Posted on 03/06/2018 9:11:58 AM PST by BBell
A video of a Virginia father's unorthodox punishment for his bullying son has gone viral.
Bryan Thornhill shared a Facebook Live video on March 1 showing his 10-year-old son running to school in the rain as punishment after he was kicked off his school bus for three days for bullying another student.
In the video, Thornhill says that he "does not tolerate" and "cannot stand" bullying, and refers to the unusual punishment as "old school, simple parenting." The father of two also claims that since his son has been running the mile trek to school every day, his attitude has vastly improved.
"Ironically, since he's been running to school this week, his behavior's been much better. Teachers have approved of his behavior this week," Thornhill said. He hasn't gotten in trouble this week, where last week, he was just absolutely out of his mind."
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
If you suffered an abusive dad, maybe you’d me more sensitive to this. This is not a left-right, Dem-Rep, lib-cons, Christian-Non-Christian argument. Abuse is abuse.
I don’t know about that, but growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, I only knew of 2 boys that would qualify for today’s ADHD diagnoses.
They were always getting swats in class.
This story's example was not abuse. You are 100% out of synch with reality here. I would have gladly traded my REAL abuse for being forced to run to school in the mornings. GLADLY.
I expect that there are no medical issues with the son. In that case a 15 minute jog is often cited as a method to improve well being and fitness in most health magazines.
The experts recommend such activity, so Dad is doing exactly what a Dad should do with the added benefit of instructing his son how to be civil in our society.
The critics are certifiably busy bodies with no understanding as to child rearing.
Pretty impressed by the kid. He never broke stride!!
It all depends how we define abuse doesn’t it?
Nope, it is called good parenting. It is called hoping other people with difficult kids can learn from your example. It is called tough love. Dad followed him to school. He was in no danger. It is like my great grandmother. She caught her kids fighting she would put a stop to it and make them go cut some switches. 3. One for her and one for the two fighters. She would make them whip each other or she would whip both. (She had 9 kids and ran an orphanage of 30 more. All the kids she raised turned out extremely successful. One actually become personal friends with Onassis)
I was an OG. Original Ritalin kid. I have my record from when I was a kid and it is rather large. I had to be evaluated by several Doctors, including Phd types. My principle was sent a long two page letter explaining my situation. It was typed as in a type writer. My mother did not like medicating me, she hates taking medicine unless it’s absolutely necessary, but I was a handful. I started running away when I was two. I was resourceful, I could break out of anything. I could go on. Oh, I was also dyslexic.
I got in trouble for PTing a child who was misbehaving. I asked the officer if anything I had her do he had not done in the police academy. He said no, they did that and worse. I asked if he is telling me they do illegal things in the police academy. He laughed and told me to have a nice day.
You’re on the wrong site. DU is over yonder. This is NOT abuse. Abuse is allowing children to get away with bad behavior. Thinking like your’s is why teenagers and college kids are like they are today.
When I was a 10-year old girl my punishment was to chop/split firewood with an axe (gasp!) for a week or shovel sh** out of the barn by myself for a week, or get up a 4:00am to feed and water livestock by myself for a week. Those were my regular chores but I usually had four siblings to help, unless I was being punished. If we had lived in town I would have been running to school too.
My daddy didn’t raise any sissies or bullies.
Maybe the kid is a bully because of issues with Dad.
Oh, and REAL abuse would have been tying him to the car and dragging him to school, not making him run.
Yeah, what a big meanie dad is. He should have patted him on the head and told him what a good boy he is.
Not!
Surprise. An active boy needs to get his wiggles out
This isnt abuse. Its character development.
This would not even have been considered a punishment when I grew up. It would be very amusing if there were not people here who actually take this seriously. I don't know how old you are, but when I was a kid they did not provide bus service for kids that had to walk only a mile or less to school. My wife walked over a mile to and from school every day from the time she was in kindergarten.
I lived over three miles from my school so we had bus service provided, but when I became a teenager I got seriously into bicycle racing and eventually became state champion. I didn't want to leave my expensive bicycle locked up at school, so I ran too and from school for over three years. The bus made so many stops that I always beat my sisters to school and home if I left at the same time. When I got home I typically rode my bicycle 20 or 30 miles even in winter unless it was snowy out then I rode for an hour or two on my “rollers”. I wish that I had that kind of energy these days. And yes I definitely had an undiagnosed issue with "ADHD".
I hate to pile on here, but I had an abusive dad, too, so I am very sensitive to abuse. I must ask, did you watch the video? There is nothing in it that I can see is abusive, at least not from my experience. Perhaps if I stretch myself, I might consider it unhelpful to name his child on camera, or to post it on Facebook.
However, what he insisted the child do as a result of being thrown off the bus was rather remarkable. The *experts* suggest that a punishment fit the bad behavior as closely to the offense as possible. Some parents would have driven the kid to school, but what does that teach the kid? Mom and dad weren’t unruly on the bus, why should either of them have to drive the kid to school? This discipline makes perfect sense.
I don’t hear the father cussing him out, calling him names, hitting or striking the child. He isn’t yelling or screaming. Children need to know when they cross the line. I think this dad came up with a creative punishment that was something the kid could handle. He wasn’t overworked. It wasn’t beyond his capability. It seemed to me to be very tailored to the situation.
Look, my point is that this guy is being abusive, not disciplining. This is a 10 year old. You don't ignore his behavior, nor fallback on ADHD as an excuse. There is discipline and there is discipline.
Look, your point is wrong. Period.
I would have traded running a mile every morning, at the age of 10 -- to the abuse I suffered. Physical (I have scars), Mental and Psychological.
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