The leader of the 'pronatalist' movement has spoken out after being accused of slapping his two-year-old son in the face during an interview.
Malcolm Collins and his wife Simone were being interviewed for by The Guardian reporter Jenny Kleeman as part of a feature on pronatalism - a movement that encourages families to have lots of children in an effort to increase population numbers.
However, during the interview, Kleeman says Mr. Collins smacked his young son, Torsten, in the fact after the child knocked the table and caused it to "teeter".
The journalist said she was left "speechless" by the act, which she described as being "like a reflex".
“It is not a heavy blow, but it is a slap with the palm of his hand direct to his two-year-old son’s face that’s firm enough for me to hear on my voice recorder when I play it back later,” Kleeman wrote in the feature.
Kleeman says she was left particularly stunned by the fact that the father would strike his child "in the middle of a public place, in front of a journalist, who he knows is recording everything.”
Highlighting that corporal punishment is legal in Pennsylvania, Kleeman then wrote that Collins explained his reasoning for the smack, as he noticed the reporter was left "appalled".
Collins explained that he and his wife are using a parenting technique learned from tigers, telling Kleeman: "They react to bad behaviour from their cubs with a paw, a quick negative response in the moment, which they find effective with their own kids.
“I was just giving you the context so you don’t think I’m abusive or something."
Calling the parenting method "bopping", Collins - whose other children are aged four and 16 months - explained that the child's behavior "fell into the category of something that could cause serious harm to himself or others", adding: "At a table full of infants, knocking it over could easily kill someone."
After the feature was published and the smack was detailed, the parents have faced a heavy backlash, with one X user writing: "Hey man what’s your address I just gotta come over and correct your behavior with a few bops."
A second social media user added: "Your kids will hate your child beating ass, if they don’t already."
Now, in an interview with the New York Post, Collins has stated that "multiple people called (child-welfare services)" after the feature was published. "There’s now an active movement to take our kids away,” the 37-year-old added.
Explaining the "bopping system" in more detail, he continued: "This is where trigger warnings come from or the idea that being offended or offending someone is a form of violence.
"There’s no tolerance for any form of emotional or personal inconvenience."
Wife Simone also shared her thoughts on the backlash, telling The NY Post that she would - “under no circumstances” - administer “non-positive” physical contact to her children.
“It’s hard to get out of that bubble. It’s hard to think practically about what is going to aid your child’s survival and safety,” she said.
Simone added that she and her husband have done extensive research on the subject of corporal punishment, and would never use it in a way that is "delayed, painful, or violent and harmful" for the child.
They say they only use it when the child or others are in danger.
“I think most people who hold this position either don’t have a lot of kids or don’t have any kids at all,” Simone said.
