Chinese mom goes viral on Douyin for pouring water on son to teach him a lesson

A mother from China’s Zhejiang province has gone viral on social media for filming herself dousing her son with water as a disciplinary measure.

Sharing the video on Sept. 14, Douyin user Lan Xichen explained that she punished her son after his teacher informed her that the first-grader had poured water onto his classmates from the third floor of their school. The child, who also reportedly threw milk cartons, said he saw other students do it before and thought it was fun.

The video shows Lan filling a basin and pouring water onto her son, who is standing downstairs outside their apartment unit. After being doused multiple times, the boy starts crying and yells at his mother “no,” to which she replies, “Why not? Didn’t you say it was fun? I want to try it too.” She adds, “I’m not hitting you, you know that? Violence doesn’t solve problems. I just want to experience how much fun it is.”

Lan’s form of punishment received approval from other Douyin users, with one commenting, “At this moment, no one feels more pain for the child than the mother, but I fully agree with the mother’s way of educating.”