Purposely scaring your child is an abuse

I’ve never been a fan of Halloween.. so that sounds like a nightmare! Poor child😪

I mean I’ve taken my then 6 year old to a fright night at a theme park with my 14 year old. My teenager had a panic attack so we went home. We weren’t sure really what to expect. My 6 year old was scared however she did have fun. I think purposely making fun of your child is wrong but as a parent you need to work out their limits.

That's over the line in my opinion. I love Halloween and places like that and if I knew my kid also loved it and would enjoy it even if they got a little scared I'd happily take them. I have a 5 year old niece who adores all things horror and doesn't get even the slightest bit scared and I immediately thought of her having a blast in that situation. But you know your kid best and know if that's something they wouldn't enjoy, and laughing about them being scared to that level is just cruel.

I think there’s some kids who love that stuff (my son is so weird he loves being scared!) but if you see that your child is distraught by it you get them out and comfort them, don’t film them and laugh. I’ve seen a few videos like that and I hate them.

I think it's okay to scare (some) kids, but I don't think it's okay to obviously see you kid in a lot of distress and just laugh about it.

I love Halloween but it’s not something I would put my child through unless they asked and I felt they were of age.

I think abuse wouldn’t be the word I’d use. But I think some kids can handle it and some can’t. I was a creep as a kid and I’m like that still, I love creepy, spooky stuff. And I’ve raised kids who also love creepy spooky stuff. But my husband as a kid was so scared of things and would have nightmares. He couldn’t handle it but I would have been able to. So I think you need to know your kid.

When I was a kid there was a very sketchy bridge that was starting to break down at our local zoo. (How is this relevant Zainab? I’ll get there). I am extremely afraid of heights. My dad made us go on the bridge. I vividly remember there were boards missing out of it but my mind could have made that up. I was crying and he started shaking it and laughing. I’m still traumatized by it. So yeah doing shit to really frighten your kids is abusive.

Ops, I was meant to select questionable behaviour.

It's sad. That can cause a lot of anxiety for the child.

I mean I think there an extent 🤷‍♀️ in the example given I agree but like it depends on the child’s reaction (if they can handle it tbh) being scared can be fun but if your laughing at your child scared and crying that’s just sick. I scare my one year old with masks and stuff and she absolutely loves it and just sits laughing at me 🤷‍♀️😂

Surprising is okay, scaring is not. It feels like a betrayal of trust to me. And how are they supposed to kno you’re not just gonna randomly try to terrify them?

It’s especially gross when people record their kids getting scared tho because then they’re just exploiting them for entertainment. It’s also hard to kno how okay a child is with being scared because they could be pretending they aren’t scared

A little joke is funny, but to traumatize a kid is another thing. More things that are not funny: posting yourself disciplining your child online (Ex. Them throwing a tantrum and getting punished) like why show your kids vulnerable embarrassing moments like that to the world, and have it online forever… just reinforces in their mind that they are bad, and why expect more of them, this is just how they act. &&& LAUGHING at your child cursing. It’s not cute. It’s not funny. In fact it SCREAMS trashy parenting if I’ve ever seen it. Take that how you want to. But laughing when your child curses just shows them that it’s funny behavior and they should do it more. And a potty mouth is not cute. 🫶

Reading this makes me sad. We went to trunk or treat this last week and they had a haunted hay ride for “younger kids” but we asked multiple ppl before we even wanted to buy tickets for it and they all agreed it’s not for kids as the actors jump on the hay ride and they even had a chainsaw 😭 I was like absolutely not traumatizing my child tonight! It’s that easy to make a decision me and my daughters dad both agreed it’s an activity we would do next year when she’s at her Nanas (so just me and him). Idk though I’m also a parent who refuses to watch anything remotely scary or violent around her 😵‍💫

We love scary Halloween stuff. Some kids can handle it and some kids can’t. But you don’t actually know that until it happens. If your kid is in the later group it’s totally appropriate to walk out and remove them from the situation. However it’s definitely not abuse for kids to be scared during a haunted house situation in a general sense.

I don’t like being scared. At all. My grandma used to get a kick out of scaring us for absolutely no reason smh … love that woman but haaaated when she scared me

I mean that’s really horrible but we would go to fright nights as children at theme parks like Thorpe park

Some parents are their child's first bully. That's so sad.

That would scare me to the point of crying never mind a child

I mean you can play to scare a child.. like hiding and jumping out.. but the moment you notice that the child is petrified.. that moment you realise it needs to end and comfort the child.

My daughter was 2 and my MIL came out with a scary mask.my daughter cried this horrible cry of pure terror. I felt soooo bad and we didn't know she'd have that reaction. Of course she immediately stopped and took off the mask because it was not funny AT ALL to see her that upset. I think if you try something like that, and see that reaction, the only response is to stop right away and comfort your child. Otherwise, I feel like it just becomes cruel.

My dad thought it was hilarious to scare me after watching a scary movie. If I was that upset about it I’m he wouldn’t do it. I like to scare my 12 year old. I think it’s funny. I wouldn’t do it to a toddler or sensitive child.