Earlier this week, I came across a news item that I am still trying to process days later. A four-year old boy Chinese boy by the name of Ho Yide was videotaped by his father (only known as ‘eagle daddy’) as the child shivered in freezing temperatures in his underwear on Chinese New Year’s Eve. I defy anyone to look at young Ho’s face and not feel sadness for the boy.
The eagle daddy’s assistant referred to this cruel treatment as “training” for the boy as the father claimed was born several months prematurely. Eagle Daddy says he’s making Ho endure these trials in order to build up his physical and mental toughness. To make matters worse, Ho’s mother can be heard laughing in the background as he cries out from doing push-ups in the cold.
To the father, you should be ashamed of yourself. Not only are you crushing your boy’s emotional spirits, you also put him at risk for hypothermia and other illnesses as well. What father would take pride in toughening up their son by making them crawl around on a snow-covered New York street? Even on its cleanest day, no child should be walking on a city street without shoes and socks, no matter the weather. Take into account vermin and trash and whatever else hidden under the snow, it just makes the instance more heinous.
Eagle Daddy seems to care less what the outside world thinks. He’s already relayed a defiant message via his assistant that he ‘doesn’t care what others say.’ As his father, he has a right to voice to the public that what he does with his child is not our business. However, filming your son crying in the cold as part of a regimen to improve the child’s heath makes Eagle Daddy an unfit father.
I happen to think Eagle Daddy is a bad daddy. This is my opinion and one I’m sticking to although I doubt few will disagree with that assertion. This is not fathering, this is pure physical torture. Looking at the body of evidence, what of Ho Yide’s despair caught on tape displays the making of a good father? How does physical and mental abuse inspire greatness in a growing child?
I hope that the Eagle Daddy stops the abuse and realizes he’s doing far more harm than good. For now, I pray that Ho doesn’t grow into becoming a broken young man due to the cruel iron hand of his father. Ho Yide deserves better treatment from his father. It is truly too bad his daddy doesn’t see the error in his actions.
I don't think the child should be removed from the parents at this time, that would be as bad an act of violence as that of his father (with his mother's enthusiastic encouragement).
ReplyDeleteBoth parents do need to be sat down with a cop and social worker though and given an ultimatum, that if they continue this so-called "training" they will lose their child.
I speculate that the "eagle dad" is a product of cruel parenting himself - these behaviors tend to run in generations. And he's visiting on his son what was done to him in his early years.
By contrast a good dad would strengthen his son's will by leading by example, e.g. if they both did a quick "polar bear run" out into the snow in their undies, before dashing back in for some hot chocolate and hugs.
Hey Tweesdad, thanks for the comment. I agree with your view of things. Instead of making placing the boy under physical duress, doing something fun and active together. There's a lot of dad-son games and sports they could play in order to get his boy stronger as he claims. This, to me, just seemed a bit extreme.
DeleteD.L. Chandler,
Web Editor
www.fatherhood.org
i agree, a father should lead by example. i believe in corrective action, corrective training and endurance training for children. but the activity should be designed for the childs physical aptitude and ability. push-ups in the snow in climatic weather without snivel gear and a real purpose for a child is absurd.
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