One parent in Ohio has received mixed reviews of his unorthodox disciplinary style after forcing his young daughter to walk to school in near-freezing temperatures.
Matt Cox shared video on social media of the punishment he doled out to the 10-year-old following reports that she had bullied another student on the school bus.
“So today my beautiful daughter is going to walk five miles to school in 36 degree weather,” he said. “I know a lot of you parents are not going to agree with this, but that is all right. Because I am doing what I feel is right to teach my daughter a lesson and to stop her from bullying.”
He said the girl had been reprimanded twice for such behavior, adding that he refused to give her a ride when she was booted from the bus last week.
“Friday when my daughter brought home her paperwork for her school suspension she said, ‘Daddy you’re going have to take me to school next week,'” Cox said. “A lot of children feel the things their parents do for them is a right and not a privilege, such as parents taking their children to school in the morning or even bus rides to school in the morning.”
As of this writing, the video has been viewed more than 17 million times and racked up roughly 71,000 comments on Facebook. A majority of the comments in direct response to the video were supportive of his decision.
The reactions on Twitter, however, run the gamut from those who agree with his parenting style to others who believe the punishment was too harsh, as reported by CBS News.
Ohio dad makes girl walk miles to school for #bullying on bus
What excellent parenting…did his daughter a huge favour! pic.twitter.com/5ieUobfSJd— Nicholas Walker Ph.D (@Nicknackwalker) December 6, 2018
Child: "Dad, I got suspended from the bus because I was bullying someone"
Dad: "I'm going to bully you….to teach you that bullying is wrong!"
There are 1000 better ways to handle this situation that don't involve forcing a child to walk 5 miles in freezing temperatures
— Bastet (@kristijrn) December 6, 2018
Cox provided an update on Facebook, indicating that his daughter had learned her lesson.
“Still has all her extremities intact is happy and healthy and seems to have a new outlook on bullying as well as a new appreciation for some of the simple things in life she used to take for granted,” he wrote.
[Featured image: Facebook, video screenshot]
