It was one thing for Miley Cyrus to do it on national television, but a California mom warned her daughter before a school dance that it wasn’t okay for the 11-year old. When Frances Hena learned that her daughter had defied her and twerked anyway, she punished her pre-teen with a two-hour stint at a busy intersection wearing a sign that read ‘I was disrespecting my parents by twerking at a school dance.’ While the woman wanted to embarrass her daughter into realizing that twerking was not acceptable, she told ABC News that she also hoped the public exposure of her daughter’s scolding would deter other young children from doing the suggestive dance moves. But the humiliating punishment is drawing as much attention and controversy as Cyrus’ performance. While some parents supported her unusual strategy, child development experts say that such punishments are inappropriate and likely to backfire. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgiKjLVvZrg] Studies consistently show, for example, that children whose parents used humiliation to discipline them grew up to be less confident and more prone to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.  And shaming connected with an issue related to sexuality — liking making your daughter stand in public with a sign related to a racy dance move — may lead to even more damaging effects.  While repeated and blatant humiliation is the most dangerous, experts say that even rare or minor humiliations can do harm. “Unequivocally, it’s a bad thing  to do and certainly has negative long term consequences,” says Dr. Claudia Gold, who runs the early childhood social and emotional health program at Newton Wellesley hospital in Massachusetts. According to a recent study, children who had parents with restrictive parenting styles and were shamed into submission were less able to resist temptation in lab-based tests — and presumably that could translate into less self-control with regard to food, alcohol and other drugs in real life as adults. MORE: Being Ashamed of Drinking Prompts Relapse, Not Recovery Other research found that when it comes to dieting and addictive behavior, shaming doesn’t deter or alter … Continue reading Twerking Pre-Teen’s Public Punishment: Why It May Backfire