November 5, 2011

The internet is having a big laugh over cruelty to children.

Hey, lie to your children and make them cry, and do it all on video so we can get a laugh. Go ahead, appropriate your child's innocence and trust, make him suffer, and give it to millions of strangers to howl over.

BUT: There is justice in the world. And the day will come when the child will have a video camera of his own, and he or she will film the parent getting emotional.
A YouTube video featuring a Texas judge repeatedly striking his 16-year-old daughter with a leather belt has gone viral on the Internet this week — racking up 2.4 million views since it was posted Oct. 27, and eliciting angry reactions from people around the world.
Teach your children well...

100 comments:

AllenS said...

There's a commercial on tv, and IIRC it's an insurance ad. This big robot arm and hand reaches out to this young blond girl, and when she reaches out to accept whatever, she is sprayed in the face. Anyone else seen it? It's terrible.

Toad Trend said...

This is what passes for comedy these days.

Subjugating your child's innocence to the equivalent of a car fire on the interstate?

An indication that values have changed dramatically, perhaps?

An offshoot of the 15 minutes of fame disease.

traditionalguy said...

I see that your Mother Althouse side still has instincts that want to make things better and not harm anyone. Beautiful.... like the smell of mercy in the morning.

ricpic said...

My parents laughed at my childish earnestness all the time and I survived. Of course I hate the world but that's inevitable....init?

Meade said...

As if parents don't lie to there kids all the time already.

It's good for them. Toughens them up for the big cruel world. Develops their sense of irony.

David said...

I didn't watch but will declare on Althouse's authority that they are assholes.

Meade said...

In all seriousness, those parents should not be putting videos of their children out on the Internet. The children can't give infomed consent, can they?

Mark O said...

Grab a rope!

Saint Croix said...

I didn't watch but will declare on Althouse's authority that they are assholes.

LOL. Yeah, we need a "pissed Althouse" tag.

DaveW said...

I don't see what's so funny about the crying kids. The last set of 2 boys telling their mom she shouldn't have done it, that she's going to get a bellyache, that's kind of funny I guess.

As for Kimmel claiming he didn't expect to see so much crying...I don't know what to say. I guess he doesn't have any kids.

Automatic_Wing said...

Develops their sense of irony.

Yes, if there's one thing we don't have enough of, it's irony.

Meade said...

Btw, I love ricpic's cruel childlike earnestness.

ricpic said...

You're too kind, Meade, and no, the check's NOT in the mail!

KCFleming said...

If Peter Pan had kids, it's not magic but mistrust, not affection but alienation.

Beta Rube said...

It's the kids who didn't cry because their parents routinely do worse things I would be concerned about.

Having said that, this is a huge breech of trust to a young and innocent mind and not funny at all.

G Joubert said...

As if parents don't lie to there kids all the time already.

It's good for them. Toughens them up for the big cruel world. Develops their sense of irony.


But are these the values we want to showcase?

bagoh20 said...

Isn't it pretty much the same thing as posting some outrage to watch commenter cry and rage on their keyboard. Except you don't tell us later it's all fine and just a joke. now that's cruel exploitation!

The kids are just being prepared for their future Althouse hillbilly membership.

granmary said...

Or you can terrify your child by using the child to try to break into & disrupt political events in Washington, as the "Occupy DC" protesters did. Lovely bunch of anarchists there.

traditionalguy said...

Speaking about using children, outside of a Christian culture there is a basic view that children are expendable.

The Muslims strap bombs on them and point out Jews. Or they put them into battles as shields because the soldiers from Christian culture wii not shoot them. They call that loving death...women and children first.


The Jehovah's Witnesses cult bring them to you door with the parents to control your reactions.

The OWS guys do a combination of the above.

Christian teaching elevates children to full status as deserving of a relationship with God and the family of God under good shepherds who do not run away much less cut a deal with the pack of wolves.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meade said...

Wa wa wa. A couple of those kids are regular Charlie Buckets. The rest are a bunch of spoiled Augustus Gloops and Veruca Salts

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

I've never been a fan of suing one's children that way (no, I'm not watching the video). Kids get enough cruelty from their peers. They really don't need it from their parents.

We have lost any clue about what is funny and what isn't.

bagoh20 said...

What's the point of having children if you don't use them for entertainment? Who else is gonna let you do this crap. It's why we get rid of them when they finally wise up. Don't pretend like this wasn't your plan from the time you first decided to have some.

pm317 said...

It is difficult to watch them cry but good to see the two kids in the end 'chat' about it and also that cute, cute kid in the blue t-shirt who breaks into a smile and says no you didn't eat it all. Disappointments are hard to take at any age.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curious George said...

