Australian mother blasted for selling ‘cruel and disgraceful’ item on Facebook

“I’d be more concerned with who buys it…” 

A mother has been blasted online after reportedly selling her daughter’s hair as "punishment" on social media.

Bree* was scrolling through her Facebook Marketplace feed, hoping to snatch up a great bargain. 

Then she stumbled across something that made her feel queasy, and others online couldn’t help but agree. 

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An Australian mum was blasted for selling her daughter's hair on Facebook Marketplace. Picture: Facebook

“In today’s episode of WTF…” 

Shared on a popular Facebook group, Bree shared screenshots of the listing, which was selling for $5. 

“In today’s episode of WTF,” she captioned the photo. 

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And the photo was absolutely WTF-worthy: attached to the listing were photos of chunks of hair, sprawled across the bedsheets, still with a hair clip attached to the top. 

Uh, gross? 

However, things took a sinister turn when you see the listing’s caption: “My daughter’s hair.” 

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And the reason for selling her daughter’s hair, you may ask? 

The mother, who works at Kmart per her account, reportedly decided to list the chunks of hair as punishment for her child’s poor attitude. 

“She was being a real bad girl, so I [chopped] her hair off,” the description read. 

And if that wasn’t horrifying enough, there was more. 

“Might have some more to sell tomorrow if she wants to act naughty,” the mum continued in the listing. Thankfully, the listing has since been removed after receiving mass outrage and reports from users online.

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Unfortunately, “punishment haircuts” aren’t anything new. For centuries, they have been used as a discipline tactic around the world, utilising shame and humiliation to correct misbehaviour.

A barber in Atlanta went viral in 2015 after offering to “publicly shame” kids’ bad behaviour with a humiliating haircut. 

Dubbed the “Benjamin Button Special”, the barber at A-1 Kutz will cut or shave kids’ heads to “publicly shame them” into behaving.

One boy was given an “old man” haircut, and he had an enormous bald spot on the top of his head. 

Despite its initial popularity online, child psychologists such as Xanthia Bianca Johnson told The Washington Post that shaming children into behaving is typically counterproductive. 

“There’s lots of research that supports the fact that when a child is blamed or shamed it triggers their nervous system, and when the nervous system is shut down, it is directly connected to the brain,” she said at the time. 

“The part of the brain that processes logic gets shut off, and it can actually stunt physical and emotional growth.”  

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Hair cutting as a punishment is often labelled cruel and useless. Picture: Facebook

"This type of ‘discipline’ is disgraceful and traumatic"

The Facebook group were disgusted by the listing, prompting many parents to liken the act to abuse. 

“This type of ‘discipline’ is disgraceful and traumatic,” a woman wrote. “This is just straight-up abusive,” another agreed. 

“The idea of using social humiliation/ostracisation as a punishment is disgusting,” wrote a third. 

“Had a parent do this to a student when I was working at a [primary] school,” a teacher recounted. “We let the kid wear a hat he preferred until it grew back out.”

The majority of people were outraged by “cruel” punishment and argued it would do nothing to appease the child’s behaviour.

“Taking away someone’s bodily autonomy is never OK,” someone said. “You can punish your kid without physically changing them and making them uncomfortable,” another agreed. 

But others saw a different issue. “Who would buy that?” a mum asked. 

“I’d be more concerned with who buys it,” read another comment. 

*Name has been changed

Originally published as Australian mother blasted for selling ‘cruel and disgraceful’ item on Facebook