Bryan Thornhill/FacebookA father has made a controversial parenting move to punish his son, who was accused of bullying school peers.
Bryan Thornhill forced his 10-year-old son to run a mile to school, in the pouring rain, after finding out he was bullying people on the school bus.
The angry dad took a video from inside his car of his son running outside in the rain:
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He began the four-minute Facebook live video by saying:
Hey everyone, welcome to ‘You better listen to your Dad 2018’.
My son has finally got in trouble on the bus enough to where he was kicked off the bus for three days because he was being a little bully which I do not tolerate, cannot stand.
Therefore, he has to now run to school, we’re right about one mile from the school so all week he’s got the experience of running.
Bryan Thornhill/FacebookIt seems Thornhill’s son was making up for his previous discretions in his dad’s eyes, as Thornhill could see the humour in his disciplinary ways.
The confident father continued:
The good news is guys he keeps up a pretty good mile pace, 6 miles an hour so far. Yesterday he was apparently a little rude to Michelle in the morning, so even though it’s raining this morning, he still gets to run.
Just wanted to show everybody and give you a good little laugh. This right here is called parenting.
Bryan Thornhill/FacebookApparently the punishment – now also including public humiliation – has been working, as he claims his son’s attitude has ‘been much better’, and his ‘teachers have approved of his behaviour this week.’
Thornhill added: ‘he hasn’t got in trouble at school this week’ whereas ‘last week he was absolutely out of his mind’.
The American dad was adamant his son would learn from this, and out he went the next day, administering the same punishment.
Posted by Bryan Thornhill on Friday, 2 March 2018
He added:
We’re gonna make sure that one way or another his teachers are gonna be able to enjoy his company at school, he’s not disrupting his classmates and everything else.
He concluded the video saying:
Teach your kids, don’t be a friend, be a parent. That’s what children need these days.
At the time of writing Thornhill’s video has been shared by 37,ooo people and viewed by 1.6 million presumably desperate parents.
Bryan Thornhill/FacebookThornhill encouraged people to share the video to ‘make it go viral’, and seems to be taking the clip’s popularity online as praise for his parenting skills.
However, some have blasted the dad’s actions as ‘cruel’ with others even claiming he’s using his son’s public humiliation as means to get attention online.
Bullying, of course, can never go unpunished:
The question is, should parents resort to arguably bullying methods to teach their children a lesson?
Or whether anyone should judge another parents’ method at all?
Bryan Thornhill/FacebookIf you or anyone you know has been the victim of bullying, the Diana Award’s Anti-Bullying Campaign has loads of useful information and advice.
If you’re 18 or over, the Samaritans are available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year to provide confidential emotional support. Their free to call number is 116 123, and you can email them at [email protected].
Alternatively, if you are a child or young adult in distress or need some support call Childline on 0800 1111. Adults concerned about a child, call 0800 800 5000.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.