Dad’s Hilarious Response To Bully Parent Shaming About Screen Time Goes Viral

One dad gave the perfect response to a bully in his DMs who parent-shamed him for letting his sons use tablets.

All parents know the frustrations that come from unsolicited advice and shaming, especially when it comes to kids and screen time or anything else deemed as “unhealthy.”

Dante Birden, who runs The Brilliant Dad on Instagram, is no stranger to online critics who tout that advice. So when someone blasted him by saying “You give your children an iPad and somebody else will raise your children,” he knew exactly how to handle it—with a huge dose of sarcasm.

Dante recorded a video response where he reads the message to his fans and gasps, “Is that how it works?”

The father of two jumps out of his chair, knocks a book out of his son River’s hands, and gives him a tablet. Seconds later, he stands on his front porch and bids his kid farewell.

“Bud, you’re gonna live with someone else now,” he says sadly. “As long as you have this [tablet], you’ll be just OK.”

Dante sends River with someone offscreen and then jumps for joy as he goes to leave. But River and his second son, August, come running after him.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work!” Dante laughed during an interview with the Today Show.  

Dante admitted that he was guilty of judging parents for giving kids electronics before he had kids, too. So, his video was meant to be lighthearted. In fact, many of his videos are based on things he’d thought he “never” do before starting a family.

The 30-year-old said he was certain he’d never let his kids use iPads, drink juice, eat sugar, or have “those tiny plastic toys.” But as soon as River and August came along, he had a huge dose of reality and went back on his word.

“I realized iPads are fine. Everything is fine in moderation,” he shared. “We’re all just trying to survive the toddler years, and there’s no one right way to do things.”

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.