A disturbing TikTok trend raises concerns about child abuse

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

Anyone who has heard a hungry, tired, sad, in pain, sick, or scared toddler knows the sound of a child's cry that gets into your head. There are thousands of reasons for crying, and usually, parents do everything to improve their children's mood. However, it turns out that TikTok caregivers deliberately make children cry, record it on video, and then publish it on the internet.

The latest parenting trend started in the United States. What does it involve? Parents holding a small, unaware child in their arms pretend to hit them against a wall or door. After the "hit," they frantically console the toddler, who realizes something terrible has happened. This, in turn, causes crying, which greatly 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 modelling. Young children are closely tied to their mothers, so when they see their parents reacting with fear, terror rises in them, too. Showing a child that something should hurt makes the toddler believe something has happened that requires a crying reaction.