A COUPLE who came under fire for making their nine-year-old son do push-ups and squats as punishment have defended their parenting technique.
Dustin, 35, and Katie Maletich, 32, from Oregon , went viral on TikTok after they shared a video showing how they handled their son Tommy misbehaving.
Recorded on an at-home camera, Tommy was seen arguing with his mother over wanting to use her phone .
Katie told him to stop and he replied: ”OK, chill”.
The remark, however, left Dustin unamused.
”Did you just tell your mum to chill?” a shocked Dustin asked the little boy.
Without much hesitation, Dustin then demanded the youngster to start doing push-ups .
The nine-year-old obliged, immediately getting down on all fours and and starting the exercise .
He stopped after doing ten – but the dad still wasn’t satisfied and told him to keep going.
”I can’t do anymore,” Tommy said – however, Dustin wasn’t having any of it and kept pushing the nine-year-old to ”go, go”
20 push-ups later, Tommy was exhausted – but his dad then broke the news that he’d also have to do squats.
The nine-year-old did a whopping 60 squats before his dad finally told him he could stop.
”Do we tell mum to ‘chill out’? Absolutely not,” Dustin told him after he was done.
‘I wouldn’t let anybody else talk to her like that so you don’t get to talk to her like that.”
Tommy then apologised to mum Katie and the viral video ended with Dustin telling him: ”I love you.”
Sharing the footage online under the username @ raisingmaletich , Katie wrote in the caption: ”I will never stop being grateful to be raising kids with a real man who knows how to be a father, especially to his boys.
Different parenting styles explained
There are four recognised styles of parenting explained below:
Authoritarian Parenting
What some might describe as “regimental” or “strict” parenting.
Parents with this style focus on strict rules, obedience, and discipline.
Authoritarian parents take over the decision-making power, rarely giving children any input in the matter.
When it comes to rules, you believe it’s “my way or the highway”.
Permissive Parenting
Often referred to as “soft parenting” or “yes mums/dads”.
Permissive parents are lenient, only stepping in when there’s a serious problem.
They’re quite forgiving and they adopt an attitude of “kids will be kids”.
Oftentimes they act more like friends than authoritative figures.
Authoritative Parenting
Authoritative parents provide their children with rules and boundaries, but they also give them the freedom to make decisions.
With an authoritative parenting style, parents validate their children’s feelings while also making it clear that the adults are ultimately in charge.
They use positive reinforcement techniques, like praise and reward systems, as opposed to harsh punishments.
Neglectful or Uninvolved Parenting
Essentially, neglectful parents ignore their children, who receive little guidance, nurturing, and parental attention.
They don’t set rules or expectations, and they tend to have minimal knowledge about what their children are doing.
Uninvolved parents expect children to raise themselves. They don’t devote much time or energy to meeting children’s basic needs.
Uninvolved parents may be neglectful but it’s not always intentional.
A parent with mental health issues or substance abuse problems, for example, may not be able to care for a child’s physical or emotional needs consistently.
”This is masculinity,” Katie wrote in the caption of the video, which has racked up more than 1.4 million views.
But viewers were divided over parenting technique, with some applauding Dustin’s method and others slamming the pair for making their son do physical activity as punishment .
While chatting exclusively with the Daily Mail , Katie and Dustin defended their actions.
”This is not something exceptionally difficult for him because we all workout together as a family for fun several times a week and he is used to this sort of exertion,” Dustin explained.
”’You can tell right away when I ask him, ‘What did you say?’ that he knew he had messed up.
”He is such a great kid and is generally very remorseful when he knows that he made a mistake.”
Dustin applauded his son for apologising to Katie without being asked to and pointed out that the moment ”ended with love”.
In Dustin’s eyes, the physical exercise allows Tommy to ”refocus when he feels that he doesn’t have control over his body and mind which always makes him more reception to healthy communication”.
The couple said they never expected the video to get the reaction it did, and they viewed it as a ”tender parenting moment”.
In the interview, Dustin said it meant something special to his partner because Katie grew up in a home ”where there was a lot of toxicity, emotionally reactive parenting , yelling and anger”.
He said that when Katie saw the ”corrective parenting moment” unfold between the two, it left her ”very emotional” – and Katie allegedly felt ”inspired”.
In response to the online backlash, Dustin reminded social media users that everyone parents in the way they ”see fit”.
”I think as long as you aren’t doing anything to intentionally harm your child, I think you get to make that decision,” he told the publication.
As for their parenting method, Dustin explained they’re trying to raise Tommy as a ”healthy, happy, resilient and respectful human”.
Social media users left divided
Online, the video has sparked a fierce debate, leaving many divided.
One said: ”I don’t really agree with physical exercise being used as a punishment but glad he was supportive of not letting them talk to you that way.”
Another chimed in: ”the fact he even said ‘don’t give up’ & ‘good one’, encouraging him while also being a parent & disciplining him! literally a perfect example of what good parenting should look like in a situation like this!”
Someone else said: ”this is called tough love and holding children accountable for their actions. a lot of parents don’t understand this. which is why we end up with kids running ragged.”
