If you did this to your children

[Shatinator]

Oh lighten the fuck up, this is truly a first world problem, making a joke on your kids' expense that gives them 5 minutes of disappointment followed by getting a bag of candy to enjoy. I think it's hilarious, and I agree the two boys in the end are awesome.

expect its not just that is it?

Its the reaction being filmed, and put on TV, for the world to see, that isnt right.

expect its not just that is it?

Its the reaction being filmed, and put on TV, for the world to see, that isnt right.

Please... The videos are cute, and they'll be an amusing memory for the kids in a couple years.

Well unless they aren't. It is just as likely that these are memories of embarrassment or painful moments.

What was the purpose of this? Really, and think about this before anyone snaps to an answer. It seems to me that someone who has complete control over another, tricks them and causes them turmoil and pain, simply because than can.

Their is a word for that it is called Bulling.

Even if the parents themselves don't recognize their actions as such (as many bullies don't)

But I ask what's next, knocking old women in the street, only to catch them before they hit the ground, so no "real" harm is done, and brush it off as all in good fun.



Of course it could be funny to watch, but is that moment of laughter to you worth someone else's moment of pain?

The
S H A T I N A T O R

 

[wamdue]

I could see how you'd think this was terrible if you've never seen a kid cry about the fact that they only get 1 turn at a time in a board game. Trust me, these kids were all fine 10 seconds later.

I hope that is the case, and I hope that by putting those 10 seconds on the web, (and TV) does not have any negative consequences.

 

[Small White Car]

I could see how you'd think this was terrible if you've never seen a kid cry about the fact that they only get 1 turn at a time in a board game. Trust me, these kids were all fine 10 seconds later.

I hope that is the case, and I hope that by putting those 10 seconds on the web, (and TV) does not have any negative consequences.

If crying like that does have negative consequences then my daughter already has over 10,000 events that she'll have to work through with her therapist some day.

The most recent was a few minutes ago because a visiting friend moved a toy that she didn't want moved. The reaction was far worse than what was in this video.

 

[Shatinator]

I think that people without children get the most upset about this because they're imagining what it would take to get that reaction in themselves.

But you can't project yourself onto them like that. Those of us with kids have seen this exact same reaction when the kid can't find a shoe; because she was told its bath-time; or because she didn't like what we're having for dinner.

It comes fast and it goes away just as quickly. Little kids' emotions are fast and furious but they rarely last and are quickly forgotten.

I could see how you'd think this was terrible if you've never seen a kid cry about the fact that they only get 1 turn at a time in a board game. Trust me, these kids were all fine 10 seconds later.

Yeah, having my parents lie to me so they could have a good laugh at my reaction; that's okay.

Almost as fun as at 16 lying to my parents that I totaled their new car, having them run up into a fury for 15 minutes until I told them it's actually parked around the corner.

All in good fun, and my Dad forgot it 10 seconds later (after his blood pressure went down).

The point is you don't know what effect it would have on other people. So unless their is a good reason why would you want to toy with other peoples emotion?

Oh, that's right--because you can!??

Well, okay, but I wouldn't...

The
S H A T I N A T O R

 

[Small White Car]

Yeah, having my parents lie to me so they could have a good laugh at my reaction; that's okay.

Almost as fun as at 16 lying to my parents that I totaled their new car, having them run up into a fury for 15 minutes until I told them it's actually parked around the corner.

All in good fun, and my Dad forgot it 10 seconds later (after his blood pressure went down).

So your dad is 4 years old?

Since I made it pretty clear that there's a big difference between adults and toddlers I can only assume you have a freakishly young dad to bring him up as an example in this conversation.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

What I find strange and - to be honest - unpleasant here is the idea that if it doesn't harm the children, it's therefore okay to do it. There's no positive jusification being made for this activity, just the defence of it. The rule seems to be: "If it doesn't harm them, do what you like"; basically, there are self-imposed limits, but no real self-reflection. And what are you getting out of it? Okay, so the child isn't at all unhappy five seconds later. But are you still amused five seconds later? I imagine the selfish positive is as short-term as any negative. So why? Why do this?

