A Twitter user known as “Bean Dad” went viral on Twitter, but for all the wrong reasons. In fact, people were so upset at what he shared, he ended up deleting his account due to the backlash.
John Roderick, aka Bean Dad, went viral after starting a whole thread on why he refused to teach his child how to use a can opener. Roderick, a podcast host, musician, and dad, wasn’t expecting the kind of response he received – and decided to shut his whole Twitter account, @johnroderick, down to avoid deeper public scrutiny.
It all started when his daughter, 9, mentioned she was hungry. Roderick suggested she make some baked beans. Apparently, his daughter was unsure of how to make baked beans. So, he did what most parents would do, and verbally walked her through the process.
When it came time to open the can, she brought the can and opener to him and asked how to open it. In his Tweet, he wrote, “I said, ‘The little device is designed to do one thing: open cans. Study the parts, study the can, figure out what the can-opener inventor was thinking when they tried to solve this problem.”
In case you missed Bean Dad aka john roderick before he deleted his Twitter account, this is what started it all. pic.twitter.com/KCKRP3099c
— ManiacalV will never DM you for money (ColinT) (@ManiacalV) January 3, 2021
But, it didn’t stop there. The learning moment dragged on for 25 tweets! Allegedly, over the course of 6 hours, he sat by her while she tried to figure it out. When his daughter wanted to give up and eat something else, he firmly told her that neither of them were eating until she got the can open. Frustrated, she took a break to go read before coming back to study the can opener longer.
Many people were outraged that the dad didn’t just demonstrate opening the can for her – and instead made her study the device and figure out how it worked. “The Bean Dad story is ridiculous. He should have just FED her, and THEN showed her how to use a damn can opener instead of leaving her hungry for six hours. That’s abusive. She’s 9 years old, and some of us don’t learn very well when we’re hungry, regardless of age. Jeez,” one angry person tweeted.
The Bean Dad story is ridiculous. He should have just FED her, and THEN showed her how to use a damn can opener instead of leaving her hungry for six hours. That's abusive.
She's 9 years old, and some of us don't learn very well when we're hungry, regardless of age. Jeez.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) January 3, 2021
A few people agreed with the learning moment, noting it’s often much easier to do things for your kids, rather than help them understand how it works or how to do it.
I'm coming late to this, but as a parent, I can sympathize with what this guy's trying to do. (Especially because I just helped my kid edit his science fair paper.) It's easy to do things for your kid – it's better to teach him/her how to do it. Because you won't always be around
— Peter Delevett (@peterdelevett) January 4, 2021
I’m late to this as well – but a couple things are clear:
1. It want 6 straight hours. She took off in a huff and read for a while.
2. She wasn’t “learning on her own” – he was guiding her with questions and ways to think about the problem.
3. They learn like this at school.— Aunt Eefa (@Controversyz) January 4, 2021
But, the majority of people were outraged by the situation, thinking he took it too far – and should’ve AT LEAST verbally instructed her how to do it, instead of making her figure it out.
While some may know him from his Omnibus podcast with Ken Jennings, he did not make himself many new friends yesterday. Jennings took to Twitter to defend his buddy but it was too little, too late. At the moment, Roderick’s Instagram and Twitter accounts have vanished.