
So sad to read these stories of abuse that people suffered such a long time ago, the kids couldn't do anything about it at the time, and no-one can now.
Pieter LeGrande 1 year ago
As with many BP lists, it would be really nice to hear the other side(s) of the stories.
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
so basically parents who are reasonable and parents who are abusive. ok.
Marcus Lynch 1 year ago
My wife and I used to talk about our first son "Mitchel" who we sold to the circus whenever our other two boys would act up. They figured out he was made up in elementary school after asking Grandma about him. Worked for about 7 years.
Zheraa 1 year ago
You punished your children by threatening to traffick them? Way to go, Marcus.
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