Dad sparks backlash with ‘cruel’ punishment for misbehaving kids at Christmas

A dad left TikTok viewers divided after sharing his ‘cruel’ trick to ensure kids are well-behaved during the holidays.

In a viral clip with 24.2 million views, TikTok user BennyG7070 recorded a lit fireplace, with presents dotted around the room in festive wrapping paper.

“With Christmas approaching, here is a top tip for parents,” he said, before revealing his rather controversial method of making sure his children behave.

“Wrap up some empty boxes and pretend that they are presents. Then each time one of those little f**kers misbehaves, chuck one onto the fire,” he explained.

The video concluded with the dad grabbing an empty, neatly wrapped Christmas present, and throwing it straight into the roaring fire.

“Christmas is coming, and here is a sure fire way to ensure your little darlings behaving proper,” he captioned the 16-second clip.

Dad slammed for ‘cruel’ way to ensure kids behave at Christmas

TikTok users in the comments were divided over the hack, with many criticizing the dad, and accusing him of traumatizing his kids.

“How to cause trauma to children,” one critic wrote. “That’s abuse,” another shared.

“Ah yes, let’s start the childhood trauma early and make them hate Christmas,” a third added.

“Don’t do this, some kids can get scared for real so I wouldn’t recommend,” someone else said.

The content creator dismissed some of the criticism, as he later commented on his own video, “Hi Karens!”

Others, however, found the controversial method hilarious, and came to the dad’s defense.

“That’s a great idea wish I could have done that to my kids when they where younger,” one parent commented, along with a laughing crying face emoji.

“As a mother of three I will second this,” another wrote.

“My dad did this, we started to behave after this,” a third said.