TikTok Mom Makes 5-Year-Old Son Run Under 104-Degree Sun For Misbehaving In Class

A mom on TikTok is facing backlash after she made her 5-year-old son run in 104-degree heat as punishment for misbehaving at school.

In a TikTok video she posted last week, the woman, identified as Katarina Rodriguez, can be seen chastising her son for getting a "sad face" at school, The Independent reported.

"My 5-year-old doesn't want to listen in school, where he makes destructive noises, doesn't listen, thinks that he doesn't need to settle down when he comes from the playground," Rodriguez was quoted as saying in the video, which has since been taken down.

Rodriguez went on to say that she and her son were "gonna run in 104 degrees." The video then showed her running alongside her son outside of their home.

"This is the first time that we're gonna run for his sad faces that he gets at school, and he thought we were just going to run to the mailbox, so he took off running. Sprinting. Now he's dying," Rodriguez said as she occasionally turned the camera on her son.

The mother later asked the boy if he would behave in school following the punishment, and he replied, "yeah," while panting for air, according to the report.

The TikTok video continued back inside the family's home, where Rodriguez spoke further about her discipline style.

"We're not gonna hit. We're not gonna spank. We're gonna discipline. We'll see what tomorrow brings," she said.

Rodriguez’s clip went viral and sparked criticism from social media users who were not impressed with her disciplinary methods, a report by 7News.com.au said.

"Have you thought that he might be struggling in class because his brain works differently and now you're making him feel bad for how he is?" one person commented on the video.

"It should be you and your child against the issue, not you AGAINST your child," another wrote.

Rodriguez later defended her actions in a follow-up video, saying, "Not that it's anyone's business, we've tried other disciplinary actions of grounding, taking away things, corners, whatever. If those things work for your kids, great. [They] didn't work for mine."

The mother also claimed that the punishment worked as her son allegedly has not received negative marks since he was forced to run, according to The Independent.

A similar incident happened in Louisiana in May when a 33-year-old mother was arrested after she struck her daughter as punishment and uploaded a video of the act to social media to embarrass the child.