stefanie 50 shadesI kind of expected that whole trend of publicly humiliating teens as a form of punishment to go away, but nope: Just days ago a mom in South Carolina forced her 13-year-old son to walk along a busy road wearing a sign saying, "Smoked pot, got caught! Don't I look cool? Not!"

Seems the Sign of Shame has become as accepted a disciplinary measure as the time-honored time-out (other notable examples, just in case you missed them, include a different 13-year-old's "I steal from my family" sandwich board and a 14-year-old's considerably more serious nametag confessional, "I lie. I steal. I sell drugs. I don't follow the law.").

Yikes. I'm not sure if these signs actually have positive long-term (or even short-term) behavior modification results or if I'd ever even consider branding my kid in this fashion, but I am pretty sure about one thing ... if teens could turn the tables on parents, we'd all be walking around looking like these majorly guilty moms and dads ...

Images via Jacqueline Burt