New TikTok trend sparks outrage as parents provoke toddler cries

The new TikTok trend is alarming. It involves parents pretending to hit their young children to provoke crying and fear. These "funny" videos of crying toddlers are then shared online.

Anyone who has ever heard a hungry, tired, sad, in pain, sick, or scared toddler knows the sound of a child's cry can be deeply upsetting. There are thousands of reasons why a child might cry, and parents usually do everything they can to improve their child's mood. However, it turns out that some TikTok users deliberately make their children cry, record it, and then post the videos on the internet.

This latest parenting trend started in our country. What does it involve? Parents hold a small, unaware child in their arms and pretend to hit them against a wall or door. After the "hit," they frantically console the toddler, who senses that something bad has happened. This, in turn, causes the child to cry, which amuses the parents recording the video.

Why do toddlers cry even though they are not physically hurt? From a psychological perspective, this might result from modeling. Young children are closely tied to their mothers, so when they see their parents reacting with fear, they become frightened, too. Showing a child that something should hurt makes the toddler believe something terrible has happened, prompting them to cry.