A father of five has become an internet sensation after he threw his son's Nintendo Switch out of a moving vehicle, a decision captured on video that has sparked widespread discussion about parenting and screen time.
Joel Barbour, who posted the video to Instagram, described the act as "a little bit regrettable this morning as a parent, kind of not, kind of felt absolutely great." He explained that his 13-year-old son had been misbehaving, prompting the drastic measure. "I threw my son’s Nintendo Switch out the car, going 60 miles an hour down a highway," Barbour stated in the video. "He wasn’t even playing the Switch. I was like, ‘Keep going, I’m gonna throw your Switch out the window.’ He was like, ‘No, you’re not.’ I frisbeed this thing. I mean, it felt pretty great."
Barbour admitted to feeling a brief pang of guilt but also satisfaction at his son's reaction. "The look on his face, he couldn’t even believe it. You know he’s crying, trying to tell me how expensive it is, like he knows, like he pays for a damn thing anyway," he said.
He concluded the video with advice for other parents struggling with screen addiction during school holidays: "So, you know, if your kids are testing you, just throw it. Throw the electrics, throw the phones, throw them out the window. Feels great."
The video resonated with many parents, who flooded the comments section with their own stories and opinions. One user shared, "I threw my 16-year-old daughter’s phone out of the car and then drove over it. Still one of my favorite parenting moves." Another commenter joked about deviating from "gentle parenting," while a different user argued that Barbour's action aligned with gentle parenting principles, stating, "Not yelling, shaming, or losing control… following through on something you said in a calm manner is the gentle part."
Others recalled stricter parenting styles from past decades. "I’ll never forget when my mom took a hammer to my sister’s Barbie house because of her attitude. Destroyed it in front of us all. Powerful lesson," one person wrote. Another shared memories of their mother throwing fighting children's toys out of car windows in the 1990s.
In a follow-up video, Barbour shared an update with his son, Davis, who confirmed he had learned a lesson. "I learned that you definitely don’t disrespect your parents or else things get frisbeed in places that you don’t want them," Davis said. Barbour also revealed that the Nintendo Switch was recovered and still works, and that his daughter immediately began playing it again.
When asked if he had any regrets, Barbour reiterated his stance: "I still stand behind it. Throw the electronics out the window."