BEIJING - A five-year-old boy has completed a 47-minute flight in a light aeroplane over China’s Guan County, without assistance from his instructor.
He Yide, known as Duoduo, trained for three weeks at a private flying club in China before taking to the skies last month for his record-breaking flight.
His achievement, however, has been overshadowed by criticism of abuse levelled at his parents. The boy’s father, He Liesheng, is a self-proclaimed ‘Eagle Dad’, named after the bird of prey that pushes its offspring off a cliff to teach them to fly.
Mr He said: “Sometimes you’re a good coach, but not a good father, and people will criticize you for that. On the contrary, if you’re a good dad, even though your child will be happy, he won’t be successful at all.”
On a family holiday last year, Mr He controversially made his son walk around New York City in the snow while wearing only underpants and shoes. Several months later, he took Duoduo to hike up Mt Fuji, again not dressing him appropriately for the 15-hour adventure.
Despite the criticism, Critics are worried about this type of extreme parenting. Ren Xiaoai, from the People’s Education Magazine said: “The mental and physical harm to the child, when a boy thinks ‘even my father goes against my will and forces me to do things that I don’t want to do’. This will make him have no trust in his surroundings when he grows up.”
But Mr He insists: “There’s no unsuccessful child, only non-persistent parents”
The father and son have applied to have the boy’s solo flight recognised as a world record, but it has yet to be confirmed.