As influencers, online personalities often come under scrutiny for their actions. Sometimes, a simple prank could be misconstrued as harmful and unnecessary, especially when it involves young kids.
Back in August, Naomi Neo used a ghost filter to play a prank on her four-year-old son Kyzo and was heavily criticised for it.
Despite the comments she received, Ms Neo