4-year-old shames a mom for her son’s behavior, asks her to teach him not to hit people

Sometimes a public shaming is the only way to deal with a bully.

And sometimes it’s most effective when a four-year-old is the one doing the shaming.

Sarah* was at a kids’ birthday party when her son Tommy walked up to a mom who was chatting with a group of adults.

“Auntie, your kid hits everyone in the class a lot. Please tell him not to do that,” the little boy said.

“The mom looked very embarrassed,” Sarah shared on Reddit.

It could have been a kids-say-the-darndest-things moment, except it seemed to be true: the kid did hit other kids a lot.

“My kid has never told me at home about this problem. I spoke to him after we came home, if he was ever hurt by this kid, and he responded that the kid never hurts him but hits a lot of his other friends.

“I spoke to other parents and they mentioned their kids have complained, but they didn’t know how to address it.”

And when Sarah thought about it, she realised she did see the child hit at least two other kids at the party.

Little boy shames adult over kid’s behaviour

Although she agreed with Tommy that hitting was not nice, Sarah wondered if it was appropriate for her son to shame an adult.

“I’m glad he spoke up and brought it to the parent. But I am not sure telling that parent publicly was the right thing.”

She also worried that Tommy was being a dobber. “Should I tell my kid to defend other kids, or not be a tattle tale?”

The Reddit community was confident that Tommy had done the right thing.

“I think doing it in public was the better option since the parent might wave it off as their kid would never, when others have approached them privately,” one person said. “Maybe being called out by a child in public will motivate them to make changes.”

“If private conversations have been ignored, some public shaming ought to do the trick,” agreed another person. “Small children will obviously hit sometimes, and it is our job to teach them right from wrong.”

Another person supported Tommy, and wondered if Sarah’s uncertainty had to do with her own upbringing.

“I would be super proud of my kid for going up to an adult and telling them their kid hits and asking them to teach their kid not to,” they said. “That takes guts. It sounds like your kid did so respectfully as possible.

“Perhaps the embarrassment you feel is something to do with what your parents would have made you feel had you done the same?”

*Names have been changed