BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Mum's tough love lesson divides parents

  • Published
    28 March 2018
Share page
About sharing
Cierra Brittany Forney with her childrenImage source, Cierra Britanny Forney
Image caption,

Cierra Brittany Forney with her son Anthony (R), daughter and youngest son

ByGeorgina Rannard
BBC UGC & Social News

What should you do if your child has become a bit, let's say, accustomed to the finer things in life?

It's an issue that one mum in Georgia, US, tried to resolve when she realised her 13-year-old son was acting "a little entitled".

Anthony was "acting like he's too good to shop at Walmart, or making snarky comments about kids at school who shop at the Goodwill [a second-hand shop]. I don't tolerate that," Cierra Brittany Forney, 28, wrote in a Facebook post.

She decided to teach him a lesson. "It's the first time I've ever done anything like this," Cierra, an entrepreneur, told the BBC.

This Facebook post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Facebook
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Facebook content may contain adverts.
Skip facebook post by Cierra

Allow Facebook content?

This article contains content provided by Facebook. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Facebook cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Facebook content may contain adverts.
End of facebook post by Cierra
Presentational white space

She decided that Anthony should wear second-hand clothes to school for a week and took him to charity shop Goodwill with $20 (£14).

"Whatever he found is what he would have to wear. He isn't happy and shed a few tears but I firmly believe in 15 years he will look back and laugh at the day his Mom made him shop at Goodwill.

"I want to teach my kids that money isn't everything and if you have to degrade other people because of where they shop, then you too will shop there.

"We have had multiple discussions about how having nice things is a privilege, not a right, and he can have it all taken away in a second," Cierra explained.

Anthony is wearing the clothes to school this week.

You might also like:

  • American falls in love with slam-dunk nun, 98

  • This Afghan woman sat an exam while nursing her baby

  • Little girl collects love letters for sick Granny

Her story struck a chord with thousands around the world. Her Facebook post has been shared more than half a million times and liked by almost 700,000 people, many applauding her actions.

Some people shared their strategies for educating their children.

"I grew up on beans and rice, in a trailer, no heat except for the oven and never allowed TV," one woman, Karista Harris, wrote, explaining that her childhood made her want to give her son "every opportunity".

But when he "started acting like everything was a need, a necessity," she enrolled him in a volunteering programme providing meals for children living in poverty.

This Facebook post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Facebook
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Facebook content may contain adverts.
Skip facebook post 2 by Karista

Allow Facebook content?

This article contains content provided by Facebook. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Facebook cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Facebook content may contain adverts.
End of facebook post 2 by Karista
Presentational white space

Many agreed that it is important to teach children to be thankful.

"The price of what they wear doesn't matter. It's who you help them become. Your son will look back on this, hopefully valuing the lesson you taught him. Great job, Mama!" Dawn Kimbley replied.

"I loved your story and if more parents would do this type of lesson to their children this world would be better," Soyana Escott wrote.

However some people criticised her decision to showcase the lesson on social media.

"I'm concerned that you shamed your child to teach him a lesson in taking him to the store and in sharing his story so publicly," commented Jamie Bryant.

Others responded that Cierra behaved as though shopping in charity shops is a punishment, pointing out that they routinely buy second-hand clothes for their families.

On Tuesday Cierra posted a response to some of the criticism, external, clarifying that her son had given permission to share the story.

She told the BBC she was shocked that she received death threats from some people, but she also felt overwhelmed by the support many gave her:

"I didn't do this to punish him. My son learned a valuable lesson and I believe it is just another story we can add to our memories to look back on."

More on this story

  • Would you 'unschool' your children? Video, 00:03:32Would you 'unschool' your children?

    • Published
      1 February 2018
    3:32
    Jessica in a playground
  • The teen who 'makes music with his mind'

    • Published
      27 March 2018
    Michael Fuller performing at the piano
  • Sesame Street to help Syrian refugees

    • Published
      20 December 2017
    Sesame Street for Syria

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Israeli ministers discussing Gaza plan for ceasefire and hostage release

    • 11594 viewing12k viewing
  • Jeremy Bowen: There's now a realistic chance of ending the war - but it's not over yet

    • Published
      6 hours ago
  • What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal

    • Published
      6 hours ago

More to explore

  • Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

    Alan Carr on the Celebrity Traitors, sitting in an armchair and smiling
  • Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

    Graphic: Knives in foreground, in background children sitting at school desks.
  • 'It was like a movie' - How immigration raid on Chicago apartments unfolded

    Image of law enforcement officer pointing a gun, with sparks in the background
  • Inside the room where Nobel Peace Prize is decided – but will Trump get his wish?

    Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and secretary sit around a table in the room where they make their decision
  • 'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

    A young man, with long dark brown hair and a brown beard and moustache , sits next to a hospital bed. He has a bandage on his neck.
  • My eating disorder made me good at lying, says Victoria Beckham

    Victoria Beckham waves while wearing a white suit with other people in the background as she attends the Victoria Beckham premiere in London on Wednesday.
  • The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

    A man raises his fist while standing in front of a group of people waving flags, including saltires and a union flag.
  • Would leaving the ECHR really 'stop the boats'?

    Montage image showing Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Man who appealed Pelicot rape conviction handed longer jail term

  2. 2

    Man re-arrested over Manchester synagogue attack

  3. 3

    Sunak joins Microsoft and AI firm as paid adviser

  4. 4

    Former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood charged with four counts of rape

  5. 5

    Naked mole rats' DNA could hold key to long life

  6. 6

    Alleged McCann stalker 'sent creepy messages'

  7. 7

    'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

  8. 8

    From the fishing trip to a Gavin & Stacey film - five things Jones and Corden's book reveals

  9. 9

    Five ways abolishing stamp duty could change the housing market

  10. 10

    Met officers face fast-track hearings after Panorama investigation

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

The Celebrity Traitors

  • An all-star cast enters the ultimate game of deceit

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • All the betrayal and drama unpacked

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
  • Meet the Celebrity Traitors as the mind games begin

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • A treacherously good version of a pop classic

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    BBC Proms has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    BBC Proms 2025: Britney Spears
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.