Piers Morgan has called out a father who forced his son to run to school in the rain after he was kicked off the school bus for bullying.
Footage of Bryan Thornhill’s 10-year-old son Hayden went viral last week, prompting furious debate over his tough-love parenting style.
In an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Morgan told Thornhill he approved of the way he had dealt with his son’s behaviour.
However, he took issue with the fact the father had posted the video on social media, exposing his son’s humiliation to people around the globe.
Piers Morgan (pictured with co-host Susanna Reid) called out Virginia-based Bryan Thornhill on Good Morning Britain after a video of his 10-year-old son Hayden went viral
Speaking this morning, show co-host and MailOnline columnist Morgan said: ‘I would have done something similar but I’m not sure I would have put it into the public domain.
‘Why did you decide to humiliate your son like you did?’
The defiant father responded, arguing that driving him to school would have rewarded his son’s bad behaviour.
But he failed to address the question of exactly why he felt the need to circulate the embarrassing footage online.
‘With him getting kicked off the school bus, I could have easily loaded him up in my car and taken him to school. But that’s a privilege,’ the father-of-two said via a video link.
‘The video was meant to show some people that it’s okay to parent your children. So many people are petrified to say anything negative about their kids, apart from making them sit a time out.
‘It makes them a stronger person.’
Morgan then turned to the youngster to ask whether he thought he had been treated fairly.
‘Do you think the punishment was deserved, that your dad was right?’ he asked
The child replied: ‘I think it was what I deserved because my dad has said I need a parent, not a friend. He can be a friend when I am 18.
‘So I think it was well deserved because I messed up so I have to pay the price.
‘Once I had to run to school I learned my lesson.’
Thornhill explained in his video that his son (pictured) has been acting out in school and being a bully. He said that kind of behavior is unacceptable
Co-host Susanna Reid criticised Thornhill for exposing his child to the world on social media, and congratulated the boy for being brave enough to go on television.
‘It’s very brave of you to come on television when a video like that of you has been put around the world like that,’ she said.
‘But I feel really uncomfortable about it, to be honest.’
In the clip which was posted last week, Thornhill is heard telling the camera: ‘Hey everyone, welcome to you better listen to your Dad 2018.
‘My son has finally got in trouble on the bus enough to where he was kicked off the bus for three days because he was being a little bully which I do not tolerate, can’t stand.
Bryan Thornhill posted a video of him parenting his son who was caught bullying other children on the school bus. His punishment was running to school
He said in the video ‘My son has finally got in trouble on the bus enough to where he was kicked off the bus for three days because he was being a little bully which I do not tolerate, can’t stand’
‘Therefore, he has to now run to school, we’re right about one mile from the school so all week he’s got the experience of running.’
Despite Thornhill punishing his son, he also saw the humor in his disciplinary ways.
‘The good news is guys he keeps up a pretty good mile pace, 6 miles and hour so far. Yesterday he was apparently a little rude for Michelle in the morning, so even though it’s raining this morning he still gets to run.’
Bryan Thornhill took a video from inside his car of his 10-year-old son running outside in the rain because he wanted to punish him for bullying
‘I just wanted to show everybody and give you a good little laugh,’ Thornhill said.
Apparently the punishment has been working as he claims his son’s behavior has ‘been much better’, and that his ‘teacher’s have approved of his behavior this week.’
Thornhill added ‘he hasn’t got in trouble at school this week, whereas last week he was absolutely out of his mind. This right here is called parenting.’
The father was adamant that his son would learn from this. ‘We’re gonna make sure that one way or another his teacher’s are gonna be able to enjoy his company at school, he’s not disrupting his classmates and everything else.’
He finished the video with ‘Teach your kids, don’t be a friend, be a parent. That’s what children need these days.’
The dad advocates for people to act like a parent to their children instead of a friend
Thornhill is pictured with his ten-year-old son and also his daughter
The father said he wanted to make sure teachers enjoyed having his son in class, so he was going to work on improving his behavior