People can't decide whether video of man furiously spanking a boy is 'child abuse' or 'discipline'

A disturbing video of a man violently spanking a little boy and yelling at a young girl has gone viral on social media, leaving the eternally divided Twitterverse debating on the merits and demerits of physical discipline. The video in question was first posted on Twitter by user 6th Kazekage who—going by their caption—appeared to be leaning in favor of spanking. "'Sit your ass down!'" the user wrote, quoting the man in the video. "I definitely remember these days," they added, along with a number of 'face with tears of joy' emojis.

The 8-second-long video shows a man—believed to be the children's grandfather—having laid the young boy on his stomach over a folding chair, furiously smacking the child's bottom repeatedly. He then forcefully picks the boy back up and plops him straight in the chair before turning to the little girl seated next to him. "Sit your a** down," he menacingly tells the girl with a finger pointed at her. The young girl could be briefly heard crying in protest before the video ends. While this incident—which appears to have taken place in public—is clearly a case of child abuse, many social media users didn't seem to think so.

In fact, many commented that they'd received spankings much worse in their childhood. Mannnnnnn that’s light compared to how we got our ass whip shiddddddd, tweeted RIP Nip/Kobe/GiGi. These parents now are trying to be friends to their kids smh. Just don't get in the way when I'm disciplining my child cause you will be next, tweeted Foster. Listen there is a difference between DISCIPLINE & ABUSE! We don’t know the full context bc per usual twitter only gets the tail end of events. If you don’t have kids or have never had to baby sit/work with children who do not listen you will never understand!! justified KenzKorner.

Meanwhile, many pointed out that simply because most people share a common history of physical discipline in their youth and lived to tell the tale, it doesn't mean the practice is any less problematic. This isn’t about race, this is outright gross. And the fact he felt the need to yell at the girl while she’s sitting there to keep on sitting, he’s acting like he lost power of them & he had to physically beat them for them to listen, not healthy, tweeted nya. Abuse and assault aren't ok because you share genetic material. If this was his wife, no one would be defending this. If this was a stranger, no one would be defending this, commented Kylo-Ren Faire.

The divide in opinion here isn't surprising as, according to The Atlantic, about 81% of Americans believe spanking is appropriate. The American Academy of Pediatrics, on the other hand, has been warning against the practice for years. A 2007 UN convention also made a case against corporal punishment as it violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which protects children from "all forms of physical or mental violence," and said that it should be banned in all contexts. Studies have found that it leads to academic and health problems, as well as aggressive behavior as adults.

"Spanking is punishment, and punishment doesn't work," said University of Texas researcher Jeff Temple. "We know it with rats, we know it with humans. But if you can connect with a kid when they're doing something right, they're more likely to do that again in the future." Although—as a father himself—Temple knows this is difficult to adhere to, he believes it is possible to do even in the most difficult situation. "If a kid is having a temper tantrum and throwing things, and then next time they have a tantrum but don't throw anything, say 'I'm really glad you didn't throw anything,'" he said.