It's terrible, in my opinion.

Anything posted online is permanent. Once it's posted, there is generally no going back. Even if the site it was initially posted on is removed, chances are it has already been shared on Facebook, tweeted and retweeted on Twitter, posted on dozens of forums, etc. We spend so much time teaching kids that it is NOT okay to bully or harass others through the internet by posting pictures to shame them. We, as adults, should know better. It's harmful. If it didn't affect people psychologically, we wouldn't feel the need to tell children "Hey, no, don't post that picture online - it will backfire and that person will be hurt because of it".

So, why is it okay for parents to do this EXACT thing to their own children? And why are people encouraging it? I just don't get it.

I don't know. I just don't know. When my mom was raising us, a simple grounding was good enough. For me, just taking away my Gameboy for a week got the message across.