Question: What was the most embarrassing punishment that you endured as a kid? For us, it was getting our mouths washed out with soap whenever we said a naughty word—hey, our folks weren’t the most creative parents in the world, but the gross reprimand worked pretty darn well! See??

That said, some well-meaning parents like to think outside of the box when it comes to doling out punishments. Take the case of the family in today’s story. When a Utah father named Mark and his fiancée, Ally, got word that their 10-year-old daughter, Kaylee, was bullying a girl in her class, the parents decided to give the girl a taste of her own medicine.

Kaylee, who was a 4th-grader at Viewmont Elementary in Murray, Utah at the time this story broke had been sent home with a note from her school, saying that she had been harassing a fellow student for weeks. Apparently, the little girl was not a fan of the unnamed classmate’s clothing choices—and she certainly made it known.

When Kaylee’s parents confronted their daughter about her bullying ways, they say that she exhibited “no remorse” for her behavior. Fed up, Mark and Ally devised a plan to inspire some empathy in the 10-year-old, and boy has it caused quite a stir…

How to instill compassion in a 4th-grader in one easy step

Kaylee’s punishment for hounding her peer started at the local thrift shop. Her parents instructed the girl to pick out a couple of the “ugliest” dresses to wear for her next two school days. Kaylee ended up with long, old-fashioned frocks that, we agree, most 10-year-olds would not want to be seen wearing.

Apparently, word got out about Mark and Ally’s creative “dressing-down” of their kiddo. After local news station Fox 13 Salt Lake City covered the family’s decision, their story quickly went viral—and we mean ‘viral in practically every corner of the globe’ viral.

“It’s just weird to think I made a decision on one day and here five days later, there’s websites all over the world talking about it and news people calling from everywhere,” Mark told the news station.

Of course, the good folks of the Internet had a lot to say about this little girl’s very public punishment—with some praising the family’s decision and others, well…not so much. One naysayer even flipped the situation on its head by calling Kaylee’s soon-to-be stepmom a “bully.”

All of that aside, it seems that the two days of fashion police-worthy days were enough to teach young Kaylee a lesson. After a sincere apology, she and the girl that she had bullied are reportedly “friends again.”

Well, if it worked it worked…we guess! To see more photos of Kaylee and hear her dad’s rationale behind the punishment, be sure to watch the video below.

Ok, we know you guys probably have a lot to say about this story! Do you think that Mark and Ally’s “give her a taste of her own medicine” approach was a healthy move? Have you ever reprimanded your own child in a similar manner? If so, did they learn their lesson?