Story of the Day: Dad Made Teen Daughter Think She'd Go to Prison Because of Her Bad Behavior

Ben, a father to a 13-year-old, did not know what to do when his child started acting rebellious after hanging out with a new group of friends, so he scared her daughter a bit.

Ben’s daughter, Andie, had always been the perfect child -- sweet, intelligent, and full of energy. As a teen, Andie loved dressing up and hanging out with her friends.

She also grew up close to her parents and aspired to be a lawyer one day, although they never pressured her to be one and wanted Andie to choose her own career path.

However, things changed for the worse when she met a bunch of friends last school year. Andie started wearing darker clothes, often cropped tops and shorts.

She also adapted a strong street accent and began using slang words we did not know even existed. Sadly, it seemed like she became less open to her parents and was instead always on her phone.

Her parents also began receiving calls from the school about bullying and talking back to the teacher. Fortunately, she did not let her studies go and still excelled in her academics.

One day, Ben went to a local convenience store to buy batteries and got to talk to the store owner, whom he had known for a while. He told her that he had to ban Andie from the store for multiple accounts of attempted theft.

The owner did not want to tell Ben and his wife as he was worried it would seem as though he was imposing something. When Ben got home, he called Andie down and told her what he had learned.

He also lied that he called the police, who was on their way. Andie burst into tears and asked what would happen if the authorities apprehended her. Ben said that the possibilities were endless, including jail time.

Andie then knelt on the floor and begged her dad to help her tell the police it was a mistake. After seeing his daughter’s state, Ben told her that the cops were not coming, but he would not hesitate to call if she got in trouble again.

Andie ran to her room and cried the whole night without having dinner. When his wife arrived and learned what had happened, she got mad and said it was mean for a father to scare their daughter that way.

Andie has since mellowed down but was upset and still distant from Ben. Meanwhile, Ben felt sorry but thought he was doing it for the best. Do you believe, as a father, Ben went overboard with disciplining his child?

For more family dilemmas, find out why John did not take his brother in as a business partner and see if you agree or disagree with his decision.