12 Unusual Punishments People Actually Gave Their Children

Growing up, people are disciplined differently. Some people had gentle parents, while other people had strict ones. The severity of punishment depends on the personality of the parent.

Although some parents are generally quite forgiving, others don't forget a single misstep by their children for many years. Some people were never punished by their parents and have carried that into adulthood.

Many childhood punishments are much the same, with traditional ones like sending a child to their room or grounding them for some time being two of the most popular. However, some parents have unique ways of punishing their children.

We have compiled a list of twelve of the most unusual punishments parents have doled out. We scoured Reddit to find parents who shared their stories or children who lamented at their punishments.

Writing A Research Paper

One Reddit user and their friend snuck out of the house alone in sixth grade. They planned to walk to a nearby convenience store late at night, but the user's father punished them strangely when caught.

When the user and their friend were caught sneaking out of the house late at night, their father made them write a 20-page research paper on Watergate. The user was confused as to why their father had chosen that topic.

Swallowing Tabasco Sauce

Although this user did not share the misbehaviors they had participated in to receive the punishment, they shared that their parents had doled out many different punishments, all stranger than the next.

One of the punishments was swallowing Tabasco sauce, another was standing in the corner with a paper bag over their head for two hours, and another was eating mashed potatoes with cod liver.

Removing the Child's Belongings

Being the oldest child was challenging for one user because when they misbehaved, their parents didn't know what to do with them. One day, the Reddit user's parents removed everything, including their bed, from their room. They were left in the corner hugging their teddy, which they hid so it wouldn't be taken. The user shared:

"I was the firstborn, so they've learned."

Standing in a T-Pose

One Reddit user shared a punishment not related to their parents. The user said they had an elementary teacher with a unique sentence for disruptive students.

The students were made to stand in a T-pose at the back of the class. Although the students scoffed at the punishment at first, they found that after about a minute, their arms were burning, and they wanted to sit down. The user said it was an effective punishment.

Turning the Child Into a Sandwich

Although this punishment turned into fits of laughter from both the parent and the child, it took a while to get to that point. In fact, the mother had to become so frustrated with her child that she was at her wit's end.

The child was four and refusing to eat their lunchtime sandwich. The mother became so agitated that she separated the two pieces of bread and stuck them to either side of the child's face. Once the shock of what she had done wore off, she and her child dissolved into laughter.

Breaking a Recorder in Half

An exhausted father resorted to drastic measures when his children fought over a small plastic recorder. One child wanted the recorder because their sibling had it, and vice versa.

The father's solution was to walk up to his children, take the recorder from them, and break it in half. Each child then got half of the broken recorder to play with. The person who posted the story said they and their sibling learned a valuable lesson.

Reading the Newspaper

While this was not a punishment for bad behavior, it taught the person who shared the story a lesson about boredom. The person said each time they told their grandfather they were bored; he made them sit next to him and read the newspaper.

After an hour or so of reading next to their grandfather, the person could no longer be bored. They said that they missed their grandfather dearly each time they saw a newspaper.

Smelling Dog's Breath

The person who posted this comment did not share the misbehavior, which led to this odd punishment, but said that it is only funny in retrospect as it was not funny then, and they had begged for any other punishment.

The person was forced to smell dog's breath as a punishment and shared that when asked why, they were told:

"If we have to deal with the filth from your mouth, you have to deal with the filth from its mouth."

Copying Down Encyclopedias

Although the users who shared this punishment never did it themselves, they had two siblings their parents asked to carry out the tasks. The children had to choose an Encyclopedia, flip to a random page, and copy everything until their parents told them to stop.

Counting Glitter

One Reddit user shared two separate punishments they faced when they misbehaved. One penalty came from their parents, and another from their Catholic school nun.

The user's parents dumped glitter in their bed and made them count it after they had dumped glitter on their brother in the bath. The nun made the user cut the convent's grass with scissors.

Wearing a Dog Collar

When one Reddit user was around six, they bit their older sister directly on the stomach, leaving top and bottom teeth imprints. The user's mother then put a dog collar and leash on them and tied them to a door for hours, saying:

"If you act like a do, you get treated like a dog."

Pulling on Their Ears

This is another Reddit user who did not share the reason for punishment but shared that they were made to kneel facing a wall and pulled on their ears. When someone came to check on them, they had to stay in the same position for longer if their ears were not red enough.

Although these punishments are unusual, many people saw the humor in the punishments they received, some parents cannot agree on the punishments they should give their children. You can read one such story here.