WATCH: Mother who Punishes Daughter using Social Media Speaks Out on Ricki Lake Show
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 1:52PM 
By Ann Fleming/EEW MAGAZINE
It’s a story that had the Internet all abuzz. When national best-selling author and journalist ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s daughter Mya, 12, posted a picture on Instagram of herself smiling, holding an unopened bottle of vodka saying, “I wish I could drink this,” her mom’s social media smackdown earlier this year went viral. Recently, the mother and daughter discussed the incident on the Ricki Lake show.
The self-proclaimed “nosey mom,” who checks her daughter’s Instagram account regularly, disciplined Mya by having her create and post a sign with this message inscribed on it: "Since I want to post photos of me holding liquor I am obviously not ready for social media and will be taking a hiatus until I learn what I should + should not post. BYE-BYE."
Photo Credit: FacebookWhen the teen was asked by veteran talk show host Ricki Lake how she felt, she noted the fact that she was crying in the photograph.
“I was pretty upset when I found out that she posted it,” Mya says of her mom’s decision to share the photo of shame on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Watch the two discuss it below.
After hearing both sides, how do you feel about the mother’s decision to publicly discipline her daughter? Was it too harsh a punishment or a great way to teach a lesson?
Tell EEW your thoughts.
Reader Comments (12)
I remember this story! Poor baby. I think it was a very embarassing way to teach the lesson but I suppose that was the point.
This is a tough one. You can't really tell anybody how to raise their kids and what's right or wrong. They have to do what they think is the best thing. Where did she get Vodka from?
I am a mom, and I agree with this mom. That taught baby girl a lesson she shall never forget! Never try to follow the "in-crowd," especially not with a "nosey," concerned mom.
If the girl knew here mother checks her instagram on a regular basis then I believe that she really didn't know anything was wrong with posting something like that. She is only 12 so kids just don't think sometimes. I think it was a little excessive and something feels sort of wrong about her mother going on talk shows and just KEEP talking about it. The lesson is learned and I dont think her daughter should be used for publicity.
Not that serious to me. Could have been accomplished with a conversation in PRIVATE She can't live that down. That is archived on the internet forever.
@Amba: At age 12, you should have no desire to drink! From the looks of it, she has a mother who teaches her right from wrong, so she should know that underage drinking is unacceptable. I understand being young and foolish, but, she has to learn early on that there are consequences for actions, and sometimes, those consequences hurt.
They are STILL giving reshonda a hard time about this shes a good parent and was right what she did.
I am on Reshondas page and shes a christian i remember when it happened cuz i commented and didnt want no hate mail she a good mom and shes not hurt but her friends need to know she has a mom shss covered and not cute and cannot do whatever she wants and it was EFFECTIVe because miss lady will never do it again. And reshonda didnt show her face.
she didnt know because when she posted it is was only a couple of folks on there, i mean i shared it but her page is private but it spread because ppl resonated with reshonda, so the other thing is she had NO idea it would be like that it goes to show you the power of the media so DONT post nuthin you dont want all over the world or in pakistan but GOD knew what He was doing like i said RESHONDA is a christian author so im sure if it was excessive GOD would have dealt with her. Also depending on the calling of her daughter GOD was probably trying to stop something before it got really bad. i bet she wont do it again.
dont trip about her crying either, because she's crying because she was trying to IMPRESS her friends and wanted to look cool like Reshonda said. She was more concerned with how she appeared to her friends than obeying her mom.
At that time only her moms friends and her friends saw it, so the punishment fit the crime. NOW would i BROADCAST that all over the world probably not, but she didnt know and didnt intend for that i think she handled it VERY well.
should "the root" have published it... maybe not... but this is FACEBOOK and maybe GOD was showing her daughter the EFFECT it could have what if she put her self out there. what if RESHONDA was in ministry and her and GOD's reputation was at stake you DONT put nothing out their that will put you or GOD in a NEGATIVE light, thats the lesson. and what her daughter doesnt yet understand... but like i said i was there when it happened and it happened in the matter of a few hours and days. so it was GOD that allowed it to happen.
Sounds like a good mother to me. Where's the father?
i agree, i've had to have my 12 year old deactivate his account because he clearly wasn't responsible enough for this as well, and going public with this more so means, maybe OTHER kids will learn from this experience and think second about posting inappropriate things and fearing their parents will do the same.