A video posted by a dad who wanted to teach his daughter a lesson has gone viral and has amassed a huge following of supporters online. Matt Cox posted a video of his daughter walking to school on his Facebook account, a punishment for being reprimanded at school for a second time for bullying. The dad decided to institute a zero-tolerance policy and made her do the five-mile trek to school over the three days when she was suspended. But some people are pushing back against the disciplinary measure. Was he being too harsh — and is this an example of a parent publicly shaming his or her child?
Matt said that the second time his daughter got trouble in school for being unkind, he knew that he had to do something drastic.
According to News Now, 10-year-old Kirsten Cox was kicked off her bus for a second time for bullying another child, which typically would have meant that her dad would have to take over for transportation duties. But the father from Swanton, Ohio, didn't feel like his daughter would really learn the difference between right and wrong if she didn't feel the full weight of her actions.
That is why Matt made his daughter walk the five miles to school in 36-degree weather.
The walk was mandatory during Kirsten's three-day suspension: a major lesson for a pretty serious crime.
"Let me make this extremely clear: Bullying is unacceptable — especially in my household," Matt explained in the video he posted online about the punishment. "I know a lot of you parents are not going to agree with this and that's alright. I am doing what I think is right to teach my daughter a lesson to stop her from bullying."
The original video has since been deleted, but copies that exist online show that it had amassed more than 16 million views and has been shared more than 350,000 times.
In an interview with ABC 13, Matt stood by his decision to make his daughter walk to school in the cold — and share it online — because he wanted her to be held accountable for her actions. "I'm not going to be another parent that's just going to brush things under the rug and say kids will be kids," he said.
Online, many parents applauded Matt for going the extra mile to discipline his kids.
One person felt like the punishment of walking in the cold is a fair price to pay for bullying another kid.
And someone else felt like this was a good way for Matt to teach his daughter that actions have consequences.
But for some people, Matt's punishment and the accompanying video really rubbed them the wrong way.
Some people felt like posting the video of the punishment was unfair.
And another felt like making her walk so far in this weather crossed a line.
And one person made the fair point that the punishment doesn't really get down to the reason why Kirsten was bullying.
Matt said that he would do this punishment again because he believes that it works.
In an update to the video, Matt shared that Kirsten "still has all her extremities intact and 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."
"I just want the kids to know that words truly do hurt. They cut very deep and have lasting effects," he told ABC 13. "I hope that parents hold their kids accountable."
