Televised social experiment that sees children being BAITED by bullies to test their reactions sparks furious debate among parents – as some insist kids should always be taught to FIGHT back… so, what do YOU think?
- A social experiment testing how kids respond to bullies has sparked debate
- The clip from ABC TV show The Parent Test shows a child taking another’s hat
- It’s being witnessed by other children and viewers can see how they respond
A social experiment that tests how children respond to bullying has sparked heated debate online.
ABC reality series The Parent Test showcases the parenting styles of 12 different families and how their children react to a range of scenarios.
A clip from the show’s two-episode finale was posted on Instagram, showing the Wynne children, whose mom and dad Sara and Michael are described as parents with a ‘new age’ style that focuses on empowering their children and being flexible.
In the scenario, siblings eight-year-old Soleil, six-year-old Serene and four-year-old Aerys witness a child taking another’s hat before running around with it and taunting him at the playground. The bully and the victim are played by child actors.
The victim asks the bully multiple times to give the hat back.
A social experiment that tests how children respond to bullying has sparked debate among parents online
ABC’s The Parent Test showcases the parenting styles of 12 different families and how their children react to different scenarios. Pictured is a bullying situation depicted on the show
Other parents, host Ali Wentworth and parenting expert Dr. Adolph Brown watch on as the experiment unfolds before Serene steps in and says to the bully, ‘You should give it to him when he asks for it,’ and diffuses the situation.
After watching the Wynne children and others react to the bullying scenarios, Adolph asked the parents what they thought about teaching kids to fight back.
One parent, Alex, said: ‘Yes, 100 per cent.
‘I never, ever will allow or want my children to be physically violent with others. But if it’s self defense… you punch the other kid hard, and then they won’t ever do it again.’
Some of the parents agreed with Alex’s stance that children should ‘physically fight back.’
Adolph then shared research on the show about bullied children who did retaliate and school shootings.
‘What [studies have] found is that these children are children who are are angry, who have been bullied, violated and disrespected, left school to return later to end lives,’ the expert said.
‘These are males who were told that it was okay to defend themselves and believe and have been taught that violence, physical violence is acceptable.’
A clip from the TV show’s two-episode finale was posted on Instagram, showing the Wynne children, whose mom and dad Sara and Michael are described as parents with a ‘new age’ style
Michael and Sara Wynne watch on as the bullying scenario plays out with their children
Adolph added they did not choose to use their fists, but ‘they got firearms.’
‘When we teach that violence is a means to an end, we all have to accept that there are consequences beyond our control,’ he said.
Poll
Do you think it’s okay for children to physically fight back against bullies?
Do you think it’s okay for children to physically fight back against bullies?
Now share your opinion
The segment sparked fierce debate online about what the ‘best’ response to witnessing and being bullied would be.
‘I think kids should fight back if being attacked. I do not think there is a correlation between defending yourself and school shootings. There is a lot more going on at home that cause these shootings than blaming self-defense,’ one person said.
Another added: ‘I don’t think kids should hit back, when I was a kid, kids would antagonize someone to the point where the one being bullied would hit them and then the bully would use that as a excuse to justify their behavior and do something even crazier to the kid that hit them out of anger… Violence should never be the answer to conflict.’
‘This bullying challenge on #TheParentTest is real. My parents were strict about defending family. If someone put hands on a sibling and we didn’t all join in to beat a**, then we got in trouble,’ one Twitter user wrote.
The segment sparked fierce debate online about what the ‘best’ response to witnessing and being bullied would be
‘I was bullied my entire life home & school & trust when I stood up for myself I felt much better & lived a easier life,’ someone else said.
Adolph shared his advice with parents about how they can teach their children the best way to handle bullies. He broke it down into three steps.
The first step was to stand up: ‘Don’t be a bystander, be an upstander.’
Adolph said the second was to ‘choose forceful words, not fighting words.’
‘That’s important with emotionality of situations,’ he said.
And the last step was to involve a ‘caring adult.’
‘At that point the children have showed us that they aren’t able to stop it, so the parents have to,’ Adolph said.
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