“Divided Over a Prank: Dad Sparks Fury Online After Wife’s Unforgiving Reaction”
We all know that practical jokes can be hit or miss. Sometimes they land with a laugh, other times they leave us cringing at the fallout. But what happens when a dad’s harmless intention to share a laugh with his kids spirals into a whirlwind of online backlash and spousal drama? One Redditor’s attempt at a classic jump scare prank on his child turned into a lesson in parenting that few expected. As tempers flared between husband and wife, and the little brother became a possible future prank-hater, experts chimed in on the psychological impact of these jokes on children. Dive into this hilarious yet cautionary tale about the fine line between fun and fear—because at the end of the day, isn’t parenting already hard enough without introducing nightmares? LEARN MORE.
Many people—young and old—absolutely hate practical jokes and jumpscares; typically for a reason, be it simply not finding them amusing or having a personal experience that was disturbing at best.
This redditor’s son might grow up to be one of said people. When his 10-year-old sister suggested pranking him, the dad did not realize how big of a shock it would be for the child and how big of a fight with his wife it would put him in.
Seeking to learn more about how pranks can affect children, Bored Panda turned to the founder and director of the Child’s Play, Learning, and Development Lab, a professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
