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A father’s unconventional way of disciplining his young son has divided the internet after a home security camera captured the moment, and the parents decided to upload it online.
Katie and Dustin Maletich are raising a blended family of four children. The parents were home with their 9-year-old son, Tommy, when he told his mother to “chill” – a comment they say is out of character for the boy.
Nearby, Dustin decided to step in immediately.
“It really was just an authentic moment,” he explained on “Fox & Friends First” Thursday.
“I was in the other room and heard what I thought was a disrespectful comment to his mom, and we try to do consequences or correlated actions.”
In the clip, Dustin can be seen calmly instructing Tommy to drop to the floor and do push-ups. After some hesitation, the boy does as requested and begins counting them off.
After the exercise, Dustin and Tommy discussed what had happened and why his comment elicited such a response. Following the conversation, the two shared a hug, and Tommy apologized to his mother.
“When you demonstrate the inability to control your actions, I think a physical consequence not only fixes that, helps you regulate, but it also reaffirms that you are in control of your body, and you can control what you say and do. Even if you don’t so much feel like it,” Dustin said.
Katie later checked the family’s indoor security footage and realized the moment had been recorded.
“It was just such a tender, special moment to me. I wanted to keep it and save it. So, I checked the ring camera, and it was there,” she said.
At the time, their following was only a few thousand. Katie mainly meant for friends and family on social media to see the tender exchange, but the clip quickly went viral, drawing a torrent of praise and criticism from the public.
Some online users supported the approach and applauded Dustin for standing up for his wife in their home. Others argued that linking exercise to punishment could create negative associations for physical activity later in life.
Parenting expert and educational psychologist Dr. Michele Borba told Fox News Digital the discipline itself was “right on the mark,” though she questioned the decision to share the video publicly.
Posting the clip, she said, could be seen as an added layer of discipline or even public humiliation.
Katie says she stands by their method and wanted other parents to see a different way of reprimanding children.
“I thought maybe if other parents could [see] how this unfolds in real time it could inspire [them] the way it inspired me,” she said.
“I thought I want to share this, and hopefully it helps other parents come up with better solutions to losing it on their kids.”
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