I don't mean to be rude but this doesn't sit easy with me. It's playing with other people's emotions and saying it's okay to do it simply because "there's no harm done". It seems to promote a worldview that sees other people, ever so slightly, as playthings. I must stress, please don't think I'm making some exaggerated argument that this is dehumanizing or that these people don't love and cherish their children. I'm not suggesting for a moment there's anything abusive here. But there is a sense that these people view their children, and their relationship to them, in a manner that seems to me lacking ever so slightly in a form of respect that I feel should be found in all relationships, paricularly one as sacred as parent-child. Basically, this whole affair makes me, personally, slightly uncomfortable.

Again: Why do this? "Why not, because it's not harmful" isn't good enough.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Oh wow, y'all are taking this way too seriously. I don't have children but I have younger siblings, some whom are much younger, so I've grown up around little kids and I've seen them cry about silly things like Small White Car mentions and then completely forget about it less than a minute later. And it's not like the parents actually took the candy, the kids get it back!

And while us adults who didn't grow up in the age of YouTube may find a video of ourselves crying put out there to be horrendous, kids who grow up with the expectation that everything turns up in an internet video sometime probably won't think anything of it. In fact, when I think about it, if a video like this, of me throwing a tantrum at 4, existed and was put on TV, I really wouldn't care. It's not like I'm going to get turned down for job interviews because of a video of me pouting as a toddler.

The videos are hilarious and sometimes sweet. As for the justification...you've seriously never played a prank on someone? Tricked them into doing something hilarious even though there was no "positive justification" other than amusement? It's called a sense of humor.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

As for the justification...you've seriously never played a prank on someone? Tricked them into doing something hilarious even though there was no "positive justification" other than amusement? It's called a sense of humor.

Well, I've personally never been comfortable with "pranks". Again, please don't think I'm condemning those who are; it's simply something that "puts me off" a bit. But even if you are into pranking, shouldn't pranks be pulled between equals? A young dependent seems like "unfair game" to me.

Again, I'm not saying for a moment that any harm is being done to these children or that the parents, etc, have anything but love in their soul for those children. It's just that a component of what makes these relationships "right" for me personally is mising.

 

[Spot's Meow]

As for the justification...you've seriously never played a prank on someone? Tricked them into doing something hilarious even though there was no "positive justification" other than amusement? It's called a sense of humor.

Well, I've personally never been comfortable with "pranks". Again, please don't think I'm condemning those who are; it's simply something that "puts me off" a bit. But even if you are into pranking, shouldn't pranks be pulled between equals? A young dependent seems like "unfair game" to me.

Again, I'm not saying for a moment that any harm is being done to these children or that the parents, etc, have anything but love in their soul for those children. It's just that a component of what makes these relationships "right" for me personally is mising.

Well, my dad use to pull pranks on us kids all the time, humor was very much a component of our relationship. And it's one of my favorite things about him, and my favorite memories as a child. He pranked us because he loved us and loved seeing our reaction and the smile on our face afterwards (there are some pranks that are just plain mean, but in this case the kids still get the candy and probably get a kick out of the joke afterwards, like the cute little girl who laughed when they told her it was fake). And as a kid, you may not be "equals" at first because you are too young, but as time goes on the goal becomes to get one over on dad without him realizing it. The moment where you are able to prank him is like a crowning achievement of growing up. And it's made me a healthy skeptic I guess, because very rarely can anyone successfully prank me now!

 

[Deranged Nasat]

As for the justification...you've seriously never played a prank on someone? Tricked them into doing something hilarious even though there was no "positive justification" other than amusement? It's called a sense of humor.

Well, I've personally never been comfortable with "pranks". Again, please don't think I'm condemning those who are; it's simply something that "puts me off" a bit. But even if you are into pranking, shouldn't pranks be pulled between equals? A young dependent seems like "unfair game" to me.

Again, I'm not saying for a moment that any harm is being done to these children or that the parents, etc, have anything but love in their soul for those children. It's just that a component of what makes these relationships "right" for me personally is mising.

Well, my dad use to pull pranks on us kids all the time, humor was very much a component of our relationship. And it's one of my favorite things about him, and my favorite memories as a child. He pranked us because he loved us and loved seeing our reaction and the smile on our face afterwards (there are some pranks that are just plain mean, but in this case the kids still get the candy and probably get a kick out of the joke afterwards, like the cute little girl who laughed when they told her it was fake). And as a kid, you may not be "equals" at first because you are too young, but as time goes on the goal becomes to get one over on dad without him realizing it. The moment where you are able to prank him is like a crowning achievement of growing up. And it's made me a healthy skeptic I guess, because very rarely can anyone successfully prank me now!

