Mum divides opinion after praising daughter for punching her bully
One mum has split the internet in two after revealing the slightly alternative way she handled a situation with her daughter and another child.
The mum's daughter took it upon herself to personally deliver justice and retaliated physically in the form of a punch straight to her bully's face.
Bianca Austin has since revealed to the internet exactly how she feels about her child's behaviour, which has sparked a fiery debate about different parenting styles.
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Mum-of-three, Bianca, who is also the wife of former Southampton FC striker Charlie Austin, took to Twitter to share the incident.
Posting a series of tweets to her 11,000 followers, Bianca explained the latest issue her teenage daughter, Mallayla, was facing at school.
She wrote: "After weeks of being bullied by the same girl, numerous phone calls to the school and nothing changing, today when being called names my daughter finally punched the bully in the face."
Bianca ended the first tweet with three clapping emojis before signing off as a 'proud mum'.
As of this morning (20 March), the post has been viewed by over 2 million people, with hundreds eager to weigh in on Bianca's praising of her daughter's retaliation towards the bullies.
Some offered their support for Bianca, with one Twitter user writing: "We all have our breaking points and can only be pushed so far."
"I think she was wise defending herself," put forward another.
A third added: "I'm generally a pacifist, but the best bit of advice I was ever given was that you don't let bullies get away with it.
"Ignoring it didn't work; ignoring a fire doesn't put it out. If you are bullied, fight. If you see someone being bullied, fight for them," they continued.
Some people, however, were not so sure that Bianca's daughter handled the situation effectively.
In a follow-up tweet, the mum updated her followers on the school's action following the incident.
She wrote" "2 days in-school exclusion for my daughter, whilst the other child has gone to class because she was 'only' verbally abusive.
"No wonder bullying is never stopped in schools... head high Mallayla."
One person then told Bianca: "Your daughter should not be hitting anyone, ever. I get that bullying is awful and harmful but when I said your daughter's actions would make things worse, you can now see where I was going. Bullying someone 'back' by hitting is also bullying," they wrote under the tweet.
Taking no time to respond to the criticism, Bianca replied: "I’d be interested to hear how you’d suggest a resolution to the bullying.
"School couldn't stop it, it was wrecking her mental health and affecting her GCSE studies, what is the right course of action here?! Also she didn’t 'bully' back."
Bianca then went on to offer her own definition of bullying: "Bullying is repeated behaviour intended to hurt someone emotionally and physically.
"She has no intent of malice, all she wants is to be left alone to quietly enjoy school!"
What do you think?
Tyla has reached out to Bianca Austin for comment.
Rhiannon Ingle