Public shaming has a Victorian feel to it. But the notion of using peer-pressure embarrassment to try to compel better behavior made a bit of a comeback in a surprising place: a Seattle public middle school.
Last week, on the wall of the cafeteria at Washington Middle School, administrators projected a large yellow slide on a screen, titled “Detention Today.” Displayed below, for the school of 660 students, were the names of the seven middle-schoolers on the docket to be punished that day.
A parent sent me a photo of this dishonor society list, snapped on a cellphone by a seventh-grader. I can’t share the photo with you, because well, because The Seattle Times tries not to be in the business of shaming or embarrassing kids.
