Return of strict parenting? Mum’s punishment for ungrateful daughter applauded

An outraged mother has turned back the clock and taken a page out of the older generation’s book by not letting her daughter get away with ungrateful behaviour after she rejected a special present bought for her.

While Millennials often receive a bad rapt for apparently being spoilt and ungrateful, mum Haley Hassell has made sure her child is taught the right lessons and learns from a young age to appreciate what she’s got. Taking to Facebook recently the mother posted a lengthy message about her daughter Pressleigh and a “tough love lesson” she was taught after rejecting a special pencil case she had purchased as a surprise.

Haley explained when she gave her daughter Pressleigh a present she threw it in the bin and slammed her bedroom door, shouting: “that’s stupid, everyone in my class has that … I don’t want it anymore!” Obviously frustrated and annoyed the mum decided her daughter needed a wake up call and instead gave her a plastic ziploc bag to hold her belongings at school.

“By this time there was probably smoke coming out of my ears and I’m trying real hard not to completely lose it on this kid that I have worked so hard to completely take care of financially on my own and make sure she always gets what she need and then some,” Haley wrote on Facebook.  “So before completely going Madea mad on my child I check myself and say, ‘okay that’s fine, let me go get the one you’re going to use”… came back with her new pencil case which is the ziploc bag.”

Instead of caving to her daughter’s wishes Haley said she explained to Pressleigh that the pencil case would instead go to someone who really wanted and needed it. Not only that the mum claimed she would make her daughter give the pencil case personally to someone at school who would appreciate it.

“I explained to her she’s not entitled to anything special and she is taking for granted how lucky she is,” Haley continued on Facebook. “So for now she will be using a ziploc bag and will personally be delivering the nice box to a child that could benefit from it.”

She added: “Maybe I over react sometimes but I would’ve done anything to have all the things she does as a child. I truly believe changing your perception and just being grateful can turn around any situation in life.”

The post received plenty of attention from fellow parents who commended her for her actions and said more people need to follow in her lead to ensure kids don’t grow up thinking they can get whatever they want at the drop of a hat. “Good job mum, kids these days think they can get what they want and throw a fit if they don’t get it,” one person commented on Facebook.

Another added: “I think you responded appropriately. Maybe she can earn the one she decided she wants at some point.” While a third said: “Yes! Finally a parent parenting! Good job mumma!”

There were very few who disagreed with Haley’s actions with the majority saying mums and dads need to enforce stricter punishment. However, one person did disagree writing: “I guess I pretty much interact with my child on a regular basis, you know, take them with me when buying stuff for THEM so I know what they want. I talk to my child and care about their feelings. I don’t fear monger them. But hey, good job being a monster mom!”

While this mum was applauded for her action’s such strict punishment is not so widely used nowadays with things taking a drastic turn from when Baby Boomer’s were growing up. So much so that a father even landed in court for smashing his daughter’s phone, which he paid for, after she misbehaved.

In a case which was labelled by a judge as “a waste of time”, the father was charged with assault and intentionally destroying the device as he tried to discipline his child in the only way he thought possible. Speaking about the case on 2GB on Friday, host Ray Hadley explained it allegedly all began when the daughter lied about eating chocolates in her room and was in turn sent there to think about her actions.

The situation escalated from there with the dad eventually following through with his threat to smash her phone – which he paid for – in a bid to teach her a lesson. According to Hadley when speaking in court the father said he was simply being a dad which the magistrate agreed with, claiming the whole case was a “waste of time”.

The incident sparked the conversation yet again over whether parents and society as a whole are becoming too lenient when it comes to disciplining their kids and why strict parenting has been thrown out the window. For Baby Boomers smacking was expected as a child if they did the wrong thing and this was in turn passed on when they became mums and dads with their own children. But since then things have taken a drastic turn with any form of physical punishment deemed incredibly unacceptable.

As a Baby Boomer himself, having grown up in a vastly different era to kids nowadays Hadley, 64, commended the magistrate for choosing to dismiss the phone smashing case and claimed the options for discipline are quickly running out as people continue to condemn certain actions. “Discipline is very difficult in the modern era with children,” he said on 2GB.