
No parents want to see their kid being bullied, especially when it seems like there's nothing we can do to stop it. Those feelings that are stirred up when we feel like someone is messing with our child can be strange and confusing and can lead even the best of us to make some really iffy decisions. But one dad totally crossed the line when he decided to choke a teenage boy bullying his daughter — and people are actually saying he was right for doing it.
Last month, 53-year-old Mark Bladen from Brisbane, Australia, met up with a 14-year-old boy who had been bullying his stepdaughter to try to resolve the issue.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes Australia, Bladen's unnamed stepdaughter claimed that the boy had been calling her names like "gorilla," sending her insulting gifts, and tormenting her relentlessly.
Bladen revealed that he originally planned to give the kid a "good old-fashioned talking to." That plan went out the window when the teenager "smiled at [him]," causing the dad to snap.
The viral video of the incident showed the dad yelling and pointing in the boy's face.

In only a split second, Bladen went off the rails, grabbing the 14-year-old by the neck and choking him.

The video clearly shows the kid squirming and trying to get Bladen off of him. The struggle goes on for a few seconds before the teenager's friends forcefully pull Bladen away yelling, "Get the f*ck off him, get off him!"
Bladen wasn't finished, though. Even after he was pulled off the boy, they continued to fight, with the dad dragging the boy by the leg.

7 News reports that after the incident, the teen boy who Bladen attacked reported the incident to the police. The 53-year-old was charged with "assault occasioning bodily harm." But according to a recent News.com.au report, Bladen pleaded guilty during his court date on March 20, but wasn't convicted of a crime and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
Apparently, Bladen apologized to his victim in court and warned other parents against following his lead with their kids' bullies. "I'm very sorry for what I did, very regretful and ashamed," he said. "Please don't do what I did, I just lost control. It's definitely not the way to handle things."
But in his recent 60 Minutes Australia interview, the dad seems to have changed his tone, defending himself by saying, "We live in a day of political correctness, and I'm sick of it."
And according to the flood of social media responses, a lot of people agree with him.

A huge amount of both parents and non-parents believe that Mark Bladen was totally justified in attacking the 14-year-old boy.
Some argue that he was only doing his job as a father and "protecting" his daughter.

Plenty of parents who spoke out in support of him said that they would have done the same thing for their kids.

But others were totally disgusted and pointed out that it's up to adults to make sure things don't escalate into violence the way this situation did.

A few people even called Bladen a bully, saying that the kid's parents should have been trusted to discipline their 14-year-old.

There's no way it was easy for Mark Bladen to watch his daughter be tormented, and no one blames him for getting emotional over it. But at the same time, it's completely unacceptable for adults to put their hands on a child the way Bladen did. This situation should have been handled with the school, with the other kid's parents, or even by the police if necessary. It's not "political correctness" to say that adults shouldn't be choking kids, it's common sense.