Kids Vs. Zombie

[clanglee]

wow. . . this has touched some nerves. . . . .

[Craig]

This discussion reminds me a bit of a time when I was quite young and my older brother was staying round my grandparents for the night... My mum and dad followed me around the house on all fours with a wide eyes and weird smiles on their faces. From what I remember though I took it all as a bit of a game and once their cornered me and I started getting a bit over-excited (trying to hit them) they stopped. I still remember it fairly vividly though.

[clanglee]

Parents just do that. . . My parents did anyways. My grandparents were expecially bad about it. I was scared, and yeah. . maybe I had nightmares about the stuff, but I lived. And I think I turned out ok. This was a bit extreme maybe, and I wouldn't ever put MY kid through something quite like it, but damn if it wasn't funny to me. Now I guess I see your point wraith, but from reading your posts. . I think you are reacting overly strong to the situation because of your own history. And nothing wrong with that, but I am sure that these kids are not constantly tortured with fear on a daily basis. And hell. . . maybe putting a little real fear into a child is not a bad thing. In today's society we tend to over pacify our children making them soft and unable to cope in the real world. Maybe this kind of thing could help children learn their own abilities and give them a sense of worth and confidence. Probably not of course. . it was a little too much. . . but really. . just a little.

[Mike70]

And hell. . . maybe putting a little real fear into a child is not a bad thing. sometimes not. my grandparents had some property and a small cabin type place on the ohio river where we'd all hang out in the summer. my grandfather had me convinced and i do mean convinced as a little kid that an ogre lived in a den near the river and would eat anyone who ventured too near. well i know now that it was all a ruse to keep me away from the ohio river and let me tell you, it worked.

[EvilNed]

And hell. . . maybe putting a little real fear into a child is not a bad thing. In today's society we tend to over pacify our children making them soft and unable to cope in the real world. Maybe this kind of thing could help children learn their own abilities and give them a sense of worth and confidence. Maybe not. But then again, just because that's how it used to be, we shouldn't automatically assume it's good for them. Putting the fear of death in kids... For your own amusement... Infinite amount of wrong!

[krakenslayer]

No one's claiming the kid is really gonna be scarred for life, but that's not the only part of the issue. Beating him with a big stick won't leave life-long scars either, but that doesn't make it okay.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Maybe not. But then again, just because that's how it used to be, we shouldn't automatically assume it's good for them. Putting the fear of death in kids... For your own amusement... Infinite amount of wrong! Then what is the point of having children?

[Wyldwraith]

Ok, Wanted to point out a few things, since I was the one that came out so strongly on this. 1) I find ANY instance of terrifying small children deliberately to constitute psychological abuse. The details are only relevant insofar as determining whether or not inflicting terror was the intended goal. Japanese Reality-TV, AFHV, maladjusted parents in the privacy of their home, my reaction remains the same. Such behavior leaves a lasting negative impression on young children, that in many cases will last years or even decades. 2) I freely acknowledge, and have acknowledged at multiple points/places in this debate that my own history is an obvious source of bias that affects how I perceive and react to issues related to the abuse I suffered when young. While I do not feel this bias invalidates any of the (IMO) well-reasoned and articulate points I've made about the negative aspects and consequences of the sort of behavior demonstrated by the architects of that show/the "prank", I freely admit I am certainly not the most objective arbiter, because my empathy is with the victims as a former victim myself. 3) The idea that the calculated/premeditated inducing of prolonged terror in young children is a productive and constructive means of child-rearing is repugnant to me. While it has been unarguably demonstrated that positive/productive reactions can be elicited from the target by such methods, I consider the concept akin to the use of choke-chain leashes and rapid-activation shock collars on dogs to achieve their obediance/other training milestones. The question should not be whether these methods can produce desirable results. It should be whether or not the negative consequences of such methods outweigh any positive gains. This isn't simply a matter of scale as DJ insists. To follow that principle to its most extreme would be to say that if spanking a misbehaving child results in a 10% drop in the demonstration of undesirable behavior by the child, then inflicting 10x as much pain is acceptable, because spanking is acceptable and it's only a matter of scale. Finally, I want to point out that despite everything I've said, and all the things I've experienced, that I laughed at the video just as hard as anyone else did. If I wasn't SURE that this kind of terrifying incident will haunt those children at least for a while, I probably wouldn'tve reacted so strongly. I think what bothered me the most, or at least what stood out the most to me was the effort to condone/justify the event by an ends justify the means argument. There are legions of people, places and incidents that will introduce every child to their first moments of absolute terror. Everything from sadistic bullies at school, to being involved in a frightening incident for real, to being unable to avoid violent relatives. Fear finds each of us just fine on its own, so I see no need to help it along by intentionally exposing children to it during the brief period where the comforting illusion that all is right with their worlds is still intact. They'll find out otherwise soon enough, so why take that from them?

[mista_mo]

the videos shown on Americas funniest home videos aren't even funny in the least. It should be re-named to "Videos of Americans doing stupid things, and some people will laugh, but really, these things aren't funny at all".

[krakenslayer]

Ok, Wanted to point out a few things, since I was the one that came out so strongly on this. 1) I find ANY instance of terrifying small children deliberately to constitute psychological abuse. The details are only relevant insofar as determining whether or not inflicting terror was the intended goal. Japanese Reality-TV, AFHV, maladjusted parents in the privacy of their home, my reaction remains the same. Such behavior leaves a lasting negative impression on young children, that in many cases will last years or even decades. 2) I freely acknowledge, and have acknowledged at multiple points/places in this debate that my own history is an obvious source of bias that affects how I perceive and react to issues related to the abuse I suffered when young. While I do not feel this bias invalidates any of the (IMO) well-reasoned and articulate points I've made about the negative aspects and consequences of the sort of behavior demonstrated by the architects of that show/the "prank", I freely admit I am certainly not the most objective arbiter, because my empathy is with the victims as a former victim myself. 3) The idea that the calculated/premeditated inducing of prolonged terror in young children is a productive and constructive means of child-rearing is repugnant to me. While it has been unarguably demonstrated that positive/productive reactions can be elicited from the target by such methods, I consider the concept akin to the use of choke-chain leashes and rapid-activation shock collars on dogs to achieve their obediance/other training milestones. The question should not be whether these methods can produce desirable results. It should be whether or not the negative consequences of such methods outweigh any positive gains. This isn't simply a matter of scale as DJ insists. To follow that principle to its most extreme would be to say that if spanking a misbehaving child results in a 10% drop in the demonstration of undesirable behavior by the child, then inflicting 10x as much pain is acceptable, because spanking is acceptable and it's only a matter of scale. Finally, I want to point out that despite everything I've said, and all the things I've experienced, that I laughed at the video just as hard as anyone else did. If I wasn't SURE that this kind of terrifying incident will haunt those children at least for a while, I probably wouldn'tve reacted so strongly. I think what bothered me the most, or at least what stood out the most to me was the effort to condone/justify the event by an ends justify the means argument. There are legions of people, places and incidents that will introduce every child to their first moments of absolute terror. Everything from sadistic bullies at school, to being involved in a frightening incident for real, to being unable to avoid violent relatives. Fear finds each of us just fine on its own, so I see no need to help it along by intentionally exposing children to it during the brief period where the comforting illusion that all is right with their worlds is still intact. They'll find out otherwise soon enough, so why take that from them? ^ this

[zombiekiller]

that was great! 3 thoughts: 1. japan is kick-ass 2. those kids were cute and very funny 3. i need to stock up on saran wrap and tobasco sauce! don't forget wet sponges and toy dino's on a string in a doorway.