Running out of ways to punish her son James for bringing home bad grades, Ronda Holder is making him stand on a street corner with a poster that reads, “I did four questions on my FCAT and said I wasn’t going to do it … GPA 1.22 … honk if I need education,” reports the Associated Press and Fox.
Holder of Tampa, Fla. says her previous approaches, which include grounding James and confiscating his cell phone, did not motivate him to improve his grade point average.
“Until he straightens up his grades and gets his education on track, he’s gonna work that corner,” Holder said. “This is the job he wants, so he might as well start early.
“You take the phone, you take things from him, it don’t work, so embarrassment is the best thing. He don’t like to get embarrassed. He don’t like it, and I’m probably the baddest parent in the world right now. But he’ll be OK.”
Holder believes her son’s public punishment will encourage or scare other kids into performing well in school.
“[If] some other parents and kids see this right there, they won’t have to worry about their kids doing the same thing,” Holder said.
Last week, James attended a school meeting and his indifference set Holder off and inspired her to force him to don the sign on different street corners.
“In the long run, he’ll thank me for it,” Holder said of her son.
[WATCH: Holder’s son wearing the GPA sign]