A musician and podcaster has caused outcry on social media with a story recapping how he told his hungry nine-year-old daughter to learn to open a can of beans or go hungry. John Roderick shared his controversial parenting tale in a viral Twitter thread which has now been deleted. The thread was shared on Saturday evening and deleted after it sparked outrage, with several Twitter users criticising the 52-year-old for keeping a young child hungry for hours.
It began when Mr Roderick's daughter told him she was hungry and he asked her to make baked beans.
"So, yesterday my daughter (9) was hungry and I was doing a jigsaw puzzle so I said over my shoulder 'make some baked beans.' She said, 'How?' like all kids do when they want YOU to do it, so I said, 'Open a can and put it in pot.' She brought me the can and said 'Open it how?'" Mr Roderick wrote, according to Fox News.
"'With a can opener!' I said, incredulous. She brought me the can opener and we both stared at it. I realized I'd never taught her to use it."
Instead of opening the can of beans, the musician said he realised "a teaching moment just dropped into my lap".
Explaining that he wanted his daughter to learn how to open a can, he said she struggled for six hours to open it.
"She was next to me grunting and groaning trying to get the thing. I should say that spatial orientation, process visualization and order of operation are not things she... intuits. I knew this would be a challenge," he said in a series of tweets, according to BBC.
At one point, his daughter asked him to take over after multiple failed attempts, but Mr Roderick refused. She stomped off in anger after he said that neither of them would eat until she figured it out - but returned to give it another try after a while.
Eventually, after six hours, his daughter was able to open the can of beans.
Twitter users were enraged at the story, calling it an example of poor parenting. Mr Roderick was dubbed 'Bean Dad' as more and more users began to read and criticise him and his parenting style.
"The Bean Dad story is ridiculous. He should have just FED her, and THEN showed her how to use a d**n can opener instead of leaving her hungry for six hours," wrote one Twitter user.
The Bean Dad story is ridiculous. He should have just FED her, and THEN showed her how to use a damn can opener instead of leaving her hungry for six hours. That's abusive.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) January 3, 2021
She's 9 years old, and some of us don't learn very well when we're hungry, regardless of age. Jeez.
Teacher here.
— Apoxon (@apoxon) January 3, 2021
1. Kids learn best when they aren't hungry.
2. Everyone learns differently and different approaches (eg. A guiding hand) are helpful, especially if/when someone's struggling.
3. When a child is frustrated to the point of tears, you've lost your teachable moment.
Twitter users also went through his old tweets and accused him of racism. It now appears as if Mr Roderick has deleted his Twitter account - a fact that has led to further trolling.
Alas Twitter is not for the faint of ❤️, Bean Dad. pic.twitter.com/0yGTuQdgpv
— Clem Fandango (@BfloDude) January 4, 2021
Interesting how Bean Dad just deleted his account instead of appreciating the teachable moment
— shelby. (@cathedralslut) January 4, 2021
A handful of Twitter users defended Mr Roderick, including his 'Omnibus' podcast co-host Ken Jennings.
If this reassures anyone, I personally know John to be (a) a loving and attentive dad who (b) tells heightened-for-effect stories about his own irascibility on like ten podcasts a week. This site is so dumb.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) January 3, 2021
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