# The Meanest Things Adults Have Ever Done To Children (Not \*Crimes\*, Just General Meanness) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306 "2016-12-21T16:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/21 "2016-12-22T03:59:43Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I’m looking for things that are so mean (but again, not criminal) that they make the news. Female genital mutilation? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/22 "2016-12-22T04:00:48Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Female genital mutilation? Thankfully a crime in most places I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/23 "2016-12-22T06:48:41Z")
Middlebro is 10 years older than me. When I was ~12, he dangled me headfirst over the stairwell between the living room and the family room. We were the only ones home at the time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/24 "2016-12-22T07:00:04Z")
My 2nd grade teacher. I don’t think she’d be allowed to teach today. At least I hope not. Nobody had ever seen Miss G. smile. She was more of a disciplinarian that a teacher. She would give us an assignment every morning, and you wouldn’t be allowed to eat lunch until you were finished with it. I was very meticulous in my work, so most days I ate my lunch in the bus, on the way home. In the back of the classroom was the “cloak room,” hidden by heavy doors that lifted up, like garage doors. There was neither light nor fresh air in the cloak room. If a student misbehaved, he had to stay in the cloak room until given permission to come back. The rest of us were instructed to ignore any crying or screaming that came from the cloak room. Another of her favorite punishments was to not allow the kid to go to the restroom, for the rest of the day . . . then ordering the kid into the cloakroom for going in his pants. It wasn’t unusual for all of our coats to smell like piss or shit. One PTA meeting, Miss G. told our parents that she hated children . . . especially boys. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/25 "2016-12-22T08:17:01Z")
There’s the Shi’ite Muslim Ashura ritual where adults cut children’s heads to make them bleed all over, to celebrate Muhammad’s grandson. Warning: bloody pictures > **[Screaming in fear, Muslim boy has gash cut into his head in ceremony](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2819307/Screaming-fear-moment-small-boy-gash-cut-head-Muslim-ceremony-commemorating-death-Prophet-s-grandson.html)** > > WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. This picture shows the moment a small boy has a gash cut in his head as part of a Shi'ite Muslim Ashura ritual.  ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/26 "2016-12-22T08:41:10Z")
Ever read Jane Eyre? The Lowood School was based on [real life](http://www.victoriangothic.org/the-true-story-of-the-lowood-institution/). Yeah, including the bits where large numbers of the girls started dying from disease because they were so malnourished. On a similar note, I would think a search based around the English Public School system of [fagging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagging) would provide enough material for an article all by itself ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/27 "2016-12-22T13:12:09Z")
How about the [National Coal Board taking funds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberfan_disaster#Disaster_fund) from money donated by the public after the Aberfan Disaster in 1966 that killed 116 children? ETA: Typo ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/28 "2016-12-22T14:54:16Z")
My mother hated me, pure and simple. She kept me out of school for a year, and insisted I go into kindergarten, then I was old enough for first grade. When the school gave me an IQ test and I scored 148, my mother still refused, saying “She must have guessed lucky.” I never had a real birthday, being born on December 25th. Christmas wrapping, red and green cake, standard Xmas dinner. Never special for me ever. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/29 "2016-12-22T15:23:27Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I appreciate the responses so far, but it appears I didn’t ask my question clearly enough in the OP. I’m not asking for personal anecdotes; I’m asking for events, documented in the news media, of adults doing mean things to children. In my examples posted in the OP, I describe an incident where a group of adults ate all of the town orphans’ food, and an incident where a politician lectured 4th graders about abortion. > > I’m looking for things that are so mean (but again, not criminal) that they make the news. Mainly so I can have a cite for when I write about the event. Might I suggest a thread title edit/addition that includes something akin to “That Made the News”? I realize some folks will still wind up posting personal anecdotes, but you might get more on-topic responses that way. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/30 "2016-12-22T15:58:32Z")
[Don’t forget the jerkasses who gave their kid clothes in an X-Box… box and recorded him crying and running out of the room, then stuck it on Youtube for everyone to see.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2008095/World-s-meanest-parents-The-mother-tricked-son-thinking-got-Xbox-Christmas-sparks-fury-video-goes-viral.html) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/31 "2016-12-22T16:07:51Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I never had a real birthday, being born on December 25th. Christmas wrapping, red and green cake, standard Xmas dinner. Never special for me ever. My mother was born on December 24th. She had the same basic complaint when she was growing up. Plus she never got separate birthday and Christmas gifts like her siblings. When she hit her mid 30’s, December 24 wasn’t Christmas Eve, it was Dot’s birthday. One would be shamed if they dared bring her a birthday gift in holiday paper. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/32 "2016-12-22T16:36:19Z")
