A parent’s always going to defend their kid, so it can be hard to accept that your own child is in the wrong sometimes, even if they do something that really crosses the line. Thankfully, the mother of a young boy who used a racial slur against another girl at his school is making no excuses for her son’s concerning behavior.
TikTok user @careymitchh aka Mama Mitch went viral when she responded to a video shared by the mother of a young Black girl who had been “called out of her name” by a boy when she was getting off the school bus. The boy in question happened to be Mama Mitch’s son, so you might’ve expected her to start denying the girl’s mother’s allegations or claim that it was all a misunderstanding. Instead, Mama Mitch held her hands up and stressed that she was going to make sure her son would make amends and never do this sort of thing again.
Mama Mitch admits that when she first got a call from the girl’s aunt telling her what had happened, she didn’t believe her son would do something like that. However, when she asked her son about it, his face gave away his guilt and he immediately apologized for what he’d done. The mom then marched her son over to the girl’s home and made him apologize to her.
“If this woman had never called me,” Mama Mitch says. “I would never have known that that had come out of my son’s mouth. I would never have been able to correct the problem… I will not defend or condone any wrong actions by my child. They will be responsible and accountable for whatever they do.”
She continued, “No child should ever have to go through something like that. I never thought my child would do something like that… One thing’s for certain, he’s not gonna do it again.”
All in all, TikTok is in awe of how Mama Mitch handled this situation. “This is what being held accountable looks like but it also came with love, Discipline, and compassion for Nanisha,” one comment reads. “So proud of you and the Aunt for handling this situation like adults.” As another summarized: “You handled it, didn’t try to make excuses & took care of business….that’s parenting.” Those who encounter this kind of thing daily were impressed by Mama Mitch’s response: “I’m a bus driver & I wish we had more parents like you.”
That said, some were on hand to give the TiKToker some constructive criticism. One thing she did was have her son go to the store and buy a gift for the girl before they went to apologize. Although obviously done with the best intentions, one user thinks this sends the wrong message long-term. “I understand making accountable but making get gifts when he did something wrong sends the wrong message,” someone shared. “It tells that little girl that whenever someone (male) does something wrong to her the way to ‘correct it’ it’s with gifts and hugs.”
That’s a fair point, but in the TikToker’s defense, it sounds like she made her child follow all the necessary linguistic and emotional steps to ensuring a genuine apology, one that emphasizes the other person’s feelings, doesn’t deflect the blame, and openly admits culpability. Mama Mitch’s heart was clearly in the right place here and hopefully now her son’s is too.