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“So Mean”: Parents Slammed Over Controversial Grinch Trend That Leaves Children In Tears
Interview With Expert
While millions of children around the world had a holly, jolly Christmas, playing with the gifts they received from Santa Claus, others didn’t experience the same joy.
“The Grinch” broke into their homes and stole all their holiday cheer, making Christmas Day memorable for all the wrong reasons.
A video posted by Katelyn, who goes by @K8Dehm online, shows two children running away from the furry green creature created by Dr. Seuss as he chases them around the house.
Highlights
- Parents are being criticized for pranking their children by dressing up as The Grinch and stealing presents on Christmas Day.
- Videos of these controversial pranks have garnered thousands of views on TikTok.
- The pranks left many children, particularly toddlers, in tears.
RELATED:
A group of parents ruined Christmas for their children by dressing up as The Grinch and scaring them at home
Image credits: k8dehn
The youngest child, who appears to be two or three years old, begins to cry as You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch plays in the background.
The video is part of a growing trend among parents of dressing up as The Grinch to prank their children or other young family members—many of whom don’t find the situation amusing in the slightest.
And neither do social media users, who criticized the parents for scaring their children just to gain a few likes or laughs.
“Why are you doing this to them?” one user asked.
Image credits: k8dehn
“Just think about the psychological consequences before making jokes, children do not know how to differentiate fiction from reality,” another said.
“Were they trying to surprise them or traumatize them for life?” questioned someone else.
“That’s so mean,” added a fourth, while a separate user shared, “As a kid I was so terrified of The Grinch.”
Another user said, “The second kid had the purest form of fear I have ever seen in someone’s face.”
Children, especially younger ones, don’t find the prank as funny as their older relatives do
Image credits: k8dehn
At a different gathering in Chicago, The Grinch surprised a group of children dressed in festive pajamas and green and red outfits. The reactions were as varied as the number of kids in the room: some cried, while others fought the green intruder, throwing pillows at him before he grabbed the Christmas tree and left the room.
In the final frame of the video, posted by @frankiedejoya, the camera captures the aftermath of the prank, showing three young children visibly upset.
@k8dehn #YourAmeanOne #MrGrinch ♬ You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch (A Funny Christmas Song) – Allan Sherman
Another video by @kuleeikim shows The Grinch dressed in his Santa suit stealing presents from nine children. The situation seemed amusing to some of them, but a girl was particularly distraught and burst into tears at the unexpected sight.
In the video hashtags, @kuleeikim included #GrinchTikTok and #ChristmasPartyGames.
“The Grinch is at it again destroying kids Christmas’s 😭 Someone please stop this! 😂😂” reads the caption of another clip shared by @famousunderdog that shows the cranky character stealing presents from four children, then waving goodbye as he heads out the door.
“Were they trying to surprise them or traumatize them for life?” one critic asked
Image credits: diegolopez21_
Published by children’s author Dr. Seuss in 1957, How The Grinch Stole Christmas follows a solitary creature with a heart “two sizes too small” who steals presents and decorations in an attempt to ruin the festive spirit.
The story, famously adapted into a feature film in 2000 with Jim Carrey starring as the titular character, criticizes the consumerist culture surrounding Christmas and the holiday season.
In 2007, the National Education Association included The Grinch in the Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children.
@diegolopez21_ xoxo the grinch #christmas #canonevent #grinch #trama #fyp ♬ original sound – 𓍼 ׄ ִ . ॱ
But why do children like stories that scare them? From the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood to the witch in Hansel and Gretel, children’s stories are filled with villains.
After all, fear is a natural part of childhood. Reading about it helps children put the emotion into words instead of locking it away, explains psychoanalyst Sophie Boutin.
“The child is afraid of what he cannot express and which stirs within him,” notes Boutin.
“The fear of the dark, for example, is universal. It is the fear of the living that we cannot represent, the fear of the monstrous, of the unrepresentable, of the impulses that run through us.”
Videos of the green intruder stealing presents from children are receiving thousands of views
Image credits: festivexmastok
“Stories that scare are those that give words to the child’s fear. They have a therapeutic power. The children’s book is a friend who comes to talk to them about something they could not express.”
However, it’s up to parents to learn how to act as responsible mediators, providing a safe space for children when introducing these stories to them.
Unlike books, which can be opened and closed and “arouse a critical instance” in children, scary films—or other terrifying sights that cannot be stopped, such as a relative dressing up as The Grinch—have a “hypnotic power” that “short-circuits” in this mediation, Boutin points out.
@festivexmastok the grinch comes to visit #fyp #xmas #snow #snowing #snowman #decor #christmasdecorating #snowing #grinch #thegrinch #prank #christmas ♬ I Am the Grinch (feat. Fletcher Jones) – Tyler, The Creator
@frankiedejoya Grinchmas #grinchtiktok #grinchtok #fyp #christmashorror #christmasgrinch ♬ original sound – FRANCESCA
To understand the potential impact of The Grinch prank on young children, Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Nancy Close, an Associate Professor at the Yale Child Study Center.
