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1 Teen Punished by Holding Sign — Basic Story
One mother has sent a powerful message to her son. She did it by making him feel embarrassed. Instead of
punishing her son for taking drugs, she did something different. She made him stand on a corner holding a sign.
It was a very unusual and effective punishment. Some people think she did the right thing. Others disagree.
One night the teenager came home from visiting some friends. His mother noticed that something was wrong.
His eyes looked different. They looked red and glossy. She asked him what he had been doing. The young man
eventually admitted that he had smoked some marijuana with his friends. It was not the first time he had
smoked marijuana. Marijuana is a drug that comes from a plant. It is also called "weed" or "pot." The mother
knew she had to punish him. She didn't know what she should do. She had tried other punishments. He had
taken things away from him. She had also grounded him before. Nothing had worked. No other punishments
had made an impact on her son.
The frustrated mother decided to try something different. She thought of a more drastic way of punishing him.
She didn't tell him that night. Instead, she told him that he was going to have to get up early for work the next
day. The next morning, mother and son drove to the corner of a busy intersection in their city. The mother
parked, and then reached into the back seat. She pulled out a big sign that said, "I'm stupid. I smoke "weed"
marijuana." The teenager read the placard and started to laugh.
He stopped laughing when his mother informed him that his job was to stand on the corner all day and hold the
sign. From 7:00 am until 2:30 pm, the sixteen-year-old stood in the sun and held his sign. He admitted that he
felt humiliated. He felt embarrassed to stand there while cars went by and people read his sign. But he never
complained. He thought the punishment was fair.
Some people driving by didn't think it was fair at all. One motorist thought the teen's mother should have found
another way to punish her son. She thought the punishment was shameful. A father who passed by agreed. He
thought it was excessive. He said it didn't look good.
Even more people thought the teen's punishment was a good idea. Many people thought that the woman was
doing the right thing. They even stopped to shake hands with her. They told her she was doing a great job as a
parent. One man who passed by was the teenager's coach. He stopped to talk and said he was very impressed
with the punishment. The coach knew the mom was at her last resort. He knew what the boy was doing was
dangerous, and the mom was trying to help her son.
The teenager agreed. He said that he has asthma, a chronic lung disease. Because marijuana is smoked, inhaling
the chemicals can damage the lungs. He realized that smoking pot was like killing himself.
The mom just wants her son to be healthy. Her goal was to get her son to understand how dangerous it is to take
drugs. She wants her son to live, not lose him to drugs. While the two were driving home, the teenager
apologized. He promised he wouldn't smoke pot again. The mother said that he only owes himself an apology.
2 Teen Punished by Holding Sign — Full Story
A 16-year-old Sacramento boy spent nearly eight hours on a busy intersection Tuesday holding a sign that read,
in part, "I'm stupid."
One Sunday night the boy, who is 16, came home from hanging out with some friends. His mother said she
knew immediately something was wrong. "His eyes were red and glossy," she said. "I knew something wasn't
right."
The young man eventually admitted he had smoked some marijuana. His mother said this wasn't the first time.
"I've tried taking things, I've tried other punishment. It's not working," she said.
So the frustrated mother decided to try something different and something extreme. On Monday night she told
her son he was going to have to get up early for a day of work. Early Tuesday morning the two drove to the
corner of a major intersection in Sacramento.
"I reached in the back seat, pulled out the sign and gave it to him and he read it and started laughing," The sign
read, "I'm stupid. I smoke 'weed' marijuana."
"I told him 'this is your job: you're standing on this street holding up this sign today'," said the mother.
From 7:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., the 16 year old stood in the sun and held his sign. He admitted he was
humiliated. "I feel embarrassed that I have to go through this and other people have to see me do this," he said.
But he never complained. "It's fair enough," he said.
Some people driving by and filling their cars with gas across the street didn't think it was fair at all. One woman
said the teen's mother should have found another way. "It's sort of shameful that he has to stand out there in
front of all those people," the woman said.
A father from Fair Oaks didn't think it was fair either. "I think it's a little bit excessive. It's a bit much. He's 16
and that's a display that doesn't look good," he said.
Even more people thought the mother did the right thing and stopped to shake hands with the frustrated mother.
They told her she was doing a great job as a parent. One of those people is the athletic director at a local high
school. He coaches the 16 year old who was holding the sign.
"This is a mom at her last resort trying to help her kid," said the coach. "What he's doing (smoking marijuana)
could really cause a life- threatening situation."
The young man agreed. "Because I have asthma. I'm a chronic asthma and I have emphysema of the lungs and
basically if I smoke weed it's like putting a gun to my head and killing myself," he said.
The mom said she just wants her son to be healthy. "My goal is to get my son to understand how severe this is,"
she said. "It can really kill him, you know. I want my son to bury me. I don't want to bury my son."
The young man said he's proud his mother took such a drastic step. "I feel like my mom she cares enough about
me to do this, she loves me."
While the two were driving home, her son apologized and promised he wouldn't smoke pot again. The mother
told her son he only owes himself an apology.
3 apology
a statement that you are sorry for something
4 chronic
happening often or lasting a long time
5 drastic
very strict, harsh
6 excessive
more than is fair, too much
7 humiliated
ashamed, embarrassed
8 informed
told about
9 inhaling
breathing air into the lungs
10 motorist
someone who drives a car
11 placard
a large, hand-held sign
12 punish
to cause to suffer for something done wrong
