I don’t really have an opinion on Jimmy Kimmel. People seem to like him. Apparently he’s funny. He makes people laugh. He’s a host, a comedian, a writer, and a producer. He has his own late night talk show that’s been on the air for over fifteen years. So, I mean, well done Jimmy Kimmel.
He also does something this time every year (Google tells me that this is year nine) that makes my heart hurt. He has parents, as a “prank”, tell their kids that they ate all their Halloween candy. The parents record the exchange, send in the video, and the internet has a collective laugh over these betrayed and crying children.
Hysterical.
Who decided it was funny to laugh at kids’ pain? I’ll get back to that.
Jokes should never hurt. Let’s just start there. Jokes should make both parties laugh. If one party is laughing and the other one is crying, that’s not a joke. That’s bullying. Plain and simple. If a parents pulls a “prank” on their child with the intent of making them sad, it’s bullying. If a parent records a child – understandably – crying, and then shares it with the internet, it’s bullying. If we, as a collective society, laugh at children who are in distress, it’s bullying. We seem to recognize bullying when it’s done in the schoolyard, but turn a blind eye when it’s done by parents.
The very definition of bullying is “seeking to harm, intimidate, or coerce.” Is that not exactly what parents are doing when they use their power over their children to make them feel bad? And then splash it about the internet as though it’s entertainment?
Kids are human beings, with human feelings. Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of that. Doing something to purposely hurt those feelings is mean. Children are not our puppets. They’re not here for our entertainment. They are people, who, like all people, are deserving of kindness and respect.
Pretending to eat their candy is akin to me parking my husbands car around the corner, telling him it was stolen from the driveway, and then laughing (And filming! Can’t forget the filming!) at his reaction.
But it’s just candy, you may argue. The car comparison is unfair. But what’s “just” candy to an adult may very well be extremely important to the child. The fact that it’s “just” candy doesn’t make their sadness or their tears any less real. It doesn’t make what you’ve done any less cruel. Delighting in someone else’s misery is NEVER funny, no matter how insignificant you think it to be. Candy, cars, it doesn’t matter. Purposely hurting someone so we can laugh at them is one of the lowest things we can do. Jokes shouldn’t hurt.
We have to start doing better. We seem to realize that there is a bullying problem in schools today (which is a start!), but no one wants to have the uncomfortable conversation. No one wants to admit that maybe, just maybe, kids bully because they were first bullied at home. Because they learned that it was all a game to cause someone else pain. Because they learned that it was funny to make someone else cry. Because they learned that “jokes” could be at someone else’s expense.
Our society, and our kids, deserve better. And that is never, ever going to come to fruition if we don’t take a hard honest look at how we’re treating our own children, the youngest and most vulnerable members of our own families.
Be nice to children. Please.
I don’t see anything wrong with it, it’s not like they are hitting their children and saying it a joke! after they tell them it’s a joke, the kids laugh at their self, I did it to Josiah, he didn’t cry but still it’s a joke, and it don’t make me a bad Parent, also if you all want to go that far, then don’t play pranks on April fools! Just saying there isn’t nothing wrong with it and nobody will make me feel bad for doing it! ☺️
Question for you Elizabeth… if your child came home from school tomorrow and told you that their teacher or a fellow student pretended to throw away your child’s lunch at lunchtime, then recorded your child’s reaction as they got upset about it, and posted it to the internet where everyone was laughing at your child… what would your reaction be? Would this be acceptable? Or would you be calling the school? And if this would not be okay to you, then why do you think that it’s okay for you (the number one person that your child looks to for comfort and protection and respect) to treat your child that way?
That’s a really good way to describe it.
I didn’t agree with the candy prank the first year he did it, but you’ve just provided a really valuable litmus test for many things.
If you wouldn’t be happy with someone else don’t it to you child, should you be doing it?
Ew, ew, ew!!! 🤮 Anyone who derives pleasure from emotionally manipulating kids like this makes me sick. I will never understand what motivates a human being to want to cause such distress to a vulnerable little child. Not only do they think it’s OK to be so mean, but then they’re proud to broadcast it for all to see…I can only imagine the distrust and animosity that’s brewing. I’m pretty sure these kids aren’t consenting to have their worst moments on network television and around the world.
Thanks for nailing it (once again!)…it’s nothing short of bullying no matter how hard anyone tries to pass it off as just a joke. 🙄
So true. Hopefully a few people will read this when searching for those videos, and perhaps have a rethink.
Thank you.
So glad I am not the only one who found this publicity stunt distasteful. But then I don’t much care for any of these gag shows – Funniest Home Videos or comedy festival gags etc.
I’m from Mexico City I also live here, I just saw the video, I saw a lot of spoiled and rude kids that also punch their own parents, OMG what a society are you??? Kids hitting their own parents? And all of you saying that this joke is rude???
I’ve always loathed these kinds of ‘jokes.’ As a kid, they made me cry even when just seeing one person do something like this to another.
Fortunately I’m from a family that doesn’t do this sort of thing, though we had family friends who did.
It does seem that some families are just fans of this kind of ‘practical joke’ and I suppose maybe those kids get used to it from day one, so they don’t find it as hurtful? Though really, to me that’s the same as a child who is physically hit as punishment right from the start – they’re used to it, but that doesn’t make it right!
Videoing it and sharing it on-line just adds insult to injury. 🙁
This is the problem, kids need to toughen up. Kids are so spoiled…..it’s a joke. My brother put me in a dryer as a kid and I turned out okay. Kids are so sensitive nowadays, it’s because us parents cater to their every feeling. And a teacher doing this is not a good comparison in my opinion. A parent truly knows their child and was playing a harmless joke. Yes they are crying, but they can “get their parents back” when they are older. I’m sure these kids will turn out okay. Sometimes we realize the kids aren’t the real problem…