Teen Forced to Stand on Street Corner Holding Jesus Sign as Punishment After Being Suspended for Fighting at School
A teenage girl has been forced to hold a sign referencing Jesus while standing on a street corner in the cold as punishment for getting into a fight at school in Akron, Ohio. Her aunt and guardian has argued that she has tried several other methods of discipline but found this to be the most effective.
Thirteen-year-old Myasia was forced by her aunt to stand on the corner of Brown and Lover's Lane streets in Akron and hold a sign regarding Jesus' teaching of turning the other cheek instead of engaging in confrontation. Myasia had recently been suspended from school for three days after she reportedly got into a physical fight on campus.
The sign read: "They [people in Jesus' time] talked about Jesus Christ. So what do I care what a person have [sic] to say about me. Now I'm standing outside holding this sign instead of being in school getting my education when I could have walked away! Because it's Jesus who died for me!"
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Her reaction is to argue back with the kids and fight with them, which I don't stand for," Myasia's aunt, Sonia Davis, told USA Today in an interview. Davis kept a close watch on the child from a nearby car as the girl stood on the street corner with the sign. The girl was also reportedly allowed to take frequent breaks to warm up in the vehicle, as weather in Akron was below 20 degrees Farenheit.
"They talked about Jesus Christ, they talk about people every day. You walk away from those kinds of people," the aunt added. "I'm tired of taking away the electronics, cell phones, mP3 players, iPods," she said, referencing the other ways she has attempted to discipline Myasia and failed.
She added, "You don't have to defend yourself against nobody's words. You walk away, and at the end of the day, you walk away as a winner."
Some child psychologists have criticized Davis' method of discipline, labeling it as too harsh a punishment, and that it was using humiliation and publicity, which could cause a negative impact on the child.
Timothy Verduin, a clinical assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, insisted to the Wall Street Journal in a previous interview that the most effective way to discipline a child is to reward their good behavior instead of punishing their poor behavior, so they learn what type of behavior receives the most beneficial results.
"You start praising them and it increases the frequency of good behavior," Verduin said.
