Teen's Public Punishment: "I'm Stupid"

[The Straight Story]

Teen's Public Punishment: "I'm Stupid"
Written by Deborah Hoffman, Reporter


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."

On Sunday night, Dominiq Drye, 16, came home from hanging out with some friends. His mother, Christine Drye, said she knew immediately something was wrong. "His eyes were red and glossy," said Drye. "I knew something wasn't right."

Dominiq 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 Drye decided to try something different, 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 Howe Avenue and Hurley Way in Sacramento.

"I reached in the back seat, pulled out the sign and gave it to him and he read it and started laughing," said Drye. The sign read, "I'm stupid. I smoke 'weed' marijuana."

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=29017

[WindRavenX]

1. what the shit is this?

:wtf:

Goddamn, smoking weed is probably one of the *least* stupid things you can do. Smoking weed does NOT make you stupid--some of the brightest minds smoke/smoked--Carl Sagan was a big pot head and he was neither stupid OR a loser.

I don't suppose they make kids do this with signs for booze and ciggies, do they?

[The Straight Story]

2. I think we need to dress up like bush and hold a sign that says 'I am an asshole' :) (nt)

[WindRavenX]

4. or: "Stay in school or end up like me"

When you combine massive ignorance and massive wealth, you get assholes like Bush.

[Darth_Kitten]

28. MOST of the brightest minds didn't........

maybe they should make signs for kids for booze and ciggies, drunk driving and causing fires from cig butts flung anywhere is rather offputting behaviour.

[Dark]

3. She has the right to enforce this punishment on her kid, but she's an idiot.

Weed isn't that bad.

How many deaths are because of alcohol each year? 100,000

Tobacco?

400,000

Weed?

0

Exactly.

[WindRavenX]

5. I just love how the word 'weed' is actually in quotes. Kids these days and their slang!

Git offa my lawn! Dagnabbit! :)

[mduffy31]

17. And take your "grass" with you

I prefer grass to weed.

[Madspirit]

6. You Don't Own Your Children

I think it's abusive and I don't think she had a Right to do it.
Lee

[Mike Daniels]

36. Outside of abusing the kid I'd say as his parent she has every right to dictate his punishment

And please define how this particular punishment is abusive.

[Madspirit]

37. It's called Emotional Abuse

Go look it up yourself. Humiliating a child is one of the FIRST things they list under emotional abuse.
Lee

[VTMechEngr]

57. Kids need discipline.

Our society is rife with kids who didn't get it. I don't need a 20 year-old who acts like a 12 year-old.

[Downtown Hound]

7. Hell, she's lucky.

If I was her kid I'd smoke crack.

[Madspirit]

10. RO Downtown Hound..

:thumbsup:


Lee

[rasputin1952]

8. She has the right to "punish" her kid...but I'm willing to bet

that this kid is going to looking to get high again after this..:eyes:

I've enver had a problem w/pt smokers, but this does appear to set up to scar this kid for years to come. I hope he has a geat sense of humor...:)

[illinoisprogressive]

9. he has asthma. and he said he agreed with her. I remember

when my daughter was 15 and a friend of hers stayed the night. They snuck out her window. this happened again.
So, I planted a climbing rose bush under it. it worked.
Being a parent means having to do the tough things sometimes if conventional doesn't help.
She did not beat the kid or harm him but, did something to stay with him. Just like that rose bush.
My daughter is married now. She has always said she was glad I did that as it showed I cared about her and her safety rather than some parents that did nothing. And she knew she deserved.
kids are not a stupid as some people think.

[WindRavenX]

11. THC is a bronchodialator. Some people use it to treat respiratory ailments.

Again, smoking weed is not an automatic "bad thing".

[rasputin1952]

12. The marijuana thing goes back to the 20's when Southern blacks

smoked it, and therefore was somehow seen as "immoral". When drug laws started going into effect, a lot of people thought that blacks smoking pot was adhering to the notion that it caused blacks to be "nefarious". It was then, as it is now, a ludicrous idea.

I don't smoke the stuff now, I stopped about 35 years ago, but I've never had a problem w/people who smoke. I've been a few bar fights and other alcohol related fights and arguments i my time, but the most a smoker would "fight" about is who is going to the store to get munchies...:)

[WindRavenX]

13. yup, the History channel had a great show on the history of the criminalization of marijuana.

Lol @ stoner "fights" : we just rock, paper, scissor it to see who'll get up from the couch to get the Doritos :rofl:

[datasuspect]

22. yes, and people were afraid it would lead to white women having moral lapses

and consorting with dark-skinned men.

