The internet is divided over a wealthy dad leaving his children in coach while he flew first class. Property investor Samuel Leeds captured the moment when he dropped off his kids in the lower tier section and proceeded to join his wife and business partner in first class for wine and dinner.
Leeds posted the footage on TikTok with the caption, “Don’t worry, they sat with their nanny.” The father of three stated in his video the lesson he was possibly trying to teach his kids with that act. “Rich people, don’t spoil your kids. Walking past business class because I earned it … agree or disagree?” he asked viewers.
What did people think of Leed’s move?
@samuel_leeds Don’t worry, they were sat with their nanny ❤️ dint spoil your children #samuelleeds #richpeopleproblems #spoiledchild ♬ original sound – Samuel Leeds
The video, which gained over 26,000 views, got a lot of people talking and expressing what they thought about it, with most of them in favor of Leed’s action. “Your hard-earned money, not theirs. This is a teachable moment when they get older,” one person wrote.
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“I support this… kids are so entitled these days. They’ll be alright,” another wrote. “I wouldn’t be teaching them a lesson. I’d be doing it for a peaceful flight,” someone else noted.
However, not everyone was pleased with this dad. “Wouldn’t you want to spend time with your children?” someone asked. Another parent said they understood Leeds’ intentions, but they could not go that far with their own children.
Leeds says he wants his children to be self-sufficient
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The viral video led to Leeds doing a video for Instagram, which he called a response to “recent attacks on my (his) parenting.”
“What happens when their friends say, ‘Hey, should we go skiing (in) Canada?’ And they can’t afford to go first (class), but they’re used to going first (class)?” he asked hypothetically. “They’ll be ruined, they’ll be spoiled. I’ll be damned if I spoil my kids.”
Leeds added that he was trying to teach his three children the value of money. “You can’t just grow up thinking it’s normal, that it’s normal to fly first class, it’s normal to live in a mansion— no, it’s not normal,” he continued.
Leeds, who is also a businessman, explained that he would gladly give his kids a shot at the family business only if they proved themselves by working their way up. “I love my kids to bits … but ultimately, they’re going to have to go through the same process as everybody does,” he said.
Like TikTok viewers of the first video, most people in the Instagram post comments agreed with his parenting style. “I will only buy him the things he needs as an everyday necessity and it’s up to him to earn his own money by doing chores around the house,” one user wrote about his kid in support of Leeds’ resolve.