NEW DELHI, MAY 15 — A viral social media post documenting a father’s violent reaction to his child’s academic performance has ignited an intense national conversation regarding toxic parenting in India. A Class 12 student recently shared an image of a shattered laptop on Reddit, stating that their father destroyed the device and removed their bed as punishment for securing a 57.4% score in the CBSE examinations.
The student, who received an “Essential Repeat” status, reported facing a combination of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse since the results were announced on May 13. The post described the student being forced to sleep on the floor after their room was taken away. The incident highlights the extreme pressure faced by many of the 17 lakh students who registered for the CBSE exams this year.
“I am facing verbal, physical, mental and emotional abuse since the results are out,” the student wrote on the platform. Community members responded with widespread support, with many asserting that academic setbacks should never be met with violence. One commenter noted that breaking expensive items only results in further financial loss for the parents while damaging the child’s mental well-being.
The discussion has increasingly focused on “breaking the generational curse” of using fear as a motivational tool. Advocates for student mental health maintained that such environments often lead to long-term trauma rather than academic improvement. Of the nearly 17.7 lakh students who appeared for the exams this year, over 15 lakh passed, leaving many others to navigate difficult domestic situations.