“When children are frightened or traumatized, they manage better if their parents are able to understand their reactions and create safety. When the parent becomes the person causing the fear, then the child has no one to go to who can be reassuring,” Dr. Close explained.
“This can cause a break in the trust that a child has in the parent which can negatively impact the parent child relationship.”
Image credits: Amazon
Young children (ages 0-5), like those pranked by their parents, are still learning to distinguish reality from fantasy.
“This process can sometimes become complicated by the fact there are make-believe characters in our culture that are portrayed as real, such as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc,” adds Dr. Close.
“Young children also have difficulty knowing things are not real when they are more vulnerable such as at bedtime when they are afraid of the dark and monsters.
“The idea of the Grinch invading their home and not listening to their protests can cause anxiety and interfere with their capacity to distinguish reality and fantasy and at the same time interfere in the development of imagination and creativity in their pretend play.
“It is through pretend play that young children can express their feelings, fears, and resolve conflicts and struggles.”
“The idea of the Grinch invading their home can cause anxiety and interfere with their capacity to distinguish reality and fantasy,” explained Dr. Nancy Close
Image credits: Amazon
The mental health expert suggests that children who were pranked by their parents might engage in pretend play to process the negative experience.
“The main lesson of the Grinch story is the shift he experienced from being heartless, mean and lonely to growing a heart, being kinder, and connected because the people of Whoville included him in their community.
“It is my hope that this is a lesson parents share with their children rather than playing pranks that are not understood and are frightening.”
The Grinch “prank” sparked mixed reactions online, with some viewers finding it funny and others criticizing the parents
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What do you think ?
Multa Nocte 6 days ago
Clinical child psychologist here. No, not even a little bit funny. But if I am ever called upon as a witness in a child custody or a parental fitness case, this would make my job a lot easier.
Xandra 6 days ago
Educational psychologist here, indeed not at all funny. Why would they want the kids to associate Christmas with a bad experience? As for the adults laughing at children screaming in fear...horrible.
Load More Replies...
WindySwede 6 days ago
Parents laugh, kids lost the last trust in their parents. Future: "Why are they not in contact". Nice Christmas present.
Ms.GB 6 days ago (edited)
Yeah this is not a prank unless the kids are older and in on the joke. They're just scaring the c**p out of their children on Christmas because they're a******s and scaring little children is funny to a******s.
Load More Replies...
MindNumbinglyBoringJob 6 days ago (edited)
Wanting views and likes has ruined society. It is so gross that people keep making these exploitation videos for views. Like it is some kind of validation. Like it really matters. It does not. It is fake. It makes zero real difference in your life. ( edit spelling)
Bookworm 6 days ago
A strong case for why people need to take parenting classes and have to maintain a parenting license to keep their kids. /s. Seriously though how is 'will this traumatize my child? Yes. Ok then I won't do it ' difficult? Way to teach your kids you're not a safe person for them.
Ms.GB 6 days ago
I'd love to see their "prank" go wrong and for one or several of those kids to just punch him right in the balls.
Load More Replies...
Carl Roberts 5 days ago
Ruining your child's Christmas for a TikTok trend. WTF is wrong with people.
Robin Roper 6 days ago
Any adult who prank a child is horrible. When I was about 6, an uncle I had felt close to played a prank on me which left me humiliated. I am now in my late 60's and when the memory of how humiliated I felt pops to the surface of my brain, I am still filled with shame and anger. I absolutely hate all pranks.
Lynchamigsakta 6 days ago
That little dude trying to punch the grinch to protect his brother, cousin or whatever is god damned heartbreaking, the fukk people!! why would you do this?
Willie D'Kay 3 days ago
The parents, the people these kids rely on to rescue them and bring them comfort and security, are laughing hysterically while the kids are terrified and reaching out for help. Are they trying to create the next generation of serial killers?
zak 6 days ago
This is not a "Christmas prank". A real Christmas prank is doing something like removing an Xbox console from the packaging and replacing it with socks, and then wrapping it and putting it under the tree. Then, after the kid opens the "Xsocks" and gets momentarily disappointed, you pull out the real Xbox and give it to them and you all share a laugh.
Steve Robert 4 days ago
These parents must have been gastapo Nazis in a former life. Not funny at all!
Meagan Glaser 2 days ago
"And that, officer, is why I never felt safe again. I learned later that you can get ptsd from a home invasion and to me, that's what this was. The violation, the sense that home wasn't secure...I feel like my childhood kind of ended that night. It's the first night I remember thinking about if the doors were locked. The first night I thought about how small I was, how helpless, and how I wasn't prepared to fight for my life. And I knew that I had to fight for my life- I could only rely on myself. I didn't realize it at the time, my brain just didn't even think about BEING protected. It makes sense now, I'd just seen my brother snatched up by an intruder and my parents did nothing, my dad actually LAUGHED. Even after I learned it was fake I couldn't unlearn what was seared into my brain at that moment- do not trust the adults who say they'll protect you. Don't trust anyone who says they'll protect you. Don't trust anyone. I started being suspicious of police, firement etc.
