Just Sickening': Video Shows St. Louis Mother Encouraging Small Children to Brawl While They Cry and Scream

The Missouri Department of Social Services won't confirm or deny if it's investigating a heartbreaking video that shows two small children fist fighting viciously while the mother of at least one of the kids encourages them, never once stepping in to break them up. The video was posted on Facebook by an unidentified woman on Sunday, KTVI reports.

“Got some action! Got some action!” the mother is heard yelling as she records the fight. “Y’all better ball up some fists!”

The children can be heard crying loudly, obviously wanting the fighting to stop, but she tells them to go on.

At one point, it looks as if one of the children is slamming the other's head on the floor before punching her in the head while she is on the ground. Still, the mother tells them to fight harder.

"Hit back! Y'all better hit back!' the mother says. As the children continue to scream and cry, the mother just watches.

An acquaintance of the mother heard in the video sent a news tip to KTVI and then agreed to do an interview. However, she asked not to be identified.

“It’s just sickening and I feel like there should be some kind of criminal action taken,” she told KTVI. “I couldn’t even watch the whole video. I had to stop it and look again. It was sad.”

“Ball up your fist. It’s like she’s training her before she starts school or something," the woman continued. "It’s sad because today’s society in the black community, it's really sickening that these kids are learning how to fight, get guns and stuff, and it shouldn’t be going on.”

She said the mother's role in the fight was just as upsetting as the images of the two young children hurting each other.

St. Louis child psychologist Russell Hyken was horrified after seeing the video.

“That’s pretty overwhelming. Those are small children that really don’t even understand what is going on. I mean one child is screaming and the other child continues to go after her. I mean what is going on here?”

Watch the full video of the fight, below.

Yet Missouri's Department of Social Services would not confirm or deny to KTVI that they were looking into the case.

"State law prohibits release of information specific to a case or individual, so we could not confirm nor deny involvement in the case," said Becky Woelfel, spokesperson for agency.

“I think it is something that they at least need to be looking at," Hyken added. "I don’ t know the law in that area, but as a therapist, and a family therapist at that, I’m pretty concerned the parents are encouraging violence and putting their kids in a physically abusive situation."

The woman who initially alerted KTVI to the disturbing video feels the same way. Still, it was hard for her to believe that the mother could allow something like that to occur.

“Knowing her in school, it seemed like a great mother and like she wouldn’t allow her child to do that, but with her going on with that like she was and coaching her child to fight and fight and was pushing her to fight as the kids are crying, I’m like oh no. There is no way.”

KTVI declined to name the woman who published the video on Facebook as charges have not been filed. The identities of the two children are also being protected.

(H/T: Daily Mail)