Oh, that's what that was. I thought it was Althouse archive footage from the Capitol protests.

Meade said...

Thank you, bags. Good to see I'm not the only one here who isn't a coddle-crazy child spoiler.

KCFleming said...

I am sure it's an invaluable lesson that you can't even trust your own parents, who will abuse your dependence and love for the sake of a cheap laugh, whenever a stranger asks them to.

When these parents are very old and frail and frightened, they will discover their lesson was mastered.

Wince said...

I wonder if there is a causal link between the more extreme tantrums on the part of the kids and the level of parental selfishness displayed in posting the resultant videos?

And when they're old enough to understand their share of the national debt stands north of $48,063.69 each?

...They'll cry for more candy!

wv - "mudars" = the horse loves the slop, his mother was a mudar

Anonymous said...

My innocence has been shattered on Althouse.

Yes,it is cruel to do that to your kids, my kids wouldn't have believed me though, they would've cried and said I hid their candy.

Or you can take your kid to an anti abortion protest, with people holding all those colorful signs.

Mary Beth said...

I tried to teach my children to respect other people and understand that one doesn't take things without asking. I wouldn't have taken (or pretended to take) any of the candy they collected nor would I have made a video and shared it with the whole internet.

It just baffles me that anyone would think that this is funny but I guess it does prepare them to be a taxpayer.

Shouting Thomas said...

Or you can take your kid to an anti abortion protest, with people holding all those colorful signs.

Hell, at least the kid's alive and can attend the protest.

You're suggesting it would have been better if the kid had been sucked out of the womb and flushed down the toilet?

KCFleming said...

Marxist humor videos.

'Is not your property! Is mine, no? Ha ha, good one, da?'

pm317 said...

haha, Candyman at the WH. When will those 'kids' start crying? I say put it up on the Internet. I won't be laughing though.

Shouting Thomas said...

I used to really like Kimmel, particularly back in the days of The Man Show, which was a pioneering effort to kick the shit out of PC tyranny. The Girls on Trampolines bit was just the kick in the twat feminism deserved.

As often happens, the act has worn thin. Aiming the farty, belching satire at feminism was a great idea.

Aiming it at kids, not such a great idea.

People keep doing what made them successful, even when it doesn't make any sense any more.

Holmes said...

That's why I won't tell my future kids about Santa Clause. Or "social justice."

Shouting Thomas said...

Since it is Saturday morning, and I don't anybody to get too serious, here it is:

Girls on Trampolines.

That's what I call art.

Anonymous said...

No my dear Shouting, that is not what I am suggesting. I believe life begins at conception and abortion is killing a live human being, BUT I would not be in favor of repealing Roe v Wade. Back alley abortions also kill.

Women who have abortions will have to live with what they did and will have to sort it out in the afterlife.I don't think MOST women have abortions unless there is a very compelling reason to do so.

edutcher said...

Some so-called comics have been doing this stuff for a while.

Presumably, it's what they use in the place of talent.

Anonymous said...

Shouting Thomas that was really stupid.

I watched the whole thing twice.

Shouting Thomas said...

No my dear Shouting, that is not what I am suggesting. I believe life begins at conception and abortion is killing a live human being, BUT I would not be in favor of repealing Roe v Wade. Back alley abortions also kill.

Oddly, we almost agree.

I think it should be a little more challenging and difficult to get an abortion than it is under Roe v. Wade.

Anonymous said...

Shouting, I feel like we are hijacking this thread, talking about abortion , so maybe we can have this discussion in the future on some abortion related thread.

Anonymous said...

"I don't think MOST women have abortions unless there is a very compelling reason to do so."

One persons compelling reason is another persons "birth control".

As a former nurse you know that.

traditionalguy said...

ST...Thanks for the Saturday morning waking up video. I wonder if that is what Adam saw when he woke up after the creation of Eve and said, "Wow, That's it."

A simple goal of "Be fruitful and multiply" is somehow very life affirming in these Dark Days of Malthusian Ideology from the best credentialed Nazis yet.

Shouting Thomas said...

In Kimmel's defense, he still has some good ideas.

For instance, he's designated November 19th as National Unfriend Day.

On that blessed day, Kimmel is encouraging all of us to unfriend our phony Facebook friends.

Curious George said...

"Allie's Apple said...
No my dear Shouting, that is not what I am suggesting. I believe life begins at conception and abortion is killing a live human being, BUT I would not be in favor of repealing Roe v Wade. Back alley abortions also kill."

What kind of moronic logic is that?
It's like saying "legalize murder because it's going to happen anyway."

Tim said...