[rasputin1952]

25. That has always ben a great "fear", like having armed black

regiments during the CW. Many people were terrified that that the Units would turn the guns on any caucasian they saw. Even into WWII, it was thought that arming blacks would cause immense problems for the status quo. None of this was true however, and upon returning from Europe after bot WW's blacks were treated ike crap...:(

Even the mafia got in on the drug/alcohol fight by saying that heroin should be sold by blacks, as they'd become addicted and "kill each other off"...:eyes:

As for the women who would become among those of "loose morals", the incredibly high # of women that just wanted to vote were tossed in that soup as well. "Loose morals"...those who believe that tripe don't have any morals base of their own, else they would realize that equality is about as "moral" as one can get, but they are in a constant state of building walls to ensure people don't reach equality in any sense of the term...

[datasuspect]

35. most racism has its basis

in white male fear of despoilation of a white woman's "virtue" by a black man.

this would apply to white male racists (qualification for the inference-challenged among us) and not a wholesale smear of white males in general.

[ebayfool]

14. Really? Just for curiosity's sake ...

does the bronchodialator effect only happen when it's smoked, or does it also apply to - say - cooking products?


Yeah.
Brownies.
There.
I said it.


And dated myself big time! :rofl:

[badgerpup]

15. Brownies will get ya where ya wanna go...

But it tastes much better if you add it to spinach- the flavors do complement.

Then you can really enjoy your brownies. :crazy:

[WindRavenX]

46. Oh it works, it just takes longer.

(that's exactly what my friends did--and many on DU have said they can't handle the smoke, so they either get a vaporizor or just make brownies--whatever works)

[TheMadMonk]

16. Defiance is a bad thing.

As far as these so called "cruel and unusual" punishments go. What's the bloody problem? The human psyche is a lot more resilient than that.

He want's to do pot he does it on his one dime and time,

Scarred for life??? Only because society gives him permission to be, even expects it of him.

It takes trauma to tear open the psychic wounds that leave scars. This kid probably suffered sore legs and shoulders, and a bad case of boredom. And if it leaves a little lesion, well it's the burnt finger that teaches best.

If I was going to blast this mother for anything, it would be the eight hours sucking traffic fumes. Healthy. NOT!

[Darth_Kitten]

29. Smoke sucked up in your lungs is NEVER good for respiratory ailments

Just sayin.....

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

40. How about standing next to a busy intersection for 8 hours?

:shrug:

[Darth_Kitten]

49. Shrug?

:shrug:

How is this comparable? Oh, they are both bad.

[WindRavenX]

47. You don't have to smoke it to get the benefits.

You can eat it in cooked products or get a vaporizor, which heats the active chemical THC to a gaseous form. No smoke required.

MANY people do this, because a lot of people can't, for one reason or another, deal with *any* smoke.

There has, just for fun facts, never been a case of lung cancer from pot. Period. So while the smoke may be harsh, and for many people too much to smoke to get the benefits of this medicinal plant, that doesn't mean you *have* to smoke it.

[Skidmore]

19. My daughter tried smoking when she was about 15, and she has

asthma and is allergic to tobacco smoke. I wasn't aware she was doing this and then one day she had a full blown asthma attack that put her in the hospital for a week. She nearly died from it. When asked by the doctor at the hospital if she smoked, she told her that she did not. I had no reason to believe otherwise. However, I caught her redhanded a couple of weeks after she got out of the hospital. I made a doctor's appointment and we went there so she could apologize to the doctor for lying to her about this. There was an element of shaming to requiring her to take responsibility for her actions. We had a little power struggle for a few more weeks but she quit experimenting with smoking.

[ellisonz]

20. Life lesson: people with asthma shouldn't smoke or live in L.A.

[Skidmore]

18. You know, I'm not wholly opposed to this punishment. There is a

role for shame as a means of correction in society and we've forgotten its value in the zeal to make everyone feel loved and supported all the time. There are times when people's behavior should be held descried in such a manner that they feel the sting of its impact. WHat better way to do this in a media obsessed population? Besides, it is a heck of a lot cheaper than adding one more person to a prison population.

[Breeze54]

21. Perhaps low self esteem is the real issue and

counseling would probably help this kid more than calling him stupid.

Way to go, Mom! :eyes:

[ClintonTyree]

23. The same punishment Bush should get........

at the very LEAST from Congress and the American people. He should be made to stand in front of the White House holding an "I'M STUPID" sign for week or two. I'm sure he'd learn nothing from the experience but it sure would make a lot of Americans happy.

