What do you think of the Jimmy Kimmel challenge, where parents tell their kids they ate all of their Halloween candy?
Linnk.
I, personally, think it’s a pretty horrible thing to do. But some of the reactions were just astounding. Telling the parent that it was OK, and forgiving them. Unbelievable maturity.
Some of the reactions were shocking to me. The one girl violently throwing things around kind of made me sick.
Screaming the “F” word at their parents. What makes them think they can even get away with that?
So what are your thoughts on the prank?
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At first I found it funny and posted it on Facebook. But after that I began to think it was mean and not funny. Strange.
Horrible. Parents screwing around with their children’s minds like that deserve to have things chucked at them.
It’s “just sweets” to us – the kids’ emotions are real, though.
I know. They were really, REALLY upset, and I don’t blame them. All they hype and excitement leading up to Halloween, going door to door to get the candy. The candy was the pinnacle of it all.
Also, the girl who was being so destructive….why would a parent even want that posted a video of such horrid behavior for the whole world to see?
I do think some of the youngsters showed great maturity , and others just had a hissy fit, the reactions were good but I do think it was a touch on the mean side.
And again I must add, I am freakin glad NOT to have any kids.
I just question how that could affect their relationship with their parents.
^ It’s rare, but on this parenting issue, we seem to be 100% in agreement.
Cool.
Jesus. The betrayal on so many levels. All so they can have a few seconds of fame on Jimmy Kimmel.
I just watched the video, and remembered something else I have been thinking of: The kids’ classmates. There is one boy who seems to be about eleven/twelve. He’s crying and yelling. In many groups of boys that age, this would not fly…and the chance of someone in school watching Jimmy Kimmel is quite good, I’d guess?
The last one, with the three kids on the couch, seems fake.
I think they’re damned hilarious.
Specifically what is supposed to be funny here? The manipulation of children? The crumbling of a parent/child relationship built on trust? The tears of the most vulnerable? I’m confused.
Ahh. Now I get it. Wouldn’t it be funny if someone recorded a video of someone stealing a cane from a blind person? Ha! They would just be stumbling around. So good!
I find it weird that anyone thinks this is OK.
I hope so, but if they were, it was some of the best acting ever.
I really doubt the very young ones were acting, and aware that they were acting.
That’s what I suspect.
It just wasn’t funny.
Maybe they shouldn’t be that dependent on CANDY. Also, if they never have their emotions messed with, what the hell are they gonna do when they grow up?
It’s not the CANDY, @deni. It really isn’t. It’s the feeling of betrayal by their parents. They stole from them, for starters. Stole something that they “worked” to get. The culmination of Halloween.
And then the parents are going to turn around and say, “We were just joking!” The kid would be saying, “Why would you do that to me? I didn’t think it was funny. I felt horrible and so mad and so sad.” The kids, since they’re kids, could never see the humor in it, like an adult could.
So taking advantage of a child’s innocence.
People who love you don’t mess with your emotions, either.
To read some of these posts you’d think the kids were being abused.
@Darth_Algar: “To read some of these posts you’d think the kids were being abused.”
In all seriousness, do you think the way that these parents are treating these children is appropriate? Regardless of whether you feel this meets the criteria for abuse, do you not see anything wrong with lying to very young children about something that is very important to them, with the intention to hurt them for laughs?
Sell us on this – not just that you find this funny. Rather, maybe we’re wrong here. Maybe, as @deni has suggested, we should start breaking children before they can be broken later on. Make the case. I’m all ears.
^^^ This kind of hyperbole is why I can’t take these posts seriously.
@Darth_Algar it’s an awful thing to do to someone. You’re responding as an adult. Put yourself in the kid’s little shoes. Their emotions are raw and real. How would you like it if a doctor, as a joke, told you you were dying of cancer and let you stew over that for a few days until they said, “Ha ha! It was just a joke! Ha ha! Everyone is laughing at your distress! It was SO funny to see you crying and upset and we all knew it was nothing!”
See my above response. Comparing “I ate the candy” to “you have cancer”? Really?
How many of you watched this video? I don’t think I saw one real emotion coming from those kids. They were all doing that fake tantrum kind of thing that all kids do. And most of them recovered really quick. Comparing candy to a blind person’s cane or cancer is offensive to me.
I felt it was totally staged. The Christmas presents too.
@anniereborn
Yup. Kids don’t throw tantrums when they’re emotionally hurt. They throw tantrums when they don’t get their way.
I’m with @Darth_Algar.
I’ve been stealing Halloween candy from my children since 1994 and they’ve never needed Dr. Phil~
When he did it last year, I thought it was funny and kinds cute.
This time around I just found it disturbing.
I know Kimmel is famed for pulling stunts on people but I just thiink doing it to kids has a mean edge to it.
It’s a fascinating study on personalities. They really do show up early. On the other hand, when you consider the significance of Halloween and the effort kids put into collecting the poison, it’s a flawless method of saddling kids with trust issues regarding their parents. But then again, when your parents are busy looting your treasures the important lesson that NO ONE is to be trusted is stamped indelibly on those developing memories. Those kids will carry the cynical lesson of their thieving parents and the conclusions to be drawn all the way to their graves.
@jonsblond We all “steal” Halloween candy from our kids. But we don’t steal ALL of it, and then go and announce it it to them.
GA @stanleybmanly.
If this ONE situation destroys the relationship between child and parent, there is something very wrong already.
I don’t know that it would “destroy” it, but it would sure have an impact that they’ll never forget.
