Influencer who shockingly threw his seven year old son off a cliff responds to backlash
He wanted to 'teach him a lesson'
Garrett Gee, a father and influencer has responded to backlash after a video went viral of him throwing his seven year old son off a cliff into a lake.
The video, which was shared on their socials, went viral in July this year and shows Garrett standing on the huge cliff with his son before picking him up and throwing him off the cliff and into the lake below.
The clip received a huge amount of backlash, with people criticising Garrett’s parenting, claiming he forced his son to do something he didn’t want to.
However, the influencer has now responded to the backlash in an interview with People, agreeing that without context the video looks “terrible.”
He explained: “If somebody came across that video and had only seen that video, then I agree with them. ‘Oh man, this looks terrible, and this father’s pushing their child too much.’
“But anyone who has followed our journey for a longer time, they understand how thoughtful and cautious we are as parents.”
He continued: “A small part of me felt sad when I would read the comments because you could tell how many people out there didn’t have the opportunity to be pushed by their parents to try new things and stayed within their comfort zone.”
He added: “That’s not the best way to live life. When people were very upset or terrified by the video, those were the people whom I thought, ‘I would love to go on an adventure with you and help you try something new.’”
In the original post where Garrett Gee threw his son off the cliff, he clarified that it wasn’t “parental advice” or something that he thinks other parents should try, and that they’ve only done it with their son and not their other two kids.
He wrote: “Each kid is quite different so the way we parent, discipline, and teach HOW TO CLIFF JUMP is quite different 🙂 For sure 1st priority is safety. 2nd is learning that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS. 3rd is HAVE FUN.”
Garrett then explained why he’d decided to throw his son off a cliff, writing: “We took our youngest Cali to a cliff height that we knew he would be safe.
“Really the biggest danger would be if he hesitated, didn’t jump far out, and fell down the cliff side. So to be extra safe, because he wanted to jump but was not feeling confident, I threw him. Eventually a baby eagle needs to leave the nest… or be tossed out of the nest.”
Despite the backlash both Garrett and his wife have received from the viral video, he explained that it hasn’t affected him “negatively in any way.”
He added: “I’m very confident in who me and my wife are as parents and our intentions and how careful, cautious and loving we are. It didn’t affect me. I understand the nature of the internet.”
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