In my day, punishments from parents were things like getting grounded, but in 2020 it seems mums and dads are getting more creative and savvy when it comes to their choice of punishments. The parent of a nine-year-old has been seeking advice from Reddit after deleting their son’s Minecraft world as a penalty for him sleeping in late. As you can expect, the responses are pretty damning.
As spotted by Moms.com, the parent shared their story to Reddit’s Am I The *sshole sub, writing of their young son’s struggle to wake up on time in the mornings now that lockdown is in place.
In the post, which has received over 20k of upvotes, they write: “I followed through with my warning, and went on the computer and deleted his favorite Minecraft world. I also took away computer privileges for the next month.
“When I told him, he started screaming and crying. He told me that he spent a whole year working on that world, and he’s very distraught that he’s never going to see it again. He has been crying and sobbing throughout the day, and has refused to eat any of his meals.”
As you can expect, Reddit’s response has been pretty unfavourable towards what could be considered extreme parenting.
One user responded: “I’m so sad for your son, OP. My son is about the same age and I can’t imagine purposefully doing something so mean to him…My mom was like you. To this day I have trouble opening up to her and showing her anything I am proud of. I knew it was ammunition that could be used against me.”
Another said: “My dad is like [the original poster]. I’m like a stranger to him now. Doesn’t really know me at all. And I don’t care.”
A third responded: “OP, you’ve not only shown you have no respect for your kid, but they now have nothing to lose. Would you have done the same if this was a painting your son had been working on for a year? Or a novel they had written? Just because it’s a game doesn’t mean any less hard work went into it. Especially when they’ve been working on it for a year! And Minecraft is a difficult game to build in too! I’m not surprised he’s upset.”
The OP has yet to respond to the overwhelmingly negative reactions to the post, but hopefully a resolution is happening behind the scenes.
EDIT: The original version of this article mistakenly referred to the parent as a father, not simply a parent. Thanks to a reader for pointing out this error!
Featured Image Credit: Mojang