Couple Forces Their Child to Watch TV All Night as Punishment, Denying Him a Second of Sleep

A couple invited mixed views from the online community when they resorted to an unusual way of teaching their child a lesson. Astonishingly enough, they reportedly made their son stay up all night to watch television, penalizing him for his disobedience.

Parenting varies across countries, cultures, races, and ethnicities. What one parent considers acceptable and apt might not be true for the other. Parents can sometimes choose strange and somewhat unpopular reasoning methods with their kids.

While there's no rigid way of teaching your children how to behave in certain situations, some parenting techniques can attract widespread attention. A similar scenario unfolded when a couple's actions toward their kid divided the netizens. Take a look at the complete story!

The Parents' Instructions

A couple asked their young boy to stay home while they went out for the evening. Before leaving, they specifically told their son to complete his homework, eat his dinner, and go to bed after brushing his teeth and arranging his bag for the school day.

The incident occurred in the Hunan province of central China and wasn't the only case of tough-love parenting in the country.

Not Complying with the Orders

The eight-year-old boy was told to be in bed by 8:30 p.m., and his parents hoped he would comply with their order. However, when they returned home late at night, they were stunned to see that wasn't the case.

To their astonishment, the youngster had neither finished his schoolwork nor bathed. He wasn't even asleep; instead, he had reportedly spent the time his parents were away enjoying the television. But the question was: how did the kid get caught in his act?

The Punishment

It turned out that when his parents arrived home, the boy snuck out and went straight to bed. However, his mom and dad discovered what he had been up to behind their backs and were determined to teach him a lesson.

Henceforth, the boy's mother went to his bedroom, took him to the living area, and made him sit in front of the TV all night. At first, the child was tranquil as he munched on snacks, watched television, and even played on his smart device.

He even relaxed on the sofa for some time but soon felt tired. After that, he got up and went to his bedroom for a good night's sleep. Little did he know what his parents had planned for him.

A Case of Tough Parenting

To the child's dismay, his parents didn't permit him to go to bed until 5 in the morning. Although he succeeded in secretly going to his room, he was caught by his mom and dragged back to the living space.

The duo kept tabs on their boy to ensure he didn't sneak out again, not letting him out of their sight. The parents took turns to keep the boy awake and ensure his eyes were fixed on the TV screen. His father woke him up whenever he dosed off, not letting him sleep a wink!

Around 2 a.m., the boy reportedly started to cry, trying to reason with his parents to let him sleep. But all his efforts were in vain, and he had to endure the punishment for not doing his homework and being in bed by 8:30 p.m.

Garnering Mixed Views Online

According to the mother, her boy eventually came around, and the supposed punishment served as positive reinforcement. Surprisingly, not everyone agreed with her because the story amassed mixed reactions from netizens.

While some supported the parents' technique of teaching their son a lesson, others were outraged and voiced their concerns, calling the method too harsh:

"Very effective punishment! The kid will hate watching TV now."

— (@punam.mohandas) November 27, 2022

"I actually did a simillar thing with my son who was very irritating about his home cooked food but would gobble on KFC..I once made him eat a whole 12 pc bucket after a full evening of irritation..even though he did not change after that, his craving for KFC somewhat reduced."

— (@abhijit.chatterjee2) November 27, 2022

"Loved it best punishment ever (sic)."

— (@suparna.ganguly.5477272) November 28, 2022

"Nothing wrong in it. The child is not staying awake every night. Such punishments are better lessons and much better than beatings and thrashing. Disconnecting tv could be a problem because a bit of tv time is fine for a child."

— (@haimanti.banerjee.9) November 26, 2022

"When your entire parenting strategy is based on punishment, all you can do when it’s not working is punish even more."

— (@Penumi) November 26, 2022

"It’s the parents fault that the child watches too much tv in the first place, if anything they should be punished! Poor child …"

— (@100008406044785) November 26, 2022

"As parents we need to discipline our children with love and respect for them too not in an abusive way."

— (@peggy.fiedtkou.92) November 26, 2022

"Perhaps the parents should have stayed awake for 48 hours without sleep to payback."

— (@boomesh.beedasy.9) November 26, 2022

Similar Stories

The incident occurred in the Hunan province of central China and wasn't the only case of tough-love parenting in the country. The South China Morning Post reported that, in June 2022, a Chinese teacher took a young boy to a construction site to teach him the importance of literacy.

Two months later, in August, a woman compelled her eight-year-old boy to gather recyclable items and repay the money he had stolen from his grandma. The youngster reportedly earned 20 yuan ($3) and gave them to his grandmother.

Do you think the parents were justified in the method they used to teach their kid a lesson?

Click here to read about an angry mother who posted an advertisement to punish her naughty son and dozens of neighbors came to her aid.