Anyone who’s spent even a bit of time on social media knows how overwhelming the amount of information there is. While you can definitely find some great sources, pieces of advice, and supportive people online, you also have to filter out the noise. Inevitably, you come across posts that are beyond bizarre, especially when it comes to parenting, a topic that seemingly everyone has an opinion about.
Our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most unhinged, weird, and confusing posts ever shared in mom groups on the internet. While honesty is commendable, careless oversharing and opinions masquerading as facts can do a lot more harm than good, especially if any impressionable parents are reading your ideas. Scroll down to go down the online parenting group rabbit hole.
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Can You Imagine Waking Up One Day And Your Beard Is Just Gone
She Is Insane
Grounding is acceptable punishment, but deleting it? That is not okay.
Sunscreen Causes Cancer, Y’all
The simple fact is that following every single piece of advice you stumble across online, especially on social media, can be very harmful for you and your children.
You wouldn’t suddenly change your child’s diet or your entire parenting style just because you saw someone boast about how their approach is amazing and super trendy online. Similarly, you wouldn’t risk your kids’ health because you read someone’s unhinged tirade on social media.
Posted In A Local Mom Group
Found This In A Facebook Mom Group
Translation: "Hi, I'm a toxic mom. How can I ensure my son will move out at age 18 and never speak to me again so I can die alone and sad wondering why he wants nothing to do with me?"
She Posted Anonymously, She Knew What Would Happen
You need to know how to filter out fact from fiction, recognize what bias looks like, and be very careful about who you listen to. What doesn’t help is that there are a lot of overly confident parents out there who have very loud opinions about, well, pretty much everything: from childcare and education to nutrition, health, and beyond.
I'm Pretty Sure She Was Serious Based On Previous Posts
Don’t bother me with kiddo‘s scalp when I‘m worried about the aesthetic…
Mom Admits To Sending Her Son To School With No Shoes Or Clothes And Posts Them Completely Unrestrained In The Car
Generational Trauma Personified. It’s Now Too Intimate For Your Daughter To Cut Your Husbands Hair
Gross. Who's mind would even jump to the conclusion that it could be intimate.
Media literacy fundamentally revolves around looking at a source’s reliability and the information they share to determine whether the claims they make are trustworthy.
In short, it’s a way to critically evaluate any information you come across, whether you hear it on TV, read about it in the news, find it on your social media feed, or stumble across it in the online groups you’re part of.
I’m Reasonably Certain It Wasn’t Just Those Reasons, Karen
WTF does ANY of that have to do with you being white?! I was already feeling embarrassed enough about being white as it was.
Quality Quora Question
They could choose the radical option of asking your child why they are crying and then getting them help if necessary.
I Don’t Know What An Appendix Does But I Do Know The Doctors That Are Trying To Save My Child Are Just Quacks
Let's ask random people about a medical crisis instead of the doctors that are trying to save your kid's life. Yep, makes total sense.
You can take a two-pronged approach to evaluating someone’s claims. First, you can double-check and cross-reference the ideas they share with other sources online. You want to see whether there’s any scientific logic or factual basis behind what someone’s writing or if they’re presenting their subjective opinion as objective fact.
The drawback is that many people are busy with work, studies, parenting, hobbies, fitness, chores, and (sometimes even) a social life, so it’s very time-consuming to check every little bit of info. To save time, you should evaluate a source’s reliability.
It’s Gross, Karen. I’m Also Pretty Certain It’s Illegal To Feed Unsuspecting People Your Bodily Fluids
WTF is with these people who act like breastmilk is the cure for cancer? Every time I read about a schoolkid being breastfed I get SO uncomfortable.
My Mom Sends Me The Best Posts From Our Town’s Mom Group And Lots Of Them Are From Moms Who Are New To Canada And I’ve Been Thinking About This For Months
Manipulation? I Don't Think So
Manipulation... This is a wish, a child's wish. This one really annoyed me.
The second thing you should consider before following parenting (or any other) tips you find online is to consider who is making these claims. Naturally, there are no ‘perfect’ sources as everyone makes mistakes from time to time. But that’s not to say that all sources are equal. Some will be far more objective and trustworthy than others.
Found In A Mom Group
Saw this poll in a mom group I am part of. Persephone is the only suitable name on that list and I’m sure some people would still have trouble pronouncing it.
Why Even Go To The Doctor?
Thats More Than 3 Pagents A Month If They Start When She Was Born! Of Course The Poor Thing Doesn't Want To Out Her Sippy Cup Down, She's A Baby
You can look at a source’s track record to get a feel for them. What info have they shared before? Do they have a reputation for sharing reliable and factual information? Are they experts in the fields they’re talking about? Do they have a clear political or other agenda they’re trying to push? Do they make obvious grammar and style mistakes?
Vaccinations Made My Daughter Gay
Polio and measles = good but a kid being their authentic selves = bad. We are doomed if people continue to think like this.
You Ask Your Toddler To... What?
This Made My Blood Boil
Do they link to other sources on which they base their claims so you can look at them yourself? Do they make corrections when they realize they spread incorrect information? Are they transparent about having messed up?
NBCU Academy notes that news organizations aren’t perfect, but those that “care about the truth are going to correct it when they fall short.”
It's Called Happiness. I'm Guessing Pizza's The Only Thing That'll Give It To Them
Oh No! My child is acting like a regular kid. Quick find the essential oils and colloidal silver.
Moms Who Use Their Sons As Surrogate Husbands Are Vile
Why do I get the feeling like I'm going to need to write on dam near every one of these - Do NOT have kids to fix your unresolved personal trauma, get your a*s into therapy and deal with your own s**t because IT IS NOT YOUR KIDS JOB TO "FIX" YOUR S**T!
