How do you discipline your child? Does it involve punishing your children? We came across the news of how one Chinese father punishes his son differently, and how he does it will surprise you.
Ready? In order to teach his son a lesson, this father kneels down and lashes himself.
A video went viral on the Chinese social media website Weibo last November 2017, and showed up again recently, of how a Chinese father punishes his son in an unusual way.
We don’t know if it’s going to be effective in the long run, but it certainly has an impact on the child, depending on the relationship between the father and son.
What an unusual method of discipline! Image: Screengrab, YouTube
Chinese father punishes son...by punishing himself
The video was filmed by the man’s daughter in the family living room. You can see from the footage that the father is scolding his son for, based on comments and translations, taking his mobile phone to school to play games. The boy claims that a teacher told him to bring his phone.
"Did Dad not teach you?" the father asks. His son responds that yes, he taught him.
Then, the father asks again, "You were taught, but you did not learn?" The son then responds with a Chinese idiom from the Three Character Classic: "To teach without severity, is the teacher's laziness."
Dad switches gears
The father then assumes a different tact. He hands his son a stick, then kneels down on the floor.
"This time, your wrong is Dad's fault. Dad did not teach you well. Dad will take the blame," he says. He then commands his son to punish him in his son’s stead by lashing his back with the stick. Frightened, his son refuses.
"If I tell you to hit, then hit. This is my fault! You hear what I'm saying. Quick, hit me!" the father shouts at his son. It was then that his son starts crying.
After more shouting, the father decidedly and impatiently grabs the stick from his son and proceeds to lash himself on the back while shouting.
"My fault. I did not teach my son. My fault, my fault, my fault..." the father shouted.
Chinese dad punishes himself
As the father lashes himself, his son continues to cry while his daughter, who’s still filming the encounter, pleads with him to stop.
"Dad did not teach you well. You took your phone to school to play games. Do you still dare to say that your teacher told you to bring it?" the father asks after he finishes lashing himself.
“No, I heard it wrong," his son whimpered.
"This time, Dad will take your punishment. Next time, you will take it, the stick will fall on your back. However many sticks are broken on Dad's back, will also be broken on yours," the father warns him.
Emotional blackmail
This questionable tactic employed by the father was certainly not receiving praises from netizens. Some say it’s a form of emotional blackmail that may have a negative effect on his children. It may even teach them to employ different forms of emotional blackmail in order to get what they want.
Some did admit that his kids will just have to hide their transgressions better, and perhaps sharpen their capacity for deception.
Although to be fair, compared to how other parents have been disciplining their children in hardcore ways (like parents dangling kids above rivers, dunking them in ponds, and even crucifying kids for not doing their homework), this one seems to be pretty lenient. In a strange way.
Watch the video here:
Source: The Shanghaiist
You can also read: Kids’ emotional abuse: The 5 signs you could be missing
Republished with permission from: theAsianParent Singapore