[Saphire]

24. He's not stupid, he only DID something stupid. There is a difference.

[treestar]

32. Exactly. This woman is still living in the 50s.

I wonder if she's Catholic? Always attack the person, not the act. She's the stupid one, and setting him up to do things that are even stupider. Maybe she could take a course in Psych 101.

[Breeze54]

34. Since when is stupidity confined to Catholics??

:shrug:

I think the Dominionist Fundies have a huge corner on that market!!

[Darth_Kitten]

26. Boo Hoo.........

aren't kids lives tragic nowadays? ;)

[BoneDaddy]

27. Freaking ridiculous

Who was the right wing idiot who mandated this?

[Quantess]

43. his mom.

[BoneDaddy]

48. What a tool

she is

[Marrah_G]

30. As parent you do whatever you can to keep your kids from screwing their lives up

Sometimes you have to do shit that makes your teenager hate your guts. Unless you are there and know the whole history behind a parent's decision they no one really has the right to judge.

Now, I don't know that I would have picked that particular punishment, but I am not his mother. I know (most of the time) what will work for my kids, no one else does. In that same respect, that mother knows her child and wants what is best for him as well as what works for him.

[johnnie]

31. I just want to say

Pot is still illegal. I just thought I would throw that out there because some seem to be forgetting that point. Yeah, pot is not as bad for you as alcohol and smoking and blah blah blah, but the kid smoked pot and maybe his mother also doesn't like the fact that he was doing something illegal.

[bleedingheart]

38. good point...and this woman is trying to help him whether people

agree with her methods or not...

she doesn't want him to end up in prison which could very well happen if he gets caught with that weed...

[gollygee]

33. Well that'll help build his self-esteem for sure!

(sarcasm, if it isn't clear)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

39. What a stupid mother.

[Az]

41. The teen mind is an interesting thing

Studies show that warnings and negative consequences do not rule their decision making process. Instead potential experience tends to play a larger motivation in deciding what may be beneficial to them or not. In fact when asked it turns out that teens tend to overestimate the danger invovled in certain actions. But the danger does not enter into their decision making process as strongly as the potential to learn something new through experience.

[Horse with no Name]

42. Luckily he wasn't killed by a car

Why put your kid on a busy intersection for hours on end? The sign? I'm not crazy about because it is emotional abuse.
But this kid was put in danger being parked on a busy intersection in Sacramento with a sign on him.
Fortunately a driver trying to see what the sign said didn't lose control and hurt him or someone else.

[LisaL]

56. She didn't make him stand in the middle of the street

where he would be dodging cars.
On the photos he seems to be standing far away from traffic.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

44. What An Awesome Story! Full Kudos To Her And Her Son. She Did Great!!!

She was creative and what she did definitely had an impact on him as can be ascertained from the article. Not only will he think twice, but also felt closer to his mother and acknowleged his bad judgment. Who knows if he will stay away from it or not, but I still think what this mother did was awesome. It was a great harmless way to send a strong message.

Great job Christine Drye! :yourock:

[sandnsea]

50. Jump Jump Jump

MindCrime ALWAYS jumps to the wrong conclusion, every blessed time.

And there you go again.

Have you done any research on the psychological damage humiliation causes to children?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

52. Oh The Drama. Too Funny!

There was no conclusion to jump to here. I think she did great!

Furthermore, did you read the article? Did you see how much he appreciated her act and understood the lesson? Did he seem 'psychologically damaged' to you? Do you really consider a 16 year old to fall into the class of 'children', as if he's 6 and just beginning to understand the concepts of childhood and parenting?

You really are too much! :rofl:

Oh, and I love your whole "MindCrime ALWAYS blah blah blah blah blah" thing. Fact is, I'm merely just sane, objective and rational. I'd wager I'm right on 99% of the issues and viewpoints I've put forth, which is why I take those positions to begin with.

[depakid]

54. Top snark of the month!

That was meant to be snarky... right?

[Sequoia]

45. Wise quotes from the masses!

"This is a mom at her last resort trying to help her kid," said Mitchell. "What he's doing (smoking marijuana) could really cause a life- threatening situation."

Dominiq 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. :eyes: :banghead:

Drye 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."

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. What if he takes the humiliation seriously and kills himself?

Kids and teenagers and even adults have killed themselves over small amounts of humiliation and name-calling.

I've known people who had to stay out of Christian churches because they got suicidal from hearing all that crap about how sinful they were.

Christianity is institutionalised and sanctioned humiliation and emotional abuse of the whole congregation.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

53. kick

[Manifestor_of_Light]

55. kick