Jimmy Kimmel’s Halloween Video Of Crying Kids Is Only Funny If You Are A Huge Jerk

Every year, Jimmy Kimmel does a segment on his show right after Halloween showing parents lying to their children about stealing all of their candy. The kid’s reactions are filmed by their parents and sent in to Kimmel’s show for inclusion in his yearly mash-up so all the adults watching can laugh at the tantrums and tears of little kids who think their candy is gone. Sounds like a good time, right? How about, nope. Frankly, if you find this sort of thing funny, I am wondering about what kind of person you are. I cringed my way through it and these are not even my kids. I find it difficult to watch a child panicky and bordering on heart-broken. If you submitted video of your crying child then, congratulations! You are a parenting failure.

Here is the stupid video in all of it’s glory:

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Did you catch the super classy ending where parents obviously coached a tiny child to shout “F*CK YOU MOTHER F*CKER”? Isn’t that nice? Hey, you got on Kimmel, though! Feeling good about yourself? I’m sorry, but this sort of thing is a prime example of where my generation of parents is getting it dead-wrong. It is not funny to trick people over something that means a great deal to them. We tell kids not to bully. We tell kids not to be mean to their peers. We tell kids not to lie. We get upset with parents who post videos and photos of public humiliation punishments for their kids on social media. I guess it should all come with a disclaimer of “UNLESS it could get you on a late-night TV show!” At the risk of sounding like a total kill-joy, I just don’t see the humor in this at all. My kids are good kids. They do well in school, they are well-mannered and they love Halloween. I cannot imagine lying to them for the sole purpose of making them cry and then, publicly humiliating them to boot.

Then, of course, there is the fact that many of these kids reacted badly to the news that their parents took their candy. People are calling them brats in the YouTube comments and maybe they are but let’s keep in mind- they are being raised by people who find it funny to humiliate them for five seconds of “fame”. We should not be surprised when bratty jerks give birth to people who become bratty jerks. Also, sorry, but what other reaction is a little kid expected to have when something that means a lot to them is supposedly gone? Some of these tantrums are obviously WAY over the top (if my kid were throwing things all over the kitchen, we would have a big problem) but most of them react the way I would expect. Like children who just had their Halloween candy stolen.

Look, I know this is a yearly thing for Kimmel and people seem to love it but I am simply not one of them. I highly question parents who think it’s alright to do this to their children and I am definitely throwing shade at the people who laugh about it. Don’t be surprised if kids bully other kids and lie to them. Hey, Mommy and Daddy thought it was hilarious to trick them and make them cry- how is it any different?

(Image and video: YouTube)