The leader of the “pronatalist” movement supported by Elon Musk that encourages families to have lots of children to stave off population decline is under fire for slapping his toddler in the face in the middle of an interview.
The Guardian journalist Jenny Kleeman interviewed Malcolm Collins and his wife, Simone, for a weekend feature.
In the piece, Kleeman wrote she was left “speechless” when Mr Collins hit his two-year-old son, Torsten, “like a reflex … in the face” while at a restaurant after the toddler “knocked the table with his foot and caused it to teeter”.
“It is not a heavy blow, but it is a slap with the palm of his hand direct to his two-year-old son’s face that’s firm enough for me to hear on my voice recorder when I play it back later,” Kleeman wrote.
“And Malcolm has done it in the middle of a public place, in front of a journalist, who he knows is recording everything.”
Kleeman pointed out that smacking is not illegal in Pennsylvania, “but the way Malcolm has done it – so casually, so openly, and to such a young child – leaves me speechless”.
After noticing how “appalled” she was, Mr Collins went on to explain to Kleeman that he and his wife “have developed a parenting style based on something (Simone) observed when she saw tigers in the wild: they react to bad behaviour from their cubs with a paw, a quick negative response in the moment, which they find effective with their own kids”.
“I was just giving you the context so you don’t think I’m abusive or something,” he told Kleeman.
The father-of-three told The New York Post that “multiple people called (child-welfare services)” on the couple after reading The Guardian piece.
“There’s now an active movement to take our kids away,” the 37-year-old claimed.
Mr Collins said he and Simone, who is currently pregnant with their fourth child, only resort to corporal punishment as a corrective action during potentially dangerous situations.
“(The table topple during the interview) fell into the category of something that could cause serious harm to himself or others. At a table full of infants, knocking it over could easily kill someone,” he told The Post.
He defended the family’s “bopping system” as a personal decision they’ve made, but said he wouldn’t recommend it for every parent. The outrage the interview had sparked, he declared, was the result of people trying to conflate “light discomfort with abuse”.
“This is where trigger warnings come from or the idea that being offended or offending someone is a form of violence,” he said.
“There’s no tolerance for any form of emotional or personal inconvenience.”
Ms Collins told The Post she was raised under the same mindset as those expressing outrage, in which “under no circumstances” is “non-positive” physical contact permissible.
“It’s hard to get out of that bubble. It’s hard to think practically about what is going to aid your child’s survival and safety,” she said.
The 36-year-old insisted she and her husband never apply corporal punishment in ways which are “delayed, painful, or violent and harmful” to the child. She also dismissed the couple’s online critics.
“I think most people who hold this position either don’t have a lot of kids or don’t have any kids at all,” she said.
The couple, who have two sons and a daughter, told The Guardian they intend on having at least seven children.