A Missouri father is facing preliminary charges of felony harassment and multiple misdemeanors after after a video of him on a school bus went viral. The video shows him climbing onto the school bus and telling his 6-year-old daughter to hit a 7-year-old girl.
The girl’s father, Maurice Fox, wanted his daughter to physically confront her bully, who was just another child. Meanwhile, he has claimed his actions were driven by desperation, not aggression.
Fox’s 6-year-old daughter was seen punching the other girl repeatedly as he encouraged her. Even when she stopped hitting the 7-year-old, the father demanded that she hit more. The viral video has garnered support and condemnation from parents, authorities and netizens.
In an online statement, Fox defended himself by saying he felt cornered due to the system failing to protect his daughter, who was getting bullied. He said, “It wasn’t an easy decision. But it was the only thing that finally stopped the other child from continuing to hurt her. I felt I had no other choice as a parent. My only intention was to protect my child and empower her in a world that hasn’t protected her.”
A father from Ferguson, MS is facing felony charges after taking his daughter on a school bus and instructing her to beat another kid until she cried because that kid was “Bullying his daughter”. The father was quoted as saying “I had no other choice”.
Video below. pic.twitter.com/P8VCaJBgxs
— Paul (@WomanDefiner) October 15, 2025
He mentioned that the 7-year-old was attacking his daughter at school. He had filed a complaint with the school, but they did not do anything. St. Louis County Prosecutor Melissa Price Smith weighed in on the situation and called it a complex case.
However, she called the violence unacceptable. She added, “What kind of world would we live in if we taught our children to resolve conflict through violence? We won’t tolerate that.”
In addition, she added, the current charges on Fox are preliminary and may be upgraded in the future after the case is presented to the grand jury. Police made several attempts to contact Fox but he did not respond. Now an arrest warrant has been issued against him.
This incident has drawn attention to bullying at school and kids’ safety. The case has also raised questions about what schools can do to prevent bullying, and when parents feel forced to take matters into their own hands.
Netizens have called Fox a bad dad for teaching his child to resort to violence to handle the situation. Meanwhile, several have condemned bullying in school and mentioned how such kids grow up to be way worse.
