Baltimore teen apologizes for rioting after his mom yelled at him in a viral video

The Baltimore teen infamously caught on camera being smacked and yelled at by his mother for rioting has apologized for his behavior.

Michael Singleton, 16, appeared on-camera vowing to be a better person only days after his mother Tonya Graham was widely celebrated for catching him in the middle of the riots.

A number of media reports referred to Graham as "mother of the year."

"I understand how much my mother really cares about me," he told ABC's "World News Tonight," "so I'm just gonna try and do better."

The teen admitted embarrassment over the video going viral but admitted his mother had good intentions when she blew up at him in front of hundreds in the street and even more people around the world.

Instead of going home right after school like his mother asked, he joined the riots shortly after Freddie Gray's funeral. Gray died from a fatal injury suffered while in police custody.

Social media posts and flyers passed around schools called for "The Purge" to begin Monday afternoon at 3 p.m., shortly after schools let out.

The action quickly devolved into chaos as cars and buildings were set on fire and rocks and bottles were thrown at police.

But Graham found her son and pulled him from the streets before he found himself in trouble. 

"As long as I have breath in my body, you will not be on the streets selling drugs," she told him in the ABC interview. "You're just not gonna live like that. Not with me."