"You're suggesting it would have been better if the kid had been sucked out of the womb and flushed down the toilet?"

Despite the disingenuous disclaimers, this is a sacrament of today's Democrat Party and its voters.

And EVERYONE knows it, too.

Is it worse to lie to your kids, other adults, or yourself?

wv: supeter - indeed so - damned Catholics and their pro-life principles...

Tim said...

"What kind of moronic logic is that?"

Liberal logic, sir!

wv: juggeo - global juggalos - because you can't stop them; you can only hope to contain them.

Carol_Herman said...

One thing is not like the other.

Reddit posted it. And, there were 3 photographs in a row. With the last one being Judge Adams.

Yes, his daughter is disabled: Yes, only to lunatic fundementalists, would the unacceptable violence be thought of as a "teaching tool." Alog with Death To Evolution.

Given that the video was taken in 2004, Judge Adams escaped being charged with anything because there are "time limits" on crimes. And, this one had a 5-year-limit.

The judge's daughter has Cerebral Palsy.

And, the good news about sunshine, is that this judge is aware he can't leave marks on his daughter.

That was one particular thing to notice about the whipping. Even though in it, "if she didn't lean over the bed he was gonna hit her in the face" ... Leaving marks, ahead, will keep his fury under control.

Must have hit a cord ... to have gone viral like that.

Unknown said...

Very mean, just like the ad on TV, yes. Candy is more important than anything to kids!

Meade, are you being ironic in your support of this thing?!

Anonymous said...

Since the rest of you are talking about abortion, then fine,so will I. Shouting Thomas agrees with me, so why aren't you jumping down his throat? I doubt if he has converted to liberalism, so ask him too.

What would you folks suggest ? Making abortion illegal? How would you deal with desperate women dying of sepsis? Or hemorrhage?

Shanna said...

I tried to teach my children to respect other people and understand that one doesn't take things without asking. I wouldn't have taken (or pretended to take) any of the candy they collected

I can't watch the video so I can't tell how old these kids are, but at younger ages wouldn't you take the kids candy and put it up anyway (after a certain point)? They're still kids. They don't have a inalienable right to each a giant bag of candy just because it's halloween.

That's why I won't tell my future kids about Santa Clause.

My parents always let us know that 'Santa Claus' was a game we were all playing and the toys were from mom and dad. And then everytime we saw my cousins on christmas it was 'don't tell your cousins!'.

new york said...

He should have parents film their 17 year olds when they tell them they can't afford to send them to college.

knox said...

Halloween candy is a serious matter. It's not just "candy"... kids feel like they earned it!

I let my kids believe in Santa because the cynicism will come soon enough. I remember what it felt like to believe in magical things like that, and want them to have the chance, too. The disappointment later is worth it.

Tim said...

"What would you folks suggest ? Making abortion illegal? How would you deal with desperate women dying of sepsis? Or hemorrhage?"

That logic suggests we should legalize narcotics because of the adverse effects of illegal use.

I know this is a shocker, but boral agency matters, and too does moral hazard. Most abortions in the US are simply for birth control, and no other reason. There are legal, safe and widely available tools to prevent pregnancy. The time to take responsibility is before creating life; not in ending it.

And citing "failed contraception" as a defense for abortion is disingenuous in the extreme, as the greatest rate of failure in contraception is failure to use at all.

Tim said...

Anyway, I'm out on this hijacking - Allie's Apple raised the abortion issue first - and I'm done with my part.

Curious George said...

"Allie's Apple said...
What would you folks suggest ? Making abortion illegal? How would you deal with desperate women dying of sepsis? Or hemorrhage?"

Do you mean from abortions? I guess they shouldn't have had them.

Are you saying murder is acceptable by the "desperate"?

What is your definition of these "desperate" women?

Meade said...

PatCA, somewhat.

I agree - some of those parents were actually being mean to their children. Of course children's behavior is a reflection of how they've been raised. But even in my case in which I have a daughter and two sons, perfect in every way, I would not post on the internet videos of them from their childhood.

For one thing, it might cause viewers to become too envious of my superior parenting skills.

Anonymous said...

Amen

Peter Hoh said...

Hey kids, remember all that money you've been putting into Social Security and Medicare?

The Boomers ate it.

Anonymous said...

Tim said;

Anyway, I'm out on this hijacking - Allie's Apple raised the abortion issue first - and I'm done with my part.

11/5/11 10:52 AM

I brought up abortion and taking kids along to something inappropriate after granmary's comment;


Or you can terrify your child by using the child to try to break into & disrupt political events in Washington, as the "Occupy DC" protesters did. Lovely bunch of anarchists there.

11/5/11 9:17 AM

Meade said...

