GreenTeaChloe
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A Queensland father has advertised his teenage son's labouring services for free as punishment for getting suspended from school.
Warren Blythe resorted to the "tough love" approach when his 14-year-old son Jacob was suspended from Kirwan State High School in Townsville for five days last week.
Instead of letting Jacob sit at home with his Xbox, Mr Blythe said he put him to work to teach him what it was like in the real world.
"Children need ownership. They need to understand that what they do today will affect them tomorrow," Mr Blythe told*A Current Affair.
"It breaks my heart because this generation is going to keep on going and getting worse and worse." (When) my son steps out of line, I let him know he's stepped out of line."
Townsville business Tender Loving Lawn and Care hired Jacob to weed, mow and garden for six 10-hour days.
"Every day it just got harder and harder. I woke up at about 5.30, left at 6.30 and came home around 4.30-5.30pm," Jacob said.
"More kids should do it when they get suspended. It was a good lesson."Daniel, who owns the gardening business, said he didn't go easy on Jacob.
"Giving the kids a holiday is not going to fix their behaviour problems," he said.
President of the Queensland Teacher's Union, Kevin Bates, said the suspension system needed an overhaul so parents like Mr Blythe wouldn't have to take matters into their own hands.
"In reality, schools have very limited options to deal with the real problems," Mr Bates said.
"These sorts of options are the sorts of things that schools could do, if only they had the resources."
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Warren Blythe resorted to the "tough love" approach when his 14-year-old son Jacob was suspended from Kirwan State High School in Townsville for five days last week.
Instead of letting Jacob sit at home with his Xbox, Mr Blythe said he put him to work to teach him what it was like in the real world.
"Children need ownership. They need to understand that what they do today will affect them tomorrow," Mr Blythe told*A Current Affair.
"It breaks my heart because this generation is going to keep on going and getting worse and worse." (When) my son steps out of line, I let him know he's stepped out of line."
Townsville business Tender Loving Lawn and Care hired Jacob to weed, mow and garden for six 10-hour days.
"Every day it just got harder and harder. I woke up at about 5.30, left at 6.30 and came home around 4.30-5.30pm," Jacob said.
"More kids should do it when they get suspended. It was a good lesson."Daniel, who owns the gardening business, said he didn't go easy on Jacob.
"Giving the kids a holiday is not going to fix their behaviour problems," he said.
President of the Queensland Teacher's Union, Kevin Bates, said the suspension system needed an overhaul so parents like Mr Blythe wouldn't have to take matters into their own hands.
"In reality, schools have very limited options to deal with the real problems," Mr Bates said.
"These sorts of options are the sorts of things that schools could do, if only they had the resources."
