Father films as he forces failing son to smash Xboxes

In what could be considered a cruel and unusual punishment a father filmed as he forced his son to smash his Xbox with a sledgehammer as punishment for failing in school.

After receiving some bad grades, "Jason" was marched to the front yard where his two Xbox consoles sat on the lawn.

The unseen father captures the scene on his phone as his son holds the sledgehammer over the gaming machines.

"Let's go," dad says to his tearful son.

"It's not my fault I didn't get them," Jason says.

"You had three weeks, Jason. Let's go. Now!" demands dad.

On order, Jason starts swinging the sledgehammer on one Xbox, smashing it pieces.

Once he's done pummelling the pricey piece of hardware, he moves over to the second Xbox, but stops.

With a fierce look in his eyes, Jason glares up at his father and throws the hammer on the ground in a moment of defiance.

He mumbles something, to which dad replies: "Excuse you? Pick up the f---ing sledgehammer and smash it."

Dad again demands Jason destroy the Xbox, or he will do it himself.

Frozen and crying, the boy stands over the beloved machine but he cannot bring himself to destroy it.

The camera fades to black.

It is unclear whether Jason's father made good on his threat to bring the hammer down himself.