Top Stories

People Describe The Worst Punishment They Ever Received As A Kid

People Describe The Worst Punishment They Ever Received As A Kid
Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

Children need to be disciplined but not abused.


When I was a kid, I had my fair share of enduring a variety of punishments.

Being grounded and missing out on an allowance were frequent penalties, while being spanked with a belt was saved for the worst of my rotten behaviors.

When Redditor Thefishman1 asked "What is the worst punishment you received as a kid?," strangers on the internet shared their most traumatizing memories they would soon like to forget.

Some of the responses will leave you convinced that the punishment definitely did not fit the crime.

Intense Spanking

"Got a citation at school for yelling at a bully in middle school. It was a fake one from a cop to scare me."

"Parents took it well and told me to straighten up and to not let people get to me. Dad didn't really seem to mind."

"Few days later I was playing outside with my cousins, dad comes out high on Xanax and goes 'oh yea, that goddam citation come here.'"

"He gets very very very angry and abusive ok Xanax and he would pop several."

"I'm confused because I thought everything was okay, I thought it was over."

"Drags me up stairs makes me pull my pants down. I couldn't sit down without it hurting for a week. Told my mom I was gonna tell someone at school but she said not to. He never touched me again after that but I'll never forget it."

"He also used to destroy everything in the house when he got high. Like literally destroy. Throw TVs out in the yard , knock over sh*t. Mess with my mom. Break sh*t."

protectorofpastries

Abusive Mother

"One time when I was around 8, my mom said she would help me with my math homework. I don't remember in detail what it was about, but I remember that it was oh so easy for mom, and I just didn't get it. With every 'huh?' from me she got more and more mad, and finally she threw everything to the ground, jumped up, dragged me from my chair, all the while hitting and slapping me. I tried to cover my head and walked backwards until I reached an armchair, she threw me in it and continued her blows until she got tired, then left me there. I hid in my room for a few hours, she started to vacuum outside. That year, we had planned to go to Disneyland Paris for the summer holidays, so I made a little eiffel tower out of legos as a 'make up gift' for making her mad, brought it outside and placed it on the ground. One standard behavior when she was mad was to pretend I didn't exist, so my eiffel tower didn't exist too and she hit it multiple times with the vacuum, shattering it all over the place, sending me in a hurry to clean 'my' mess up to not make her mad again."

furzmadame

No More Electronic Devices

"Senior year, high school. Long story short, I had learning disabilities and due to things changing in the district, those programs us disabled used were very suddenly axed and threw us out into normal classes. Where the teachers couldn't bother to give a quarter of a f'k about us and pretty much all of us started failing, badly."

"My mom, however, saw this as more of a my fault thing, that it was my fault I wasn't adapting. This was right after she met someone new and that someone new was VERY hardline in his parenting and that rubbed off on my mom."

"So as my grades fell, I lost everything dear to me. My laptop, my iPod, my old CD player (that I kept around even when I moved to an iPod), my cell phone. I cobbled together another computer from old 90s parts just so I could manage to still complete essays. That got taken too. My grades plummeted further. I was just managing to barely pass my classes, now I was actually failing them."

"Boom, now my parent(s) took my door away, no more privacy. They also 'took away' my rides to school, as punishment I had to walk to school (which involved me waking up at 5am so I barely slept as I had to stay up until midnight just to keep my head barely above water with the massive amounts of homework I got and no computer to help me get it done faster)."

"When I failed some classes, that resulted in my electives being taken away, so now school was all academic, all the time. No fun allowed, AT ALL."

"I still don't know how I managed to pass and graduate, but it was the most hollow f'king victory I ever got. The constant punishment I took that year wasn't worth it."

"EDIT: for those wondering, I did eventually put this all behind me and I'm fine with my mom now. Her boyfriend had a near death experience and in that moment he regretted all the sh*t he put me through. Some say I'm too easy, but in my eyes it's more energy to hold a grudge than it is to just accept it and move past it, learning from experiences."

We1tfunk

The Yelling

"It might sound silly, but getting yelled at by my dad. Hes got a short temper and sometimes I felt like I was walking on eggshells around him. Even hearing him yell at my siblings sent me into shakes and tears."

"EDIT: Thanks for all the nice comments and support, and hugs to all of you dealing with similar things. Happily I'm living with good friends and I've cut off contact with my dad, so I'm doing okay."

mx_tae

Tied To A Chair

"I have no memories from my childhood except for this one. I must have been 8 or 9 but one time, i stayed 15 min in class to help the teacher clean the brushes and tables from the art class. My mom was very particular about not letting us play outside, each day after school we just couldn't be late. As I was helping the teacher in school and not playing with other kids i thought she wouldn't mind but i was sooooo wrong."

