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19 Creative Punishments People Got As Kids

When it comes to punishments, a lot of parents stick to the status quo.

They may ground children, take away their cellphone, or enforce an earlier bedtime.

But then, there are the parents who got truly creative evil with their punishments!

From making them memorize Shakespeare to glitter bombs to shaving their head, here are 19 creative punishments people got as kids.

The 20-page research paper.

Unsplash | Dan Counsell

When this Redditor was in the sixth grade, they snuck out late at night to go to a nearby convenience store with their best friend.

As punishment, they had to write a 20-page research paper on Watergate!

The ear pull.

Unsplash | Jessica Flavia

"I had to kneel facing a wall while pulling my ears and if my ears weren’t red enough when they came to check on me then I had to stay there even longer." - u/jesuschin

The Shakespeare memorization.

HBO

This person had to memorize Shakespeare as punishment.

"It was horrible to be fighting and then sit together for half an hour or more memorizing and reciting until my dad returned. One wrong word and he'd leave us for a while." - u/trinketsofdeceit

The family outing.

Anytime this Redditor messed up, their parents would report it to their grandparents during a weekly call.

"When I was 14, I got to explain to grandma why I was getting a D in a class," they wrote.

The enforcer.

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"In high school my friend got caught smoking weed by his mom. His punishment was that he had to tell his 95 year old strictly religious great-grandmother, who thinks weed is just as bad as heroin." - u/jrob5797

The encyclopedia.

"My parents would make my older brother and sister chose one of the Encyclopedias, turn to a random page, and start copying everything down until my parents told them to stop." - u/brineakay

The dog breath.

This Redditor's parents would make them smell dog breath as punishment. Their reasoning was that, "if we have to deal with the filth from your mouth, you have to deal with the filth from its mouth."

The food fight.

"When I was 4, my mother was fed up with my stubborn refusal to eat my sandwich at lunch one day. She picked it up, separated the two slices, and stuck it to my face. There was a moment of complete silence as I stopped whining and evaluated what she'd done. After that we were both too collapsed with laughter to be mad at each other." - u/bopeepsheep

The glitter bomb.

Unsplash | Amy Shamblen

"I threw a ton of glitter on my brother when he was in the bath tub. My parents bought a giant bag of glitter and dumped it on my bed. They made me count it and would not give me my phone or laptop back until I did." - u/PoisonOfInterest

The doghouse.

Unsplash | Baptist Standaert

When this Redditor was young, they left a bite mark on their older sister by biting her stomach.

As punishment, their mother grabbed a dog collar and leash then tied them to a doorknob for several hours. “If you act like a dog you get treated like a dog," they said.

The uncooked rice.

NBC

"A friend of mine recently told me that his mom used to have him kneel on uncooked rice when he did something wrong. Sounds miserable if you ask me." This would hurt a ton!

The slow burn.

Unsplash | Eric Nopanen

"My mother took all my music away for a month. On the third week, she gave me one cd back. Deftones' White Pony. After she gave everything back, I got to rediscover all my favorites. It was an interesting punishment and the best reward for enduring." - u/FrankieandJimmy

The shot of whiskey.

When this Redditor spent time at their grandparent's house, they had to swallow a tablespoon of whiskey anytime they were sick or had some sort of medical problem.

"I think I was punished for being weak," the Redditor wrote.

The empty room.

Unsplash | Ben White

"My parents didn’t know what to do with me bc I was being a [expletive], so they took literally everything out of my room including my bed, it was weird and I remember sitting in the corner with my teddy. I was hiding it so they wouldn’t take that too." - u/swimsalot144

The pickled jalapeño.

Unsplash | Elle Hughes

"When I was younger and I swore, my mom would put a pickled jalapeno in my mouth and make me stand in the corner. If I swallowed the jalapeno she would make me eat the entire jar." - u/msimmortal

The grounding.

ABC

While most kids are grounded to their room, this Redditor was grounded away from their room. Once they were banned from going in there, they realized how much fun stuff is actually in there.

The newspaper.

Unsplash | Roman Kraft

"When I was a kid anytime my grandfather heard me say I was bored he'd make me read the newspaper next to him. After an hour or so of that I would no longer be bored. I miss him everytime I see a newspaper." - u/Permafroster

The shaved head.

Unsplash | Caleb Woods

"My dad shaved my head. I had been trying to grow it out in middle school and he had warned me that if I got anything below a C on a report card/progress report he would shave my head. Didnt care to do homework at the time." - u/malkavio

The back of the line.

You didn't want to make this Redditor's dad mad!

They said that he once made the family go to the back of a 45-minute line at a theme park because the kids were being impatient and bratty. Then, if anyone complained about how long dinner was taking, they would eat after everyone else.