Parents force son to watch TV all night as punishment for watching too much TV

A couple has sparked debate online after forcing their son to watch TV all night and not get any sleep as punishment.

The unusual form of punishment was dealt to the 8-year-old who was at home on his own for the evening and was told to finish his homework, eat dinner, sort out his school bag, and then go to bed after brushing his teeth.

When his parents arrived home in the Hunan province of central China, they discovered that their son had quickly run off to bed when he heard them coming in.

When they discovered he had been watching TV the whole time, the parents decided to teach him a controversial lesson by sitting him in front of the sofa and forcing him to watch the screen all night.

A clip shared online taken from an inside camera showed the boy sitting in front of the screen with the time stamp suggesting it was 2:18AM.

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The child appeared visibly upset and at one point at 4:47AM fell asleep, only to be woken up by his mother to keep watching the screen.

Reaction to the video was mixed, with some suggesting it was great parenting while others went as far as to call the punishment "abuse".

One person wrote: “A very clever punishment. The parents also had to stay awake and suffer, but the kid got the message and learned his lesson.”

Another said: “Totally stupid parents....Ignorant of how to handle children....Classic example of abuse.....”

Someone else added, “Bad parent” while someone else simply replied with angry face emojis.

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