"when i came back, the entry of the building was occupied by some drunks so i decided to enter by the north entry to avoid them (i was terrified to even look at them). i ran past some other girls playing and arrived home to find my sister concerned about me 'where were you??? mom is going to kill you!' 'But i'm only 20 min late.'"

"here comes my mom, veins popping out of her face, she starts to yell at me, letting me know that the girls playing told her i was running the other way around from the building and then she tied me. to a chair."

"The rest was kind of blurry but i remember she put harrissa in my mouth (it's a very spicy sauce), she hit me on the stomach and left me alone in her bedroom for until dinner (so about 6 hours)."

"yay"

imlikeatomato

Consequences Of Wearing A Favorite Shirt

"When I was 4 years old I was supposed to change into a nicer shirt because we were going to my grandma's on Mother's Day. I refused to change because it was my favorite shirt and my mom lost it and stripped me buck naked."

"She dragged me into the car like that with my siblings laughing at me. When we got to my grandma's house she paraded me out in front of the neighbors and I was so hysterical by the time we got inside that I wet myself all over my grandma's carpet. I got yelled at even more."

"It's a really awful memory that sticks with me even now."

SquilliamFancySon95

The Quarter

"My parents weren't particularly punishing, in fact my dad has frequently lamented their decision to not spank us. The one really d*ckish punishment they used was to make us stand in front of the wall while my dad pulled a quarter out of his pocket. He placed it against the wall and we would have to hold it in place with our noses for a set time. If it fell, he'd replace the coin with a smaller one and start the time over again."

Heck_Tate

The Shovel

"I refused to clean my room so my mom got out a shovel and anything that was on the floor was shoveled into a big black garbage bag and thrown away."

the-smoking-dove

Taste Of Soap

"Physically having my mouth washed out with soap for blurting out the F word. I don't think I had even started school yet, (uk), so who knows if I really knew what I was saying."

"I can still taste the soap now 🤢"

sickofsitting

Scared Of Dad

"One evening, I went to my friend's house (which was directly opposite to mine) to play. Both of us ended up watching a movie and only when it ended did I realize that it was 15 minutes past my 'curfew time.'"

"My father was already waiting for me at the door when I left my friend's house. When we entered my house, he caught hold of me and smacked me across my face. The impact was strong enough to send me flying back against the wall. He grabbed me and slapped me again. By the time he was done, I had already pissed my pants twice (I was six)."

"I was always afraid of him after that."

ambitioushoe

Food

"Forced to eat food I absolutely despised until I vomit. My mother never believed I hated certain food and they make me absolutely ill."

"From the age of 8 till I was 12. Then when I started cooking because she was working, I made sure twice a week to make things she hated just to force her to make her own meals."

rustedlion

Belts And Spoons

"My parents were fond of physical abuse, dad preferred belts, mom liked wooden spoons. The stuff that really got to me though was the verbal and psychological stuff. Worst was taking the door to my room. I suddenly didn't have even a trace of safety at home anymore. I still have nightmares about it."

KirinG

Stove Burns

"Ye old hand on stove was my nightmare, still got rings on my hands from the scars. It's pretty common, I've met lots of people with the same burns."

thatbrenon

Combat Boots

"I wouldn't salute so I was punched in the sternum and while laying on the ground trying to catch my breath I was kicked with combat boots until I was coughing up blood."

"Dont ask why this happened. I dont remember. I do remember realizing that this was probably not normal."

Milkshakeslinger

Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public

Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;

Collection of VHS tapes
Bruno Guerrero/Unsplash

What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.

Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:

"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"

These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.

Good Clean Fun

"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."

– MrDDog06

"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."

– Bogus_34

Act Of Unwrinkling

"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."

– eerie_white_glow

"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."

"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."

– xdq

Our solo actions can spark joy.

Big Brother Is Watching

"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."

– Bec_121

"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."

– doeswaspsmakehoney

The Multi-Tasker

"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."

– thickening_agent

Releasing The Kraken

"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."

– therapoootic

"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."

– TheWarmestHugz

Ultimate Comfort

"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."

– crazyloomis

Some people are obsessed with collecting things.

So Kawai

"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."

– HavingNotAttained

It's A Staple

"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."

"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."

– _CozyLavender_

Not Caring Anymore

"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."

– Bi-Beast

"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"

– deanie1970

Honorable mentions start here.

The Savior

"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."

– sky_kitten89

Hero Of The Moment

"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"

"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."

– chris14020

Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?

Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.

As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.

historical reenactors
Sigmund on Unsplash

We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."

Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.

History is riddled with moments of absurdity.

So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.

Keep reading...Show less