Be warned: this will surprise you and probably scare you, too.
“Crystal’s Soapbox,” published each Thursday, is a column by conservative Texas mom Crystal Arcand who loves to rant about issues that relate to her kids….and yours.
I’ve pretty much decided I’m not going to watch any video posted on a social network until November. Why? Video tricks, that’s why. I’ve had enough of reading a description on a video posted by my friends thinking I’m going to laugh only to have the ever-loving hoo-ha scared out of me.
I freely admit that I’m a scaredy-cat. I’ve been to one haunted house in my life because a friend was working there. I promptly tackled him as soon as I got out because I had been terrified. I don’t watch scary movies. I don’t like scary costumes. Me and scary don’t mix. Ergo, I avoid scary anything. So far it has worked out well, since Sir Scary doesn’t really just wander the streets.
That is, he didn’t until social media and “friends” came along. With the advent of video sharing came legs for the knight of fright. Now, he can pop up wherever he’s least expected. The quiet, mild-mannered girl you went to high school with is now the perpetrator of panic. Tonight my husband came running into the living room to see what happened because I screamed. See, I’m a skeptic and thought, “Okay, I’m going to laugh at people trying to twist weather into ghosts.” Yep. She got me. I thought I was going to laugh. Boy, was I wrong.
“But what does this have to do with parenting?” you ask. I didn’t think it had much to do with parenting, either. Until I went to find an embeddable version of the video below. Oh, I found the video. I also found a ton of “related videos” that people posted. They weren’t of the video itself – they were of the reactions of their families and friends when shown the video.
Mama just got soapy.
Now, granted, I realize these things are all done in fun and no harm is truly meant by sharing the video “treats.” However, I think it might be wise for us to remember an adage I learned from Rolie Polie Olie: “It’s not fun if it’s not fun for everyone.” Most of the related videos were posted by young people who had shown the video to their grandmother, their dad, their aunt – you name the relation, a kid has scared the hoo-ha out of them. The kids think it’s funny. I think it’s disrespectful.
It’s one thing to surprise and scare someone when they’ve chosen it, like going to a haunted house. But to set someone up just to see how scared you can make them so you can laugh at them? That’s no way to be respectful of one’s elders, and it’s no way to be a friend.
Here’s what’s worse: there’s a whole subset of these videos scaring small children! Check out this description:
“This is Maytal’s really really cute sister kylie…. we were soo mean we just scared her! Lolz”
This is just beyond wrong. Am I the only one that wants to apply some serious corporal punishment to these girls? This makes me absolutely livid. There are more of these videos – shot by adults. Unbelievable. Parents, let’s learn some boundaries, respect and thoughtfulness, then teach it to our kids, shall we?
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