Good one, Peter. Although it's more like the Ponzi scheme sins of the Greatest Generation, visited on their Y Generation grandkids.

Curious George said...

"Meade said...
Good one, Peter. Although it's more like the Ponzi scheme sins of the Greatest Generation, visited on their Y Generation grandkids."

You are both wrong. This wasn't an act of any generation. It was an act of the federal government. Controlled bu Democrats.

jamboree said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meade said...

Obama: "Remember all those promises of hope and change and post-partisanship I promised you?

The 1% ate all of it"

jamboree said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

Greedy little beggars.

Fernandinande said...

the child will have a video camera of his own

At the appropriate age they can post videos of their parents being told that their kids are fruit-juice drinking sandal-wearing sex-maniac Quaker pacifist feminist 'Nature Cure' nudists.

knox said...

Peter Hoh, LOL!

knox said...

It's nice that I can laugh at the fact that I'm getting screwed.

Jane said...

Ann,

I agree. I absolutely despise lying to children.

Did you see the OWS people with screaming toddlers as human shields yesterday in DC?

Not good.

I want to get something done with my Saturday, but this stuff is starting to get me down.

William said...

These kids are the future OWS protestors of America....Remember back in the old days when it was considered cruel to take candy from a baby. Now it's boffo yuks. Great bit, but it could be tweaked a bit. I recommend using handicapped children to get the full comedic effect.

The Crack Emcee said...

Y'all's so removed from reality it's tragic.

That was great. I especially like the ones that just drop to the ground in total defeat. No candy? Noooooo!

Some of you have no clue what "abuse" is and debase the word with such normal acts as receiving punishment from your parents (who, surprisingly, are humans) and practical jokes. Neither a reason for a declaration of war between kids and their parents - even with the $400-$4,000 "retro-hippie" jacketed Ann standing with the video-equipped kids in their plotting.

"Kids Say The Funniest Things" with Bill Cosby had lots of children who were, if you want to be strict about it, making complete asses of themselves by saying stupid shit because they're clueless. Nobody lying to them or anything. Watching youngsters getting over-dramatic about a bag of fucking candy IS funny - and it'll also be forgotten as soon as you give them the candy back. It's a joke. Should the little dummies on "Kids Say The Funniest Things" kill their parents in their sleep for committing their idiocy to tape?

Sometimes, Ann Althouse can be like a Hallmark card from Hell.

Tea Party at Perrysburg said...

I heard about that judge.

Apparently his daughter was caught in a pattern of illegal behavior. She hung onto this tape for 7 years until her dad said she had to stay in college and threatened to take away her Mercedes. That's when she released the tape.

Just sayin.'

pm317 said...

The Crack Emcee said...
-------------

Agree with this.

Ralph L said...

Pm317 and Meade, do you support the belting judge, too, as Crack and Bagoh20 do?

The Mercedes was a hush car.

My father once gave me Tabasco when I asked for ketchup for my fries. Our relationship has never been the same, and neither has my digestion.

pm317 said...

Ralph L said...
-------------

I didn't read what Crack said about the belting judge. I agree with his comment about this 'candy' video.. I would not go as far as calling it cruelty as Ann does. People also laugh at this video because they know that the candy will be given back to the children and all will be right. I don't have children but I would not put them on the Internet if I did because I am a privacy nut.

I am no child psychologist but their reaction to the disappointment should be a teaching moment to the parents. Those who will reconcile easily with it will do well in life and grow up to be more mature and perhaps more successful.

pm317 said...

knox said...

Halloween candy is a serious matter. It's not just "candy"... kids feel like they earned it!
-----------------

The older of the last two kids in the video says that -- 'I went to a lot of houses for that candy.'

Ann Althouse said...

""Kids Say The Funniest Things" with Bill Cosby had lots of children who were, if you want to be strict about it, making complete asses of themselves by saying stupid shit because they're clueless."

Hey, I remember when it was Art Linkletter and "Kids Say the Darnedest Things." He'd get them to say things that the adults heard as sexual double entendre. Creepy!

Ann Althouse said...

But at least those kids knew they were going on TV before a big audience, and they could have said no.

Ann Althouse said...

The Kimmel thing would have been a whole lot better if the kids had said interesting things, like that last one.

I'm actually more disgusted that parents haven't raised more verbal children. I'd have expected a lot of reasonably intelligent reactions, like "You're going to have replace all that candy" or "Well, I already ate all the good candy, so thanks for eating the bad stuff" or "Yeah, I can see that you ate it because you look pretty fat."

Meade said...

Ralph L, I condemn the judge's belting of his daughter along with the behavior of your father who tricked you into eating hot sauce. The candy prank was relatively harmless.

pm317 said...

