“We are creating a culture where people feel constantly surveilled, where they are afraid to be themselves… This is not the culture we wanted. It's a public culture that feels broken, but what can we do about it” (Blackford)? Public shaming is a form of punishment that results in public humiliation. It is a humiliating practice that has existed for centuries and is still in use today. Shaming is traced back to 1620, in the book The Scarlet Letter, where Puritans used public shaming to punish sinners and transgressors for religious transgressions. Public shaming is illegal and overrated as a form of discipline used every day around the world. As a result, public shaming is not an effective punishment because it affects everyone around the criminal, underestimates the intensity of a crime, and labels people as criminals, forcing them to act like one. For starters, public shaming affects everyone around the criminal, not just themselves. When a criminal is publicly shamed, their family, friends and community will also be publicly shamed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. For example, in The Scarlet Letter the author states, “Hester, I am a dying man. So let me hasten to bear thy shame upon me... Behold, the scarlet letter Hester wears so miserably burdened that she might have hoped to find rest. But there was someone among you, at whose brand of sin and infamy you did not shudder” (Hawthorne197). Dimmesdale explains that he cannot bear the pain Hester feels because of the scarlet letter. The public punishment for Hester's crime made Dimmesdale feel weak to the point of wanting to die. Even though the public punishment is Hester's, Arthur Dimmesdale is affected by it because it is part of his life, living it with her. Furthermore, one article writer states: “In any case, the harm of public shaming can be severe. Trust can be broken. Lives can be destroyed or permanently altered. In fact, experts say that public humiliation and shaming teach nothing more than fear, and may even be worse forms of discipline than beatings” (Organ). Many people may not know this, but public shaming can reach up to someone's life. The same writer claims that a 13-year-old girl committed suicide after her father recorded a video of him cutting her hair as punishment. The daughter's family was devastated and isolated themselves from the father after this "punishment" because it had gone too far, to the point where none of them could resist anymore. Furthermore, public shaming underestimates the intensity of a crime. Crimes are supposed to be frowned upon, but when it is publicly demonstrated to embarrass the criminal, it is not taken as seriously. For example, Professor Moskos, a professor at New York University, says: "If you were sentenced to five years in prison for whatever you did or didn't do, and the judge gave you the choice of 10 lashes, What would you do?" choose? And almost everyone would choose eyelashes, but we don't allow it because we consider it cruel and unusual” (Some judges prefer). This shows how criminals can be freed from public shame so easily even though it is less tiring. In this case, criminals would rather be whipped than go to prison. A criminal will not learn his lesson if his crime is not taken seriously and considered acceptable. Secondly, in the book The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne states: "At the very least,they should have put the mark of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at this, I guarantee. But she, the bad baggage, - she will care little what they put on the bodice of her dress” (44-45)! Hawthorne explains that a woman in the community believes that Hester is fortunate in her punishment for her sin. He states that Hester should have gotten the letter ironed on her forehead at the very least and should be grateful that we didn't kill him. This shows how Hester's crime is not considered serious because public punishment is not as severe as prison or death. Finally, public shaming labels someone a criminal, which can cause them to behave like one. In the Scarlet Letter, when Dimmesdale is standing on the scaffold, he states: “May God forgive you! The minister said. You too have sinned deeply! . . God knows, and He is merciful! He has shown his mercy especially in my afflictions. Giving me this burning torture to carry on my chest!”(Hawthorne198-199). The public shaming Hester is enduring is also privately shaming Dimmesdale. He thinks God gave him this torture so that he would behave more like he should be, a criminal. Shame drove Dimmesdale mad due to the shame that came after the crime of adultery for Hester and himself, making him feel like more of a criminal than he actually is. Second, a writer for CBS2 News states, "A judge has a lot of power to create unusual sentences because the statue says that a judge can impose any other conditions that reasonably relate to the crime and the purpose for which the punishment is imposed.. It's a shaming effect. There's research all over the world and countries that tend to impose a shaming effect tend to have less recidivism and fewer crimes” (Earl). Crimes like littering, walking, or unpaid parking tickets are small crimes that can be solved with fines, but judges capitalize on public shame by making lawful citizens feel like they are criminals for the small, inoffensive actions they commit. In contrast, opposing arguments suggest that public shaming is an effective form of punishment because it makes the criminal realize his crime and not commit it again. You might think this because punishments such as holding signs, wearing costumes, and advertising a criminal crime to the public will show what the person has done that is embarrassing, rather than sitting in a prison cell for 5 years. Professor Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, says: “I think this is the key. But the point of incarceration, ironically, is to shame someone… the idea of ​​locking someone in a cage and somehow, magically assuming that they're going to get better, and that's why we invented prisons. But we know it doesn't work” (Some judges prefer). However, this is neither true nor effective because a public punishment is much less severe than countless years in prison. Having a criminal in prison locked up by society will make him regret his crime instead of having him free in the world. The same writer further states, “And I mean, the purpose of prison—there are really three purposes. The first is to rehabilitate prisoners, and thanks to research, we know that doesn't work. The other is to keep truly dangerous and evil people away from us… and the third is to allow society to express its disapproval, and to do that – that is, punish someone – we have to open our minds to other forms of punishment. And I think shame is one of the best forms" (Some judges.