Timothy Robenhorst is a dad in Wisconsin who is determined to raise his son Kayden to be a moral and well-mannered citizen. Hence, when he learned that Kayden had bullied other children at the school he attends, Timothy decided to drive home the point that this was not acceptable behavior.
His plan for reform included several steps. First, he made Kayden do 50 pushups at 4:30 in the morning. After this strenuous workout, Kayden still had to run a mile in freezing temperatures, and Timothy also found some landscaping work for him to do.
Physical labor was only the first part of the punishment, however. Kayden next had to apologize to the people he bullied in front of the rest of his class. Even that wasn’t enough to satisfy Timothy that the message had sunk in. The cherry on top was having a photo taken of him and his son, along with a poster detailing all of Kayden’s misdeeds. Kayden then had to make that photo his Facebook profile and cover photo.
After the photo went up on Facebook, it quickly went viral. Some have applauded Timothy’s methods, while others have found them too harsh or too lenient. With bullying such a pervasive problem in society, it is worth discussing ways of getting through to kids so that they are less inclined to bully others in the future. In Kayden’s case, it seems to have worked, at least for now; the boy says that he has learned his lesson.