Imagine Needing Your 3 Year Old To Beg You To Go To The Doctor, Then Refusing Meds
Why make the child suffer can they can experiment? Too many kids go through unnecessary things because the parents "did their research" and know more than the people who specialize in the issues and treatments.
“Media literacy empowers us to be critical thinkers with the necessary skills to make better decisions in all aspects of our lives. The media we consume influences choices we make at work, at home, and throughout our society,” says Brooke Becker, media literacy librarian from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Libraries.
This Must Be A Joke - Right? From A Local Mom Group Where I Am An Admin
I'm Going To Need Them To Do A Live Demonstration
A Giant Yikes On This One
One way Street to being a single mom of not one, but two unfortunate kids
Some key questions to ask yourself when looking at a claim, according to the Center for Media Literacy, are who created the content or was paid to do so, what techniques they’re using to attract your attention and why, and how might someone else understand their message differently than you do.
You should also consider what values and points of view are represented and omitted in the message, as well as why the message is being sent at all. For example, is someone trying to sell you something or trying to influence you for their own benefit?
We’ve Tried Nothing And We’re All Out Of Ideas
Luckily, the comments agreed that maybe she could try parenting her kid.
Excuse Me?
This is a quick way to be partner free...causing someone to drink bodily fluids without their consent. Don't get me wrong, people willingly do it all of the time. However, if you have to be sneaky about it then it probably isn't a good idea.
First It Was Formula Causing Autism Now Baby Needs To Be Detoxed After Drinking Formula. I Can’t Make This Up Y'all
What’s your experience with online parenting groups, dear Pandas? From your perspective, are they more helpful, chaotic, or a mix of both? How do you personally evaluate whether a parent is sharing factual and important advice or spreading nonsense?
How do you filter out the noise online? We’d love to hear from you! If you have a spare moment, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. We’re always happy to read your opinions.
The Comments Are Filled With Her Explaining The Science Behind It
This Isn’t The Flex You Think It Is
Truly hoping this is satire but it wasn’t posted anonymously and OP doesn’t usually post satire. Her posts are genuine. Yikes.
Tell me you don't have a child safe home and you don't supervise your child properly. I accept that the random once off ingested object might slip by, but this looks like a disturbing pattern.
She’s Joking... Right?
From My Local Moms Group
Let the ADULT woman enjoy her life. This poor woman will never be able to live a regular life as long as mom keeps HOVERING!
Nothing Like A Hearty Stick Of Butter To Round Out Baby’s Meal
How is a literal stick of saturated fat considered a good option for a kid? Let's give the kid high cholesterol with clogged arteries before preschool.
Depression Is A Phase
Oh, it's just a phase? I turn 40 this year. Is that when the depression phase ends?
Yes, There’s Live Fish In There. Confirmed In Her Comments. I Presume Her "Work From Home With 25% Travel" Is Her Essential Oils Conferences
My Kid's Dentist Told Me Skipping Antibiotics Will Be Really Painful For Her, So I'd Like To Go Ahead And Do That
The dentist wants to prevent a possible infection and mom asks strangers. Why bother going to the dentist if they aren't going to follow the treatment?
Would This Be A Major Red Flag To Anyone Else?
"My Kids Were Wrongfully Taken By CPS"
From My Vegan Parenting Group
I swear, most of us vegans are actually very normal people. But there's always one whackadoodle vegan and for some reason an alarmingly large number of people think the rest of us adhere to this nonsense. I promise, we're rolling our eyes as hard as you are here.
Mother Of The Year. Comments Were 90% Not On Her Side
Ask Kirstie Allsopp. If you don't know her, she is a posh British TV presenter who does the same thing. The kids have to have "earned" the right apparently.
Need To Pee? Hand Your Baby To A Random Stranger In The Public Restroom
"Words Are My Language" Yes That's What Language Is
Wild Child Rearing, An 8 Year Old Nursing And Free Birthing
I quit! So the kids will be illiterate and unable to survive in the real world since they will still be in diapers among other things.
My Child's Future Means Nothing To Me
"He's Never Choked"
I've had training in first aid for children, and the instructor told us stories of real life incidents. One involved a toddler being given whole grapes while being driven to daycare. The mother arrived at the daycare, and opened the door for the employees to collect him only for all of them to be confronted by his dead body. He had choked to death right next to her without making a sound. So this one just makes me sad all over again as well as F*****G FURIOUS.
"Help, We've Tried Nothing And We're Out Of Ideas"
Refusing To Get Ultrasounds
They're getting educated in the comments, apart from a few people suggesting that they "listened to their gut".
"As I Have With All My Babies"
Poll Question
Why do you think these mom group posts become so wild?
Seeking attention
Lack of moderation
Diverse perspectives
Stress relief
I've come to realize about 85% of the people on the planet shouldn't be allowed to breed. Even Freud would've had his limit with this sh*t.
I started reading but gave up after about a dozen. PLEASE tell me this is a joke thread.
I can do that, but I try to avoid lying as much as possible.
Load More Replies...I see a lot of people who are going to be *very* lonely in the nursing home one day.
Likely because their children are either dеad or in prison. Kids raised this way don’t turn out normally, and so won’t have “normal” feelings like “I need to be with my mom while she dies.”
Load More Replies...I've come to realize about 85% of the people on the planet shouldn't be allowed to breed. Even Freud would've had his limit with this sh*t.
I started reading but gave up after about a dozen. PLEASE tell me this is a joke thread.
I can do that, but I try to avoid lying as much as possible.
Load More Replies...I see a lot of people who are going to be *very* lonely in the nursing home one day.
Likely because their children are either dеad or in prison. Kids raised this way don’t turn out normally, and so won’t have “normal” feelings like “I need to be with my mom while she dies.”
Load More Replies...