This Dad Came Up With A Creative Punishment For His Son When He Caught Him Bullying

Humiliation has to be one of the strongest motivators out there. If you're engaging in some particularly terrible behavior, if you're called out and put on the spot for it in a situation that matters to you, chances are you're going to remember that stinging, painful embarrassment for a long time.

I'm not saying all humiliation is good, bullies who bring up the fact you still wear a retainer or have irritable bowel syndrome in front of the entire cafeteria are probably trying to humiliate you just to be jerks.

But if someone's humiliating you, so you can humble yourself for a good reason, like stopping garbage behavior, is perhaps a good thing. Which is what this dad from Florida wanted to do when he found out his son was bullying other kids.

Michael Yager from Volusia County, Florida wanted to teach his son a lesson he wouldn't forget, so he had him hold up this sign at a highly trafficked intersection.

"I figured I would teach him a lesson that would embarrass him and make him feel how the kids feel," Yager said in an interview with WESH.

Yager came up with the unique punishment when discovered that his 13-year-old-son, Jacob, was bullying and teasing a bunch of his classmates at New Smyrma Beach Middle School.

After standing near Road 442 with his father parked close by, people started honking their horns to acknowledge that they, in fact, hated bullies.

Some drivers even pulled over to speak with Yager and his son. There were tons of people who thought Jacob was learning a valuable lesson and applauded Yager for being an involved parent.

Others weren't the biggest fans of Yager's out of the box punishment.

"I had one woman come up and call me every name in the book. In my mind I thought I was doing the right thing, but I guess you just can't please everyone." 

There are some others who equated Yager's punishment to bullying itself and that it would be like hitting your child to teach them that hitting is wrong.

Yager isn't the first parent to make their kid do something like this.

About 5-years ago, Jose Lagares made his 4th grade son hold up the same sign, but in bright pink posterboard, for commuters to see.

And he received tons of praise and support for his actions.

And some people hate bullies so much they've got bumper stickers indicating as much.

Other people's opinions aside, Jacob seems to have had a very positive takeaway from the punishment. He says he's learned an important lesson and is dedicated to be an advocate and friend to his classmates instead of a bully.

"You never know what someone can be going through. If you want to be the bully, like if you have something inside you need to tell someone go to a guidance counselor or someone," Jacob said. 

What do you think? Was Yager's punishment too much? Or did it send the right message? (h/t nbc4i)