I'm going to play the devil's advocate just a little. I think it's up to the kid and the parent. If the parent states ahead of time that such an action may be in the future and the kid is old enough to understand the consequences of his action I'm not necessarily against it. Sometimes public humiliation is the only way to get though to someone how important something is...now I'm not talking about a little kid. I'm talking about a preteen or teenager whose ego is in the clouds and they care about their friends more than anything else. Breaking a few of their balloons and bringing them back to earth is not necessarily a bad thing even though it may seem cruel at the time.

Several years ago, a few kids were caught cheating in my school. They were made to wear placards all day long that said that they'd been caught and that they know how bad it is. They didn't hold it against their parents afterwards, understood why their parents did it once they got over the shock, and brought them down a few notches in the process.

I don't think there should be a black-and-white rule here. It is up to the parent and the kid, and if it seems to be the only way to get through, I don't see it as something we should completely condemn.