It cuts both ways. When my son was in middle school, my wife picked him up at school. Somehow, they got crosswise, which isn't a surprising thing to have happen with a 7th grader. He was big enough and old enough that he could fend for himself, and she stopped the car. He got out and refused to get back in. I guess he thought she would circle the block and pick him up after he made his point. She didn't. She let him walk home, because she'd had enough and was really irritated. Later on, when the tempers cooled, she was completely mortified about what might happen and what people might say. Word got out, of course, and she became a hero to the other parents. They were delighted to have fairly well behaved kids for a while, since the threats were suddenly a lot more credible.
Nothing bad happened, and the kid made it home an hour or two later. He didn't misbehave very often, anyway, so it's a bit of an anomaly.