I understand.

This is why we have to be careful, isn't it? What seems to one of us a rather unhealthy way to form a relationship is to another person an entirely healthy means. We can all only do as we see best and hope that other people are too, even where it differs from our judgement. And of course parents aren't just shaping a child, they're getting to know them too, learning about them as well as teaching. I'm sure your dad knew the best way to relate to you personally.

Small White Car is, I'm sure, right to point out that those of us without children might have somewhat warped perspectives on this.

Still, I hope I'm causing no offense when I say that the whole thing still makes me personally uncomfortable.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Trolling your kids is fun.

 

[sidious618]

Trolling your kids is fun.

Isn't there a troll dad meme?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Trolling your kids is fun.

Isn't there a troll dad meme?

Yup. It's fucking hilarious.

 

[sidious618]

Trolling your kids is fun.

Isn't there a troll dad meme?

Yup. It's fucking hilarious.

I love this one.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Isn't there a troll dad meme?

Yup. It's fucking hilarious.

I love this one.

I think this one is my favorite.

 

[Small White Car]

Small White Car is, I'm sure, right to point out that those of us without children might have somewhat warped perspectives on this.

Still, I hope I'm causing no offense when I say that the whole thing still makes me personally uncomfortable.

I want to be clear that I would't do this to my kid because I feel the same. It makes me uncomfortable too, and I wouldn't do it.

So what do I mean in my earlier posts? I meant that doing this to a kid is the same as jumping out of a closet and yelling "BOO!" at an adult. I wouldn't do that kind of prank too an adult because that's not something I feel comfortable doing.

But if I saw it happen to someone else I would certainly not say that the adult was harmed or that the person that jumped out was a horrible person. I wouldn't do it to someone, but I'm not upset if someone else does.

Same thing here...jump out at an adult...tell the kid about the candy... Both the same. Quick, harmless, and fleeting. I wouldn't do either because that's not me, but my point is that I don't think it's right to criticize others for doing either of those things. That's the point I was trying to make before.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I understand that kids do cry at the drop of a hat. That isn't what bothers me as much; I remember crying when I was very little when my dad did "Got Your Nose."

What bothers me more than that is the exploitative aspect of it. Uploading it onto YouTube for others to gawk at, and therefore leaving a record that could potentially be used to embarrass or torment the kid at a later age. Your kids are not your property and not there to gain you popularity.

 

[Pingfah]

How to manipulate others and elicit sympathy by turning on the waterworks is one of the first things children learn. In fact it wouldn't surprise me at all if most of these kids are not thinking "oh no, mom ate my candy, i'm so sad", but "there's no candy left, how can I get more candy?".

What these kids are experiencing is not even close to anything resembling genuine trauma.

As to the 15 minutes of fame thing, most of the parents aren't even in the videos. It's just a bit of fun, lighten up.

 

[Miss Chicken]

When I was a little girl my father used to tell us tall stories about his childhood. Some of his stories were about him and his Aboriginal friend, Charlie Flower (who. according to Dad, was a cousin of the Aborigal boxer Lionel Rose). One of the stories he used to tell was how he and Charlie used to go hunting elephants at a place called Elephant Pass.

By the time I was about 6 I was becoming skeptical about certain aspects of Dad's stories and would often say "That isn't really true, is it Dad".

One day we were driving north when my Dad stopped the car in front of a sign and asked me to read what was on the sign. ELEPHANT PASS I shouted. "Yep" said Dad "This is the place I told you about".

"Can we see the elephants" one of my sisters asked.

"Sorry" Dad answered "a couple of idiots hunted the Tasmanian Elephant into extinction many years ago".

"You and Charlie were those idiots, Daddy" my sister said.

"We were only boys who didn"t know better" my Dad answered.

A few weeks later I was in class when the teacher askedus to name some Tasmanian animals. One boy said the Tasmanian Tiger and the teacher said that it was probably extinct. I mentioned that the Tasmanian Elephant was also extinct. My teacher was surprised and asked me who had told me this. I told her about my father's story. She laughed and told me that my father was pulling my leg. One boy told me that my father "had got me good and proper".

I was not angry at my father. I went home and told my father that I knew he had got me good and proper and we both had a good laugh about it.

 

[Roger Wilco]

That's funny. And yeah, that's what dads are supposed to do imo; I would certainly do it if I had kids.