Ralph L said...
-----------

What belting judge did was despicable. Like Meade said, this candy thing was harmless but on the other hand Kimmel using/instigating it was not so good. I was curious to see the anomalous reaction, like the cute kid in the blue t-shirt or the last two kids.

Ann, may be there were more kids like the last two but the clown Kimmel thought that the crying would get the easy laugh.

ndspinelli said...

Man oh Man!!! You folks need to lighten the fuck up. They're just busting their kids balls.

The midwest is a preferable place for me to live as opposed to the east coast where I was raised. This is how I was raised and how I raised my kids. Ironically, my daughter clued me into thr Kimmel joke and we laughed our asses off. I have plenty of footage of me busting my kids balls. My daughter is tougher than many of the male whiners here and virtually all of the women nannys! Lighten up and grow a pair for chrissake.

ndspinelli said...

Midwesterners don't get ballbusting. Again, I love the midwest and this is where we chose to raise our kids. But you folks are too sensitive.

I do agree the kids were not as entertaining as you would think. I surmise they wanted to get it on the air and didn't get a good variety of kids. The chubby one who hit the wall may have some anger issues.

wv: poute...incredible!

ndspinelli said...

Crack gets it!

jeff said...

"Go ahead, appropriate your child's innocence and trust, make him suffer, and give it to millions of strangers to howl over."

Give me a break. I seriously doubt the parents didnt come clean a second later. Kids are always overly dramatic at that age. Some of those kids seem a bit spoiled. Plus it prepares them for when they grow up, get jobs and see all their check go to my Social Security.

ndspinelli said...

Jeff, Well said. You get it.

jeff said...

I could see my dad telling us that when we were that age. And my mom standing there saying "Oh, Bill.....Don't say that." And then it joining one of tons of stories we would sit around and laugh about when we became adults. And I was born and raised in Kansas. Although I see the over dramatic thing does stay with some people even into adulthood.

"Subjugating your child's innocence to the equivalent of a car fire on the interstate?"

Maybe you could tape yourself saying that and send it into the show. With your head positioned into a sympathy tilt, of course.

Kensington said...

I have to admit, I LOLed at the candy videos. A lot. I tried not to, but the most dramatic responses just cracked me up.

The judge, on the other hand, is a thug.

ndspinelli said...

Kensington, Again..you nailed it.

The Crack Emcee said...

"Go ahead, appropriate your child's innocence and trust, make him suffer, and give it to millions of strangers to howl over."

Kids grow up - and find their childhood stupidity (much of which they forget) to be just as funny as everybody else finds it. As teenagers, sure, they'll probably voice exasperation but, otherwise, they'll likely love being a tiny part of our collective cultural life. You're on Candid Camera.

Jose_K said...

I read thta because of the statute of limitation, the father wont be punished. If there still ground for removal?

Jose_K said...

When they carry them to the carousel or to the soylent green factory, they will learn

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter Hoh said...

Speaking of the reactions of upset children, have you seen this flickr photostream?

The photos are taken at a specific point in the tour of a haunted house. Must be a pretty disgusting/scary tableau.

Here's a fairly typical shot.

bagoh20 said...

My god, what a bunch of pussies around here. It's embarrassing. I remember my childhood as extremely rich in fun, adventure and happiness, but the hand ringers in this room would probably crap their chiffon panties if it was on video.

I'm glad you people didn't ruin my childhood as you must certainly be your own children's. They won't know what they missed, but they will miss it more than stolen candy.

This will probably cause nightmares, but I'm gonna say it anyway: As a child, I once ran with scissors. They weren't the round tipped plastics ones, I wasn't wearing a helmet, and there was no adult supervision. In fact, I think my parents may have had an open beer or two in the room with said scissors.

Looking back at that gives us all the shivers don't it? My parents clearly didn't care about me, and I'm lucky wolves didn't roam nearby.

I guess the mid-west is populated by the descendents of the pioneers who got scared of the high grass and just gave up and quit the wagon train.

The whole purpose of childhood is introducing children to things, including disappointment, lies, and adults using you for entertainment, or self aggrandizement, like when they pretend they are great parents because they protected you from half of everything life has to offer, and left you scared of it your whole life.

Kensington said...

I've gotta say, that flickr photostream that peter hoh linked is cracking me up, too.

F4GIB said...

At least Dad won't be a Judge much longer.

The Crack Emcee said...

bagoh20,

This will probably cause nightmares, but I'm gonna say it anyway: As a child, I once ran with scissors.

Fuck. Another perfectly good keyboard, covered in coffee,....