A Michigan father is having his son kept away from him by the child’s mother after he forced their 4-year-old to stand on a busy roadside and hold a sign that read ” 🙁 I Hit Little Girls. ”
Rob Devine told WXYZ that his son Tristan Devine was repeatedly getting in trouble at school for hitting girls. When taking away his games and other forms of discipline failed, he decided on having the child stand on a busy road holding the shaming sign.
Rob said, “I want him to know you can’t go out and do these things and expect them to go away unnoticed. And expect me not to deal with it.”
When Tristan’s mother and the ex-wife of Rob Devine, Brittany Tweed, found out about the sign she was outraged at the decision and is now keeping the boy from seeing his father. In addition, she has contacted child welfare authorities to investigate the incident.
Brittany said, “I feel degraded for him, I feel sad for him. I think it’s sad for a 4-year-old to have to go on one of the busiest intersections holding a sign. Rob has had issues in his life, and no one put him out on the street and made him use a sign.”
Devine added that he will not be pursuing any court action to make sure his son remains under joint custody. He has no regrets about his decision to use the sign as punishment either. “I’d do it again honestly. I’m not gonna lie, if this persists and this doesn’t work, then I’ll figure out something else. It’s trial and error, kids don’t come with an instruction manual,” he said.
