A father has gone viral after sharing the unusual punishment he gave his 11-year-old son for staying up past his bedtime playing video games – when he got him to keep playing
If you’re a parent, you probably know how difficult it can be to regulate your kids’ screen time to ensure they stay active and devote themselves to other hobbies as much as possible.
And while most parents would be tempted to confiscate their child’s phone or games console if they exceed their screen time limits, one father has devised an unusual way to teach his son the dangers of staring at a screen for too long – by asking him He does it 17 hours straight.
The father, from Shenzhen, China, caught his 11-year-old son playing video games on his cellphone at 1:30 a.m. earlier this month, which was well after the boy’s bedtime.
According to local Chinese media, the father – known only as Huang – decided that instead of taking away his son’s phone, he would let him play as long as he wanted on one condition – he wasn’t allowed to sleep.
Huang shared his method in a video posted on Chinese social media platform Douyin, hoping to get his son to play for 24 hours to show him how bad it can be for one’s health to prioritize gaming over things like sleeping.
After his son agreed to his terms, Huang called his child’s school to tell them he would not be coming that day and let his son continue playing his game.
At 7:30 a.m., the boy was still fine and enjoying his time playing the untitled video game, but after 12 hours of gaming, he couldn’t resist the desire to sleep and fell asleep at 1:30 p.m.
Huang immediately woke his son up and told him to keep playing, and the boy managed to keep going for a few more hours until he reportedly “begged for forgiveness” at 6:30 p.m. – 17 hours after he first played the game been caught playing.
The boy even wrote a letter on his computer apologizing for playing games after his bedtime and vowing never to do so again.
Part of the letter, written in English, read: “I promise I have to go to bed before 11am. I promise not to talk on the phone [game] before going to bed [and] don’t play with toys.”
And while his unconventional method was successful, Huang has insisted he would never recommend the punishment to other parents who may be struggling to manage their children’s screen time.
He also said in a follow-up video, “My son usually gets good grades and is very obedient. He often goes outside with me and his physical fitness is also good.”
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