Bullying is a serious matter in today’s society. Children are often found bullying others for their self deficiencies, and it can take a toll on how the victims can react, and grow as a person. It’s common for parents to want to set their kids straight and teach them that bullying isn’t something that you should ever do. This is what Bryan Thornhill of Roanoke, Virginia decided to do in order to get his point across to his son. His son was kicked off of the bus for three days for bullying other children on the bus. Bryan stated clearly that he does not tolerate any form of bullying, which is why he taught his son a lesson by having him run to school. One day it was raining, and his son was running to school as Bryan was following him and filming him. Bryan posted that video onto Facebook, where the video received a wide array of many different reactions and opinions. Many were astounded that Bryan was doing this, while others agreed with his actions. However, regardless of the responses, Bryan stood by his decision. He felt as though he was right for punishing his son in this way because it was “simple healthy old school parenting”. He also continued to argue that “many parents don’t often have their children exercise or actually punish their children properly for the things that they do”. He continued by explaining that regardless of the reactions he was receiving, it was working wonders. His son was behaving much better at school and wasn’t causing problems like he was before. The teachers at the school explained to Bryan that his son was behaving much better by being nicer to his classmates and doing his work.
What’s more, is that this isn’t the only instance of this happening in the United States. Another punishment case comes from Matt Cox in Ohio. He made his daughter walk five miles to school on a cold December day to teach her a lesson about bullying other kids on the school bus. Matt claimed, “bullying is unacceptable, especially in my household”. Matt Cox also posted the video of him following his daughter to school in his car to Facebook. This video got somewhat negative reactions. Some were angry that Matt Cox thought this was a necessary punishment for a child. However, there were others arguing that they agreed with Matt’s decision but didn’t agree with him posting it online. There were many who argued that it shouldn’t be something that you post online. Regardless of the many reactions that Cox received, he still believes that the punishment served its purpose.
While there may people many who punish their children in their own way, some might not agree with others’ parenting skills or methods. Regardless of this, Matt Cox and Bryan Thornhill want the best for their children, and they want to find ways to prevent their children from being bullies to others. They want to prevent something similar from happening again and set an example for others to follow. Bullying is never okay and it is not fair to those who are victimized, which is why no parent should ever take bullying lightly.
