What to Know
If you think you should just mind your business and move on if you see a parent acting unfavorably to their kid in a grocery store parking lot, then TikTok is not for you. Because after one user shared a video of a dad defending himself after allegedly hitting his toddler, other users came for him with their pitchforks and torches in the comments. Figuratively, of course.
In the video, the user, Kylie, explains through text on the screen that she witnessed a man “aggressibly” dragging his son to their car, where he allegedly punched the child in the chest. In the video, the dad shouts about what he is allied to do with his own son and his wife immediately comes to his defense. And people on TikTok have something to say about both of them.
The dad said it’s his right to smack his son.
@dr.smileykylie 5/25/26: The man in the video dragged his child (not the baby in the video, a small boy that looked to be around 2-3 years old) across the parking lot by the wrist so forcefully that he was lifted into the air several times, he then THREW him into the passenger seat violently and wound up with his hand all the way behind his head to “spank” the child, though the child wasn’t flipped over, so it definitely wasn’t directly on his butt – I’m not sure it even counts as a spanking. He then got into drivers seat and started screaming in his kid’s face so loudly that his face turned bright red and his neck vein bulged out as the kid put his hands up, sobbing and shaking his head no. The father then leaned over and punched his child in the chest with a closed fist to slam him back into the seat, then picked him up and threw him into the back seat and continued screaming at him. This video was taken after another man approached the car and told the father that the store manager was calling the police after witnessing him drag the child through the store and that violence is never needed. My partner and I gathered his license plate info as the other nice man called the police. The father proceeded to scream at us, ask if we had kids to which we responded “yes and we’ve never laid a finger on them” (fur babies in our case but still). He then defended himself by saying corporal punishment is allowed in NC. At this point I started the video. After the video the man holds his crying child up in the air and flails him around trying to show us “there were no bruises”. They drive off before the police arrive. We gave the police a full statement, and then the couple returned to “defend themselves”. There were 5+ witnesses and the police are investigating. I’m posting this to expose people who think it’s okay to hit children, if they were okay doing this in public I can’t imagine what happens in private. See something, say something, don’t let the bystander effect silence you. #wilmingtonnc #traderjoes #seesomethingsaysomething ♬ original sound – Dr. Kylie PT, DPT
The TikTok shows the dad walking toward someone else who is presumably filming him with his son in his arms. He tells them, “I can slap my son in the butt all I want. I put him down and I smack him.” A few seconds later, they direct their attention toward Kylie and say that they can discipline their son how they want.
OK, the first issue here is obviously the alleged abuse. The second is the doubling down of said abuse. These parents, whose casually expensive looking clothes paint a picture of who they are outside of this ordeal, are not going to change from one chance encounter with a group of angry bystanders.
In the caption of the video, Kylie explained, “The man in the video dragged his child (not the baby in the video, a small boy that looked to be around 2-3 years old) across the parking lot by the wrist so forcefully that he was lifted into the air several times, he then THREW him into the passenger seat violently and wound up with his hand all the way behind his head to “spank” the child, though the child wasn’t flipped over, so it definitely wasn’t directly on his butt – I’m not sure it even counts as a spanking. He then got into the driver’s seat and started screaming in his kid’s face so loudly that his face turned bright red and his neck vein bulged out as the kid put his hands up, sobbing and shaking his head no.”
His wife came to his defense immediately.
The man’s wife shouted at onlookers about “corporal punishment” and how her husband was in the right with his alleged actions against their child.
“She’s defending him because he does the same to her and she lets him,” someone commented on the video. “I hope he receives the same treatment in prison.”
However, someone responded to that with, “I actually don’t think so. I think they’re both like that. She isn’t giving victim vibes to me.”
“Doing this in public means behind doors it’s worse,” someone else commented. “Always speak up for children!!! Thank you. Praying for the babies’ safety.”
Others commented that, even if the act of spanking is normalized in some cultures, that doesn’t make it OK. Case in point: many of us Millenials grew up with parents unafraid to spank or even use a belt as a form of punishment. But the whole idea of parenting better than that is to break that cycle now. Luckily, many of us are, but unfortunately not all of us.
The person who filmed the video posted a follow-up.
@dr.smileykylie Replying to @Default My desire to help and be the voice for a child overpowered my fear of posting and being judged but going forward I’m considering going back to my comfortable post free life. I really need to reflect on it, there’s plenty of good resources out here without me needing to post but maybe in my discomfort of posting I could help more people. The fact that I helped other people who have gone through this feel seen and supported has made all of the hate worth it. I’ll answer as many questions as I can and then I’m going to take a minute to reflect on whether or not I’m keeping this account. @RebirthoftheMak🍉 reposted their follow up video, please comment any questions about this video or their follow up video below in a respectful way. #seesomethingsaysomething ♬ original sound – Dr. Kylie PT, DPT
Kylie later posted a follow-up video to share more of her thoughts on the incident.
“I understand this family is hyper focused on the fact that the punch didn’t happen,” she says in the video. “And I can assure you that all three of us who saw the punch are certain in what we saw. 100% certain. However, if you take the punch out of it, everything else that we saw as well, including the intensity of the spank, was not corporal punishment either. And I can assure you, if it were just a spanking, I would not have personally said anything. As a child who was spanked, I do not agree with it, and I will never do it. However, I understand that that is legal in the state.”
According to a post on Reddit, the couple made a response on TikTok, but their account is private. Whether or not anything changes, the court of public opinion pretty much threw the book at them, so there’s that.
