A video is going viral in Singapore parenting circles right now, where a father ties son as punishment for bullying his little brother. The dad's method of discipline has left viewers torn.
So what exactly happened?
Father Ties Son as Punishment for Kicking Little Brother
The video (which you can watch at the end of this article) begins in the living room of the family. You can see the dad, clearly controlling his anger, and his children – a girl and two boys.
One boy is trussed up with a black strip of cloth, and is lying face down on the floor. The girl and other boy meanwhile are sitting on the couch, staring wide-eyed at their father, who starts by saying, "Here we start my teaching method. Begin by recognizing what's wrong."
We are made to understand that the older boy has kicked and bullied his little brother. The dad tells the little boy that he should not just let other people bully him.
Indicating the older boy tied up on the floor, the dad proceeds to tell the younger boy, "Here's the one who bullied you, tied here on the floor. You have two choices: you can kick him back in the head, or rescue him. What do you choose?"
Next, we see CCTV footage of the actual bullying incident. The little brother is crouching on the floor. Another boy – his older brother – is kicking him. The little boy doesn't move or try to run away while he's being bullied.
Back to the family in the living room. The dad asks his daughter to go and bring the tie, which she does. He then proceeds to tightly tie up the older boy, then, pushes him back on the sofa.
The father then proceeds to tell the older boy: "He's your younger brother, yet you kicked him like a dog. Would you be okay if I kicked you like a dog? How are you related to the victim? (I am his brother.) If you are really his brother should you be protecting your little brother or bullying him?"
At one point, the father asks the younger boy, "If people kick you, what will you do?" The son replies, "I'll dodge them." Father then asks, "What if you can’t dodge?" The boy replies, "Tell teacher." "And what if teacher is not around?" asks the father next.
He also asks the small boy why he didn't escape OR fight back when he was being bullied. "Someone is kicking you aggressively. Why didn't you run away? Why did you stupidly remain there?" he asks.
We see the older brother lying on the floor again. The younger boy doesn't resort to violence, and unties his brother.
The video ends with the two brothers hugging each other and making up.
Effective Discipline or Not?
Parenting is so tough. We can see just how hard this dad is trying to control his anger.
Netizens commenting on the video mostly applaud the dad's method of discipline, but some disagree.
Here are some of the comments:
He should not have tied up the kid and made him lie on the floor. Totally traumatizing the kid. This is already an act of revenge. Should not even give the younger kid the option of either kicking his brother. Something is very wrong about his teaching even though he is trying to prove a point.
As a head of the household he can decide how he wants to approach this issue. He lets the older brother feel what it is like to be in the shoes of the victim and allows the victim to see for his own eyes how is it like to use violence to exact his revenge. There are times to withdraw harsh methods. And there are times to go hard of them. His approach doesn't involve hitting them but merely letting them be in each other's shoes. Moral of the story: as long as the kid grows up to be a fine young man, whatever approach the dad uses, is not wrong. Because he did his part as a parent: teach your child the right things in life.
Salute this father. He did correct way to teach his own children. What if yr own son kick other ppl children? Or what if your own son kick by other ppl children?
Teach a kid even if you have to be harsh, if you dont teach him well, the society will punish him in worse ways in the future. Not everyone will agree with his parenting method, but only the father will know the background of his kids and the correct method to apply. We cant judge based on this video alone.
Confusing the kids... not the right way teaching.
We are not going to judge the dad here: He did what he thought was right, given the circumstances. He does it with his children's best interests at heart and we know that he is strongly against bullying.
What do you think, dear parents? Was this dad's method of discipline right? Is it effective? Does it teach the correct lessons? What would you have done if you were in this father's shoes?
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
Republished with permission from: theAsianParent Singapore