[No pay, no play! Poor kids banned from school carnival](http://nypost.com/2015/05/24/no-pay-no-play-kids-who-cant-pay-10-fee-banned-from-school-carnival/) [But there was a happy ending](http://www.qchron.com/editions/north/free-carnival-is-on-ps-principal-out/article_f3ac6505-0a81-53c3-96f9-64e621bb141d.html) ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/33 "2016-12-22T17:44:13Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > My mother destroyed all holiday, birthday gifts, or treats that we received from anybody other than her. And she wondered why we hated her. Even I hate her. That’s horrible. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/34 "2016-12-22T20:35:53Z")
I wish there were a way to take away the pain of having had a cruel parent. What a sad thread. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/35 "2016-12-22T21:54:46Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > [No pay, no play! Poor kids banned from school carnival](http://nypost.com/2015/05/24/no-pay-no-play-kids-who-cant-pay-10-fee-banned-from-school-carnival/) > > [But there was a happy ending](http://www.qchron.com/editions/north/free-carnival-is-on-ps-principal-out/article_f3ac6505-0a81-53c3-96f9-64e621bb141d.html) You know, if the principal had made a moderate effort, other people from the community would have bought tickets for the poor kids to attend the school carnival. The idea of the poor kids having to sit in a room able to hear the sounds of the luckier ones having fun at the carnival stirs up some really dark feelings such that even a child hater like me, would have probably bought tickets for kids in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/36 "2016-12-22T22:01:15Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > In my examples posted in the OP, I describe an incident where a group of adults ate all of the town orphans’ food, and an incident where a politician lectured 4th graders about abortion. Not that that’s not true, but if you read the article, those comments went over their heads, and they were more upset about people laughing at their proposal. > [@Helena330](#): > > I wish there were a way to take away the pain of having had a cruel parent. What a sad thread. Luckily for us, my mom’s experience made her think “what would my mom do?” and do the opposite. I’m blessed she didn’t repeat her mother’s errors. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/37 "2016-12-22T22:15:22Z")
I have remembered another story too - but my google-fu’s not good enough to find it. An American or Canadian couple adopted a girl from somewhere in Eastern Europe - Hungary? Romania? somewhere like that. Then after a bit they decided they didn’t want her and “unadopted” her and sent her back. Bad enough, but even worse - her original citizenship had been cancelled and she couldn’t get it back. So she had to live in \ as a non-citizen, being ineligible to go to school, or get a job. Anyone remember a story like that? Sadly, googling “adopted girl left stateless” brings up a shit-ton of different cites ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/38 "2016-12-23T00:41:23Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I appreciate the responses so far, but it appears I didn’t ask my question clearly enough in the OP. I’m not asking for personal anecdotes; I’m asking for events, documented in the news media, of adults doing mean things to children. In my examples posted in the OP, I describe an incident where a group of adults ate all of the town orphans’ food, and an incident where a politician lectured 4th graders about abortion. > > I’m looking for things that are so mean (but again, not criminal) that they make the news. Mainly so I can have a cite for when I write about the event. one thing which comes to mind is the [“Balloon Boy” incident.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_boy_hoax) I saw a video of them on TV shortly after that shook out where they were trying to “explain” the whole thing, and something the kid involved said (“you said we were doing it for the show.”) During that he [puked on live TV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buKA2bD9mM0#t=40s) and I could clearly see that asshole only viewed his kids as a way to make money. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/39 "2016-12-23T02:51:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > IMHO, it’s when adults assume that a precocious or talented child must have “cheated” and could not have possibly achieved such-and-such a feat or aced an exam or written good poetry on their own, and therefore accuse them of cheating or plagiarism. This happened to me three times that I can remember, all for poetry I had written. This may be why I’ve never seriously tried to become a published author. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306/40 "2016-12-23T03:56:22Z")
There is some evil talk show host who encourages people to tell their kids that they ate all the halloween candy, and film the children sobbing. You can just see these kids trying not to believe that their own parents would do such a horrible thing. And once the parents get them good and convinced, and the kids are sobbing, having finally lost all faith and trust in their parents, then the big “reveal” is supposed make everything OK again. “No, I didn’t really do that!” says Dad. But you watch the faces of the kids, and you know that their world has changed forever. It’s horrifying. Poor kids. Also, there’s that whole “Krampus” thing that Nordic parents do. I’m betting it’s at the bottom of the terrible alcoholism and suicide rates over there . . . Then there are a horrendous number of stories out there about so-called Christians who beat and/or disown their children when they find out the child is LGBTQ. Those parents should be horse-whipped. What about the you tubes a while back about vicious punishments in Japanese boarding schools? Those were heinous. Yep, Pat Benetar[pretty much nailed childhood.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEf00GC1rlQ) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meanest-things-adults-have-ever-done-to-children-not-crimes-just-general-meanness/775306.md?page=3)