For every video on social media that shows a parent pulling a prank on their child, there are just as many responses from people who think it’s cruel to do so. Whether it’s a seemingly harmless April Fool’s Day prank or an embarrassing joke played on teens by their parents, the jury always seems to be out on if this behavior is OK for parents to indulge in.

But the most recent round of parent-led pranking to go viral on social media seems to really be striking a nerve with naysayers. The “meet your teacher” prank is taking off on TikTok and it’s problematic for more than one reason.

Unfamiliar with the viral prank? It’s essentially a trick in which moms and dads find mug shots, photos, or AI-generated images of men and women who look, well, quite different from them. Then the parents fake a FaceTime call with the supposed “new teacher” and record their kids’ troubled reactions to what they’re seeing on the screen. 

Not only are the parents who’ve posted these videos getting some flack for making fun of someone who, if real, is just a person, but for introducing additional anxiety into back-to-school time, which is fraught with nerves for little kids anyway. It’s leading many to ask why parents think it’s funny to scare their kids.

In one clip, uploaded by TikTok mom @paytwarner7, we see her young daughter wide-eyed over an image of a woman with bleached hair, heavy make-up, and overly-darkened eyebrows. As the mom says, “She’s calling, say hey,” the child stares at the image in confusion, but says hello a few times before asking, “Why does she look like that?” The mom shushes her daughter, saying, “She can hear you,” all the while laughing hysterically until the child responds, “She’s scary.”

Another, uploaded by @kboogie20, shows the mom revealing an AI-generated image of a man with a dirty face and hair to her preschooler daughter. “Your teacher’s FaceTiming,” she tells her child. The child goes on to make comments like, “Ew, I don’t like him,” and “He looks scary,” before starting to cry.

It’s a joke that begs the question: Is this kind of prank OK to pull on young children? Some commenters on the posts say it’s not. “That child is now terrified of school,” said one. Another chimed in, “You guys are scaring these kids.”

Beyond making kids scared for their return to the classroom, parents are encouraging their kids to react with fear and apprehension based on someone’s appearance. As the prank continues to go viral, only comment sections will tell whether fellow moms and dads think this type of prank is a yes or a no. (It’s definitely a no for us!)