Pls tell me parents are *not* playing this trick on their children

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I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that some parents are telling their kids school has started again, seeing them get excited....and then telling them ‘april Fool!’ .....and videoing their distress and posting on Facebook for LOLS.

This is really upsetting me. I can’t believe people would be so cruel.

I am not sure I believe these stories. Has anyone seen these posts?

Surely its videoing their distress at thinking they have to go back?

I told my DC that school registration had been moved forward to 8am. DS2 pelted downstairs to register, DS1 didn't believe me for one second and said he wasn't getting up for another half an hour whatever I said.

I haven't seen that my ds2 did forward to the family WhatsApp group a fake BBC article saying lockdown would end at 8.30pm tomorrow, so I imagine yes, people are indeed that cruel

Every year we have oh so hilarious parents telling their dc all their Halloween sweets have been eaten and videoing their response to that and then posting it, some people have strange senses of humour

I haven't seen any videos like that, but that's bloody horrible! What kind of parent a) purposely wants to upset their child and b) posts it on social media?

Vile

Mine would be really upset that school wasn’t starting. They didn’t love school particularly, but are definitely missing it.

I've seen 2 videos on FB today of that. I think it's horrible.

Whether the kids are distressed because
a) they don't want to go back or
b) they do want to go back (mine) and are gutted when they discover they can't
it's a really really wanky (and cruel) thing to do.

Yeah that’s nasty on several levels.

A parent at my child's school posted a photo to the school twitter feed of her children ready for school - uniform on, bags, coats and shoes on. How is it funny given what's going on??

Only dickheads would do this.

April Fools in our house involved DC bringing me a cup of tea in bed (whilst smirking) and some daft bouncy egg/real egg switcheroos. Fun and harmless!
April Fools should never be cruel or dangerous even in normal years, let alone with what we are going through now!

I didn't mean to say that it was nice to do something that would distress the children. It was just a flippant comment reflecting the fact that most children wouldn't be desperate to go back - particularly not at the start of the school hoidays.

I saw photos on fb of someone who pulled the same prank. Why? I don’t find it funny.

My kids would be devastated. Maybe other kids have taken this in their stride, but mine were crying at bedtime the night the schools closed.

That’s disgusting, my DS misses his friends terribly and has cried a few times, I wouldn’t in a million years even think of doing that to him.

That’s cruel and stupid. But lots of parents minimise their child’s upset and distress- like these “my child is crying because” posts with kids being photographed mid tantrum and shared on the www for the lolz. Disgusting parenting.

Nice parents

Wankers.

Sadly yes one of my FB friends did this to her DC (she didn't video it though) she genuinely thought they'd be upset at going back so it was supposed to be a lovely surprise April Fool.

Unfortunately they were really excited about seeing friends etc so she feels bad now.

I hope it was an true error of judgment as she doesn't strike me as cruel.

I hate April Fool 'jokes'.

Yeah, bloody hilarious watching small children upset and distressed.

It's the same sort of mindset that puts videos of children falling and hurting themselves on 'candid camera' type television programmes.

There are some nasty spiteful people around.

It’s incredibly unkind and massively tone deaf to the situation

Yes I've seen one 😐

My DD is not so keen on school and was initially delighted when school closed. However she really misses her friends and is quite unsettled by the change in routine.
This will be true of many kids, even the ones who don't like school normally.
I can not comprehend deliberately upsetting my dd more than she is already as a "prank". There are some really shit parents out there aren't there?

I’m so relieved to see all the replies here. Someone posted in a large Facebook group about how mean it was and so many of the replies/reactions were laughing at her, saying she was the fun police etc. Some said some kids deserved it!

My daughter only had a term at school after several years being home ed. So proud of her for tackling her anxiety and she’d really settled in only for this to happen. She’s struggling enough with the isolation, I would never joke about this.

It’s not even just about school anyway. It’s not like pretending the summer holidays was ending a week early or something. These are kids who suddenly can’t see their friends at all, only allowed out to exercise once a day, can’t even go in shops in some places it seems! Suggesting that schools are back would also imply that these measures may be lifting. Just horrible to dangle that in front of them too.

Omg....so there are really stupid and cruel parents out there, then 😡. The joke is awful. The videoing is awful. The posting on FB is awful.

There's a thread on here where horrid people were all suggesting that trick to play on their kids this morning and anyone who said don't do it was apparently a fun dementor.
If not being fucking cruel to my kids makes me a fun dementor I wear the badge with pride.

Me, dh, and dd all share the same dark humour, and will push it at times, she's 16.
No way would I do this to her, even at her age. What a way to make them distrust in the future and how cruel, especially if they were upset about having to be off.
You just don't do things like this.

That is evil.