public shaming

A couple of years ago, I was part of a discussion involving public shaming. Long story short, it involved a special education teacher blowing off some steam because her students had been mistreated while on a field trip. There were numerous enraged responses to the story. People calling the mom and her children horrible names and hoping that the post would make its way around, and she'd end up seeing it and feel embarrassed for her actions.

What no one is remembering is that this snapshot of a parent (regardless of their actions) was taken without their consent and many people are judging actions they did not witness.

Here's a hypothetical: What if they were simply having a terrible day and that's why they were out at the venue, and the mom was having a horrible lapse in judgment? It is no excuse, but objectifying people and publicly shaming has become acceptable somehow, yet it opens the door to becoming what you abhor: a bully.

Am I the only person questioning this method of intolerance? I don't see how public shaming isn't simply another form of mistreatment, which I typically label as bullying. 

Another big issue is that the post was probably not the most effective nor professional method of educating the public about SpecEd. I believe advocating for the student on site would have been the more effective approach and least potentially legally damaging. When out with my own special needs daughter I deal with people directly when there have been public insensitivity incidents. It can get infuriating, but the main point is to educate and hold people accountable in a proper way, so they can learn from the situation.

I'd like to know what you think could be some alternate solutions to such incidents.