Meagan Glaser 2 days ago
anyone who said I was safe. I knew they were lying. I begged for martial arts lessons, but my parents laughed me off. It honestly felt like a threat, like they wanted to keep me weak. That's when I stole the kitchen knife to keep under my pillow. It was the best I could do at the time. But yeah, that's when I stated obessing over weapons, booby traps. Things I could make, that I could hide so they wouldn't get taken away. Because all the people who said they'd protect me loved to take away anything I had to protect myself. I got sneakier. Learned new ways of hurting others that they couldn't take away. I studied people, learned to read them and manipulate them. I came across as confident, but it was all out of pure fear. Everything I did was in response to a constant perceived threat. I thought when I got bigger and stronger it'd get better but it didn't. I was on the football team, one of the biggest toughest kids in school, and one of the popular ones. I learned to play people.
Load More Replies...
Multa Nocte 6 days ago
Clinical child psychologist here. No, not even a little bit funny. But if I am ever called upon as a witness in a child custody or a parental fitness case, this would make my job a lot easier.
Xandra 6 days ago
Educational psychologist here, indeed not at all funny. Why would they want the kids to associate Christmas with a bad experience? As for the adults laughing at children screaming in fear...horrible.
Load More Replies... WindySwede 6 days ago
Parents laugh, kids lost the last trust in their parents. Future: "Why are they not in contact". Nice Christmas present.
Ms.GB 6 days ago (edited)
Yeah this is not a prank unless the kids are older and in on the joke. They're just scaring the c**p out of their children on Christmas because they're a******s and scaring little children is funny to a******s.
Load More Replies... MindNumbinglyBoringJob 6 days ago (edited)
Wanting views and likes has ruined society. It is so gross that people keep making these exploitation videos for views. Like it is some kind of validation. Like it really matters. It does not. It is fake. It makes zero real difference in your life. ( edit spelling)
Bookworm 6 days ago
A strong case for why people need to take parenting classes and have to maintain a parenting license to keep their kids. /s. Seriously though how is 'will this traumatize my child? Yes. Ok then I won't do it ' difficult? Way to teach your kids you're not a safe person for them.
Ms.GB 6 days ago
I'd love to see their "prank" go wrong and for one or several of those kids to just punch him right in the balls.
Load More Replies... Carl Roberts 5 days ago
Ruining your child's Christmas for a TikTok trend. WTF is wrong with people.
Robin Roper 6 days ago
Any adult who prank a child is horrible. When I was about 6, an uncle I had felt close to played a prank on me which left me humiliated. I am now in my late 60's and when the memory of how humiliated I felt pops to the surface of my brain, I am still filled with shame and anger. I absolutely hate all pranks.
Lynchamigsakta 6 days ago
That little dude trying to punch the grinch to protect his brother, cousin or whatever is god damned heartbreaking, the fukk people!! why would you do this?
Willie D'Kay 3 days ago
The parents, the people these kids rely on to rescue them and bring them comfort and security, are laughing hysterically while the kids are terrified and reaching out for help. Are they trying to create the next generation of serial killers?
zak 6 days ago
This is not a "Christmas prank". A real Christmas prank is doing something like removing an Xbox console from the packaging and replacing it with socks, and then wrapping it and putting it under the tree. Then, after the kid opens the "Xsocks" and gets momentarily disappointed, you pull out the real Xbox and give it to them and you all share a laugh.
Steve Robert 4 days ago
These parents must have been gastapo Nazis in a former life. Not funny at all!
Meagan Glaser 2 days ago
"And that, officer, is why I never felt safe again. I learned later that you can get ptsd from a home invasion and to me, that's what this was. The violation, the sense that home wasn't secure...I feel like my childhood kind of ended that night. It's the first night I remember thinking about if the doors were locked. The first night I thought about how small I was, how helpless, and how I wasn't prepared to fight for my life. And I knew that I had to fight for my life- I could only rely on myself. I didn't realize it at the time, my brain just didn't even think about BEING protected. It makes sense now, I'd just seen my brother snatched up by an intruder and my parents did nothing, my dad actually LAUGHED. Even after I learned it was fake I couldn't unlearn what was seared into my brain at that moment- do not trust the adults who say they'll protect you. Don't trust anyone who says they'll protect you. Don't trust anyone. I started being suspicious of police, firement etc.
Meagan Glaser 2 days ago
anyone who said I was safe. I knew they were lying. I begged for martial arts lessons, but my parents laughed me off. It honestly felt like a threat, like they wanted to keep me weak. That's when I stole the kitchen knife to keep under my pillow. It was the best I could do at the time. But yeah, that's when I stated obessing over weapons, booby traps. Things I could make, that I could hide so they wouldn't get taken away. Because all the people who said they'd protect me loved to take away anything I had to protect myself. I got sneakier. Learned new ways of hurting others that they couldn't take away. I studied people, learned to read them and manipulate them. I came across as confident, but it was all out of pure fear. Everything I did was in response to a constant perceived threat. I thought when I got bigger and stronger it'd get better but it didn't. I was on the football team, one of the biggest toughest kids in school, and one of the popular ones. I learned to play people.
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