Mom Forces ‘Entitled’ Son to Shop at Goodwill to Teach Him Humility

A Georgia mother gave her 13-year-old son a lesson in humility after she noticed he was belittling his classmates at school for shopping at stores like Walmart and Goodwill.

Cierra Brittany Forney, fed up with her son’s “entitled” attitude, decided to serve him a slice of humble pie by making him shop at the Goodwill store he mocked his classmates for shopping at—and posted about the experience on Facebook.

“I don’t tolerate that,” Forney wrote. “Today, he took his own ($20) to the goodwill to buy clothes to wear the entire week to school. 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.”

The mother-of-three told Today Style that even though she publicly shared the photo of her son shopping at the thrifty clothing store, her intent was not to humiliate him. Instead, she wanted her son to learn that it is not okay to bully others and that how much money you have does not define you.

She also asked for her son’s permission before posting any photos of him on social media, Fox News reported.

“If I didn’t nip it in the bud now … he’s 13, imagine the things he would be saying or doing at 16,” she said.

“I sat with him and tried to explain that I wasn’t punishing him, but that he can get nice clothes from anywhere,” added Forney,

Forney said the response she got to her post has been so overwhelming that people shared it more than 278,000 times as of Saturday afternoon.

“I’ve gotten messages from people that have brought me to tears,” she said, adding that she also got some criticism about her parenting style from people who say that “children only know what they are taught.”

Forney admitted that her habit of “spoiling” her children was partly to blame for her son’s attitude but that she is trying to curb that habit.

“I had my son when I was 15 and my husband was 17, and because we had our kids so young, we were adamant that they weren’t going to go without because of our decision. So we spoiled them,” she said.

Despite her son’s initial reluctance to embrace his mother’s wisdom, Forney says he is being a “good sport” about it and starting to let the message sink in.

“He’s getting what I’m saying,” she said. “He’s been a good sport.”