I remember something traumatic, for me, from way back, when I was 3 or 4, that affected how I viewed my Mom. I had a little, vinyl black purse, that had a white flower covered in clear plastic on the front. Oh, I loved that purse!
We were on a road trip and my sisters and I were arguing over the purse. Mom snapped, “Give it to me!” With a nasty glance of triumph to my sisters I passed it to Mom…..she threw it out the window. OMG, the shock. The betrayal. The horror. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach to this day.
@anniereborn We used the analogies of cancer and a cane to put the perspective on an adult level for those who don’t remember what it was like to be a child.
@Dutchess_III I remember what it was like to be a kid pretty darn well. I never thought of candy as something THAT important. A kid with priorities that out of whack needs to be taught differently.
Sorry, but after seeing the way some people treat their kids (like this neighbor of mine, for instance, I heard “fucking moron” twice in the span of 5 minutes just yesterday), it’s hard for me to sympathize with “I ate the candy” as being traumatic.
It’s not the candy, @anniereborn. Already explained that to you.
@Darth_Algar That’s the old, “Someone has it worse than you,” argument. If a child is raped on a daily basis, then hearing an asshole saying “Fucking moron” to his kids isn’t so bad, is it.
No, it’s not that argument at all. My point is that there’s emotional trauma and there’s not not emotional trauma and a dumb prank about candy is not emotional trauma.
BTW: the cancer comparison is still laughable at best, offensive at worst.
If those kids aren’t acting (and I don’t think they are) how is that not emotional trauma? How could you not be emotionally traumatized by your parents stealing from you and lying to you?
Sorry you’re “offended” although I haven’t the slightest idea why that would be “offensive.” Me thinks that word is way overused.
@Darth_Algar: “the cancer comparison is still laughable at best, offensive at worse.”
I’m actually fairly convinced you’re just trolling at this point. But here. I’m sorry your lack of understanding of childhood development has resulted in you getting weepy.
@Dutchess_III
As I said before, kids don’t throw tantrums when they’re traumatized, they throw tantrums when they don’t get their way. When kids are traumatized they usually become silent and withdrawn.
And the cancer comparison is offensive because it downplays the seriousness of cancer and the effect it has, physically, mentally and emotionally, on not only the person diagnosed but their loved ones as well.
I understand what you’re saying about trauma.
I still say the parents are selfish, uncaring and horrible.
@Darth_Algar I’ve been thinking. Sustained abuse can cause a child to become withdrawn and quiet. It becomes part of his or her personality.
However, while the abuse is going ON they are liable to be screaming and begging and pleading.
I do know that with some types of abuse the kids go to “another place,” and suffer it quietly.
Just when I think I have seen pc horeshit make an appearance everywhere, here it comes…to defend the lying to children, breaking of trust, and destruction of appropriate parental relationships in order to laugh at the kids’ reactions. @Dutchess_III, have fun here. This is unreal.
A terrific vignette representing decadent America from all angles.
Funny.
Not that funny.
I never claim to be Parent of the Year or have all the answers, and luckily my daughter is pretty laid back. However, I wouldn’t do this to her. To fuck with her emotions just for the sake of a video is not right. Yes, the majority of parents take some of the kids’ candy from the collection, and yes, within a few days it usually disappears and the kid forgets about it, but to gloat and say I took it for laughs is not funny, to me. My daughter probably wouldn’t cry or throw a tantrum anyway, because she’s not like that, and even so I still wouldn’t do it.
Actually they told the kids they had taken ALL the candy, every single bit, (as per Kimmel’s instructions).
And if I recall correctly, last year he issued the same instructions. But they were quicker to tell the kids that it was all a joke started by Kimmel and that footage was shown as well.
But this year I don’t think there were any shown where they let the kids in on the joke and they all had a good laugh about it.
This year just seemed more mean spirited and crueler somehow.
Some folks are commenting that if there’s this much fuss raised about candy then something is really disproportionate.
However, I don’t think it’s the candy, per se, but the breaking of trust. And some of these kids were really really young. They’re still at the age where (if it’s a normal home with love) they still think their parents hung the moon. These younger children see their parents as heroes.
It’s pretty disillusioning when your heroes lie to you and toy with your trust just for cheap yucks.
As I said, this year it just came off as really mean spirited and not at all fun. Last year it was just more lighthearted somehow. This time around it just came off as mean.
Well, I could see me, on a whim, telling one of my kids I ate all their candy, then quickly telling them I was joking, I’d never do something like that to them, and present it all back to them. But to let them go through pure melt down and laugh? Oh hell no.
And if one of my kids started cussing and throwing shit….I’d make a point of saying, “I was joking, you still have all your candy, but you can’t have any of it for the rest of this day, after all that.” But I can’t even imagine one of my kids doing that.
@Buttonstc “However, I don’t think it’s the candy, per se, but the breaking of trust…. ” That is what some people here don’t seem to get. That was a good post. Thank you.
@Dutchess
It was your post about your little purse and your mother throwing it out the window which underscored the point perfectly as well.
Even tho you and your sis were arguing, you trusted your mother to do the right thing and she didn’t. I’m sure as a little girl you had plenty of cute purses throughout your life so it wasn’t the purse, per se, but the fact that she chose to toss it away rather than deal with the situation. You were trusting her judgement and felt betrayed.
This didn’t even make any sense…”Well, I could see me, on a whim, telling one of my kids I ate all their candy, then quickly telling them I was joking, I’d never do something like that to them, and present it all back to them.” Sorry bout that! My first post of the morning.
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