The Baltimore mother caught on video repeatedly smacking her son after catching him participating in rioting in Baltimore told CBS News that she was only concerned about protecting him. 
 
 Toya Graham CBS News 
 
 "He gave me eye contact. And at that point, you know, not even thinking about cameras or anything like that. That's my only son and at the end of the day I don't want him to be a Freddie Gray," Toya Graham said, referencing the 25-year-old man who died after mysteriously sustaining severe spinal injuries in police custody earlier in the month. His death has sparked protests throughout the city, with tensions boiling over Monday. 
 
 Graham told CBS News she launched into action after spotting her 16-year-old son Michael wearing a hoodie and mask amid the protesters. 
 
 "At that point, I just lost it," said Graham. "I was shocked, I was angry, because you never want to see your child out there doing that." 
 
 Graham, a single mom with six children, denounced the vandalism and violence against police officers. She said rioting in Baltimore is no way to go about getting justice for Freddie Gray and that she doesn't want that life for her son. 
 
 Toya Graham lays into her son Michael after seeing him with the protesters. CBS News 
 
 "There's some days that I'll shield him in the house just so he won't go outside and I know that I can't do that for the rest of my life," said Graham. "I'm a no-tolerant mother. Everybody that knows me, know I don't play that." 
 
 It's that reputation that made her son wince the second he saw her. 
 
 "He knew he was in trouble," said Graham. "He said when 'I seen you,' he said, 'ma, my instinct was to run.'" 
 
 Graham says after she got her son home they both watched news coverage of the demonstrations and riots on television. As images of her reaction started to go viral, Graham says comments started appearing on her son's Facebook page, many in support of her. 
 
 "Friends and everybody making comments and saying you know, you shouldn't be mad at your mother, you should give her a hug," said Graham. 
 
 Graham hopes the incident will serve as a teachable moment for her son. 
 
 "And by him seeing everything what's going on I just hope, I'm not sure, but I hope that he understands the seriousness of what was going on last night." 
 
 The video has been widely circulated as people look for answers to the violence, and it even drew the attention of Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts. 
 
 "I wish I had more parents who took charge of their kids tonight," he said, according to CBS Baltimore. 
 
 Graham told CBS News she thinks the situation wouldn't have been as bad if there were more mothers out there monitoring their sons. But she acknowledged there are some circumstances that can prevent moms from from doing that. 
 
 "We don't know where those mothers are at, a lot of mothers have to provide for their children," said Graham. "You can talk blue in your face to your children, but at the end of the day they gonna make their own decisions. As parents we just have to follow through to make sure that's where they supposed to be at." 
 
 Commissioner Batts told reporters late Monday night that a bulk of the rioters who pelted officers with rocks and bricks, inciting a massive display of looting and vandalism across parts of West Baltimore were area high schoolers. 
 
 "These are Baltimore youthful residents, a number of them came right out of the local high schools there on the other side of Mondawmin and started engaging in this," said Batts. "I think these were youth coming out of the high school and they thought it was cute to throw cinder blocks at the police department and address it that way." 
 
 At least 20 police officers were injured in the violence and one person was critically hurt in a fire, according to authorities. Police made 235 arrests, including 34 juveniles. 
 
 The streets were calmer Tuesday as the National Guard deployed. A 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew remained in effect. ||||| Story highlights Toya Graham tells CBS she wasn't about to tolerate her son taking part in the riot 
 
 She says her son knew he was in trouble, thought about running 
 
 Police praise her actions 
 
 (CNN) You know the Baltimore mom who went to the riot, found her son and lit into him with her right hand? Well, Toya Graham said Tuesday she did it because she didn't want her son to become another Freddie Gray. 
 
 She also told CBS News that she's a single mother of six who doesn't play when it comes to her children. 
 
 In video captured Monday by CNN affiliate WMAR , Graham is seen pulling her masked son away from a protest crowd, smacking him in the head repeatedly, and screaming at him. 
 
 Graham told CBS News that her son said he wanted to run when he saw her coming. 
 
 "I'm a no-tolerant mother. Everybody who knows me, knows I don't play that," Graham told the network. "He knew. He knew he was in trouble." 
 
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– The woman labeled "Mom of the Year" for dragging her son away from rioting in Baltimore says she didn't want her only son to end up like Freddie Gray. Toya Graham, who was filmed smacking and berating her 16-year-old son, tells CBS News that she "lost it" after she saw him among a crowd throwing objects at police. The single mother of six says she doesn't believe attacking police is any way to get justice for Gray, and she wanted to protect her son. "There's some days that I'll shield him in the house just so he won't go outside, and I know that I can't do that for the rest of my life," she says. "I'm a no-tolerant mother. Everybody that knows me know I don't play that." One of Graham's five daughters tells CNN her mom "has always been tough"—and didn't have any trouble spotting the boy in the crowd, even with a hoodie and mask on. She says her brother is grateful and understands that their mom was just trying to keep him alive. Graham says she thinks the situation on Monday would not have been as bad if more mothers had acted like her, but she understands that many may have been busy providing for their families—and there is only so much a mother can do. "You can talk blue in your face to your children, but at the end of the day they gonna make their own decisions," she tells CBS. "As parents we just have to follow through to make sure that's where they supposed to be at."