He had a lengthy conversation with his son and urged the boy to take a course of action that would make things right with the child he bullied.
Bullying is a serious issue and parents often get upset when their kids are involved. If they find out that their offsprings are the ones causing pain and embarrassment to others, most parents punish them for doing so and demand that they apologize for their actions. However, @thehalfdeaddad thinks differently, and when he came to know that his son had bullied a classmate, he decided to deal with the situation in a different manner.
"So I got an email a few days ago from my 9-year-old son's teacher that he had done a prank on a fellow classmate and it ended up embarrassing the classmate and hurting his feelings and so I don't care who you are that's bullying," Patrick Forseth says in the video.
He shared that he had a long talk with his son about it. "Of course, he got punished but we had a long talk about how things feel and how it feels to be on the other end and so I encouraged him to go back to school and I encouraged him to find a way to make it right," he explains.
"I demanded nothing out of him. I demanded no apology, I demanded no apology from the teacher at this point. I told him that we have the opportunity to go back and make things right," says Forseth.
"We can't take things back but we can try to correct things and look for forgiveness," he adds.
Forseth then explains that his son came back from school one day and said that he actually spoke to the other boy and asked him what he likes. "And it turns out the boy loves Pokemon so Lincoln had two really cool gold Pokemon cards he loved so came home and got those," Forseth reveals, showing his son cleaning a case to put the Pokemon cards in.
The father goes on to admit that Lincoln was "really nervous" to go back and give those cards to the kid and apologize "but also a little excited to fix it."
After he returns from school that day, Forseth asks his son how his classmate reacted to the cards. "He hugged me and said thank you," Lincoln replies, to which his father says: "It's awesome, good job buddy."
The video went viral and has more than 738k views and 75k likes. Many were appreciative of the way Forseth handled the bullying issue. @Lmustknow commented, "You handled it perfectly, you made sure to explain, and have them understand how he made the other kid feel! You're a great parent!!!" @WavyCurlyChica wrote, "I'm a teacher and this made me cry. I've seen students be so mean and as a teacher we only have so much impact. Home adults are so important for their learning and growing as good humans. Thank you for this."
@aafee.creation expressed, "That brought tears to my eyes. I was bullied as a kid and I wish there were more parents like you." @sarahot2008 pointed out, "We need more fathers like you! Thank you from a mother and teacher."
A commenter @dianehenson516 asked Forseth what he would have done if Lincoln had not made it right. The father replied, "I continue to remove things from his life that matter to him. Life becomes very difficult and boring, and talking it through to him continuously. The goal is to allow them to learn on their own that life is easier when you make good choices. I've never spanked either child."