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With the increasing push for social media presence, likes and views are more important than ever before. Now parents will often do whatever it takes to get those views, even at the expense of their kids.
But one has to wonder when it becomes too much.
That was a question crossing many people's minds when TikToker @haylee_b14 shared a video of her two sons being pranked by a Grinch character entering their home and stealing their presents, only for the boys to be traumatized by it.
When the Grinch entered the home, the older son, approximately age seven or eight, stood on the couch and threw a pillow at him. But when the grumpy Christmas character approached the Christmas tree, the son was ready to fight.
The younger son, approximately age three, was not so sure and quickly began crying as he watched his brother fighting with the Grinch, the Grinch stealing their presents, and the Grinch pushing his brother around the room.
You can watch the video here:
@haylee_b14 Not stealing presents without a fight in this house!😅#mrgrinch#badkids #theyarefine#fyp
Shortly before the end of the video, the younger son can be seen backing up toward his mother, who was recording the video, looking at her, crying, and seeking comfort.
At the end of the video, the father appeared to hold the older son back, so the Grinch could steal some of their presents, and as he exited with his garbage bag, he gave the younger boy one more look, who cried in protest, and exited the house.
The video garnered swift attention on TikTok and in under two days had 5.7 million likes, 85 thousand comments, and 517 thousand shares.
The video also gained immediate attention on Twitter, where viewers had far more divided views about the video.
Some thought that the video was going much too far and was not funny.
\u201c@BornAKang traumatizing your children for a tik tok ???\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang This is really disturbing to watch. Is the person in costume related to these children? If so, the fact that they continue with the 'joke' LONG past the point that the children were clearly hysterically tearful & distressed is pretty worrying.\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang Top-notch parents. You can\u2019t buy moments like this:\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@SNoTTyBoy226 @BornAKang This was beyond a prank it was child abuse, the fear in that little ones eyes is haunting. And to throw him against a wall ? Real funny \ud83e\udd2c\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang That was horrible. You threw the one boy across the room and the younger boy was freaking out and crying. How could you think that was cool, and please tell me why you would post that. Unbelievable!!\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@MaliqueRankin @BornAKang People don't understand that this is not healthy play. And it encourages other parents to think that this is ok to do to children. It's about how each child processes this. It's not our job to toughen children of this age to life. We should be protecting them.\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
Others thought these viewers were being too sensitive and found the video funny.
\u201c@Ian99572584 @BornAKang It\u2019s a silly joke sensitive people like you wouldn\u2019t understand\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang The comment section proves to me that this generation has become softer than cottonelle. If this is what you call trauma I can\u2019t wait until your kids experience the real world.\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang Trauma is watching your parents get killed in a car accident or watching your home be destroyed by nightly bombing raids as the sirens wail above the bunker. Y\u2019all lost the meaning of trauma. They will grow up and laugh about this.\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang Chill people and quit raising weak children. We were raised listening to horror stories during black outs and it was the best memories we had as children. \ud83d\ude44\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
\u201c@BornAKang Aight, y'all are overreacting in the comments lmao. No kids were harmed, and no presents were taken. \ud83d\ude02\u201d— Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8 (@Lance\ud83c\uddf1\ud83c\udde8) 1670907338
Holidays and birthdays are generally times when parents do everything they can to create lasting memories for their children.
But social media was not sure what kind of memories a prank like this was going to create for these children.