An influencer father is under fire for disciplining his toddler son in a way that many think is abusive. Malcolm Collins, 37, a leader in the pronatalist movement, reportedly invited Jenny Kleeman, a journalist from the Guardian to his Pennsylvania home to discuss his life with his wife, Simone, 36, and their children.
It was during an outing to a restaurant that Collins allegedly slapped his 2-year-old son in the face for what seemed to be a minor infraction. The incident was jarring to Kleeman, but Collins apparently thought it was justified.
Kleeman explained that Malcolm Collins likened his parenting style to that of a tiger in the wild, who sees its cub misbehaving and uses a quick swipe of the paw to correct the little one. The Collins family apparently finds the method effective, but after Kleeman’s article hit, social media outrage ensued.
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The Collins family hopes to have many children.
Simone Collins recently gave birth to the couple's fourth child, which aligns with their pronatalist views. According to their website, pronatalist.org, the couple believes that in order for the world to succeed, families need to be bigger and couples need to embrace the idea of bringing many children into the world.
“We are strongly against authoritarian population control policies: instead of violent coercion, we are voluntarily expansive. We offer support and resources for anyone who has kids or may want them, regardless of race, sexuality, income, or another background,” the website explains.
The Collins family looks to Elon Musk as an inspiration.
Elon Musk, a father of 11 children, is reportedly a believer in the pronatalist movement. Malcolm Collins told the Guardian that Musk has been a wonderful face for pronatalists.
“I mean – the most powerful, most wealthy person in the world advocating for your cause helps a lot. Within this time period, he’s our version of being the king, or something,” he explained.
During Malcolm Collins’ discussion of Musk, his son apparently hit the table.
According to Kleeman, the 2-year-old boy, Torsten, knocked on the table where the family sat at a restaurant during the interview. His father smacked the child in the face in the middle of a public place in front of a journalist who was putting it all on the record. He then told the child that he needed to behave or he would get “bopped.”
The father seemed to go on about his business but circled back a bit later and explained to Kleeman about the tigers. “I was just giving you the context so you don’t think I’m abusive or something,” he told her.
The Collins’ style did not sit well with readers.
Kleeman posted a link to her article on X, where her writing received high praise but Collins’ parenting style was criticized.
One person wrote, "This was heartbreaking – and so well written."
Many others agreed.
"They think they are following data but they use physical punishment, which has been shown to be harmful, and unlimited screen time for a two year old, also shown to be harmful. Disturbing. Article was very well written," one person commented.
Another person pointed out the difference between children and animals, writing, "The fact that they decided to discipline their children based on how they observed tigers doing it is absolute madness. In most cat species males will sometimes kill babies to get the female to go into heat and then mate with her. They aren’t the best animal to pattern."
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The slap apparently led to trouble for the family.
Collins told the New York Post that after the article’s release, several people contacted authorities, concerned for the children. “Multiple people called [child-welfare services] over this. There’s now an active movement to take our kids away,” he said.
He defended his parenting in the post, saying, “This is where trigger warnings come from, or the idea that being offended or offending someone is a form of violence. There’s no tolerance for any form of emotional or personal inconvenience.”
