‘Self-Entitled’ Teen Forced To Hold Sign Near Intersection

Florida parents fed up with their daughter’s behavior and made her hold a sign near a busy intersection to announce her shortcoming’s to the world. Gentry and Renee Nickell felt their 13-year-old daughter’s disrespectful behavior was increasing while her academic performance decreased.

The sign the Florida teenager was forced to read: “I’m a self-entitled teenager w/no respect for authority. I’m also super smart, yet I have 3 Ds because I DON’T care.”

While some think the now viral photo of the Florida teenager holding the sign depicted too harsh a punishment, others herald the creative attitude adjustment project. The Nickell’s stand by their sign-holding punishment decision.

The Florida girl held the sign for about 90 minutes, prompting at least one driver to snap a photo and post it to Facebook. During an interview with a local newspaper, the parent’s said they had been going through a very rough year. Renee Nickell’s brother was killed in Afghanistan and her daughter was having a particularly difficult time coping with the loss.

The mother said they felt like the teenager had just given up. When grounding did not curb the disrespectful behavior and grade woes, the parents utilized a bit of advice from a Christian counselor.

Gentry Nickell stood with his daughter the entire time that she held the sign at the intersection. A person who thought the self-entitled sign holding punishment was excessive called the police. The officer, possibly a parent himself, checked out the situation and decided that the teenager was not in any harm.

Renee Nickell has this to say about all the publicity surrounding the parenting tactic:

“I wasn’t even thinking about what the public was going to think. I was thinking about our daughter. It was for her to be in public and recognize what she had done wrong.”

When the mother asked the daughter is the sign holding at the intersection had traumatized or scarred her emotionally, the daughter said no and added that she knew it was coming. The Florida mom penned a letter to the newspaper to respond to comments from critics.

Renee Nickell said that parents spend so much time focusing on how to not a hurt a child’s self-esteem that nothing is ever really done about the problem. She believes that a child will feel secure when they know they are loved. The mother called the sign punishment a desperate attempt to make sure that the teenager knew they were not going to just let her go. Nickell added that they would not allow their daughter to “look like the rest of the world.”

When the punishment was over, the girl hugged her mother and apologized for her recent behavior. The self-entitled and disrespectful behavior which landed the girl in the intersection holding a sign is reportedly much improved.

What do you think about the parents who made their daughter hold a sign detailing her undesirable behavior?

[Image Source: Northwest Florida News]