Child Punishment on TikTok Growing Rampant Online, Expert Says It's Not Ok

A recent child-punishment TikTok video is gaining attraction globally, creating controversy, and experts believe it is unacceptable.

Current child-punishment videos are spreading online. It is a TikTok trend where parents are disciplining their children to "shame" them online is gaining traction, but it's also creating controversy, with some parents reporting videos to child services.

Being a parent is difficult at the best of times, but it's even more difficult during a lockdown. Some parents are using TikTok as a new form of discipline as the app's popularity has increased over the last year.

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Derek Hensley, a 27-year-old TikToker and father from Williamson, West Virginia, came under fire for his alleged online "child shaming." In one viral video of over ten million views as of this writing, he can be seen closing his daughter's bedroom door after she slams it shut.

Another child-punishment video where the father swears at his daughter and smashes her laptop because she had it in bed with her when she was supposed to be sleeping. The girl appears to be holding back laughter, and the father, in response to criticism in the comments section, said it was all a hoax. He was unavailable for comment.

Hensley was also seen smashing his partner's daughter's TV screen with a guitar in another viral video, allegedly because she was playing video games instead of cleaning her room. Later, he, too, said it was staged.

Whether real or not, such videos can have significant repercussions. Parents are frequently worried about their children being bullied online, but some parents have recently become bullies.

Many parents are videotaping themselves disciplining their children and sharing the videos on TikTok to teach their children a lesson. As punishment for battling, one mother filmed her children scrubbing the ground. In the video, she says, "So my kids want to be d-s, so this is what I make them do."

According to their father, three children were filmed squatting with their backs against the wall and arms extended out as punishment for misbehaving. Two of the children in the video were crying, and one of them slammed the camera against her face when it got too close.

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The truth behind Hensleys child-punishment Tiktok video

He explained to the Wall Street Journal that the videos are staged after receiving death threats, messages from concerned users, and even child services calls. His children encouraged him to create a TikTok account. "In my videos, my kids aren't getting punished," he explained. "If my kids are punished, it isn't caught on tape, but they aren't in trouble that much anyway."

This isn't the first time on the app that child shaming has gone viral. Brian Wells, a TikTok consumer, received backlash in May 2020 after smashing his children's electronics with a hammer while criticizing them for not doing chores on video. Although some TikTok users were initially worried, Wells later explained.

In a later TikTok, he clarified that the products were indeed defective and that he thought the videos would be an excellent way to dispose of them. In their father's videos smashing the objects, his children appear stunned, but they also smile.

Not all of these videos, however, are staged. Several alarming instances of child shaming have gone viral on the app, causing social media users to take action. Tasha Fuller, a mother, went viral in August 2020 after taking over her child Alex's TikTok account. She posted a video with her distressed transgender boy, asking people to refer to Alex by their deceased name.

According to Dr. Free Hess of the Wall Street Journal, the growing pattern of staged kid bullying videos makes it challenging to draw the line. She believes that fake kid shaming videos may contribute to the creation of real kid shaming videos.

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