You've been that Baltimore mum once or twice

I have to admit, when I saw a mum from Maryland express disgust at her son's actions this week, I, like most people, cheered her on and applauded her parenting skills.

But for anyone who saw the footage of the Baltimore mother publicly chastising her son for his participation in city's riots and thought her reaction went some way towards explaining her son’s involvement in antisocial behaviour in the first place, I must question your logic.

If you’ve ever found yourself unleashing a stream of curse words because you almost rear ended a vehicle while travelling with your children, would that suddenly explain your child’s penchant for writing vicious, foul-mouthed comments online?

Of course, it wouldn’t.

If you’ve ever grabbed your child a little roughly and left a mark because you desperately tried to pull them out of the path of an oncoming truck, would that suddenly explain their interest in public brawling?

No, obviously not.

So for the people who came to the conclusion that this mother’s 'heavy handed ‘approach to her child and her public use of colourful language was the reason for his behaviour, you really need to consider your thought process.

This woman’s response was from fear, and fear alone.

No one can prove it was an accurate reflection of her general approach to her son or even her standard mode of discipline.

It was, from what I can gather from the shock etched across her face, a relatively isolated moment and not something she wanted to see repeated.

Yes she cursed, yes she shrieked and yes, she raised her hand to her teenage son, but do you know what I found most poignant about the whole scene?

Despite his involvement in violent attacks and his participation in antisocial behaviour, he never once spoke back to his mother or attempted to defend himself against her blows in any way that could have caused her harm.

I believe his muted reaction was the true reflection of her parenting skills thus far, not his foolhardy involvement in violent protests motivated by a city’s outrage.

He was an easily led teenager and she was a horrified mother.  

We've all been that Baltimore mum at one time or another.