Texas mom makes son wear shirt that reads "I am a bully" to school

SPLENDORA, Tx. – A Texas mom says she wanted to make it clear to her young son that he was turning into a bully, and that was not okay with her.

She says making him wear a t-shirt to school with her message on it worked for her son.

Now, her efforts are going viral.

Katherine Marchand talked to the mom, who asked that only her first name be used in this report.

"I did what I had to do to stop it from progressing," said the mother, Star. 

This Splendora mom was not willing to put up with put-downs.

"He was calling other boys stupid and calling them idiots," said Star. 

To send her fifth grader a message, she sent him to school wearing this shirt.

"Well I wanted to do something that would teach him why he can't do those things. Why he needs to take other people into consideration," said Star. 

"I don't think it requires the scarlet letter, or sewing the letter b on his forehead," said Dr. Richard Pesikoff, a child psychiatrist.

Pesikoff understands why Star would be upset about her son bullying other kids but says this t-shirt could do more harm than good.

"It's not a good idea to embarrass your child and solidify a negative identity in an elementary school child. She needs to find somebody to help her, and I think the school is one resource," said Pesikoff. 

But star spoke with her son's counselor and teachers, and she says they supported her decision.

"They all were 100 percent onboard. they understood why i was doing it. and that for my son this is what works," said Star. 

CNN reached out to the district a spokesperson, who sent a statement that read in part, 'ensuring a safe physical emotional and social environment is one of Splendora ISD's core principles. With that in mind, our counselor checked on the child throughout the day on Friday and plans to follow up with the student and parent early this week."

But Star believes that follow up won't be necessary.

"He learned from this. That's all that matters," said Star.

Star posted a picture of her son wearing the bully shirt on Facebook, but says she took it down after getting negative feedback.

She said she's a "very old-school parent who doesn't coddle her children or sugar-coat the world to them."

She added that her son apologized to all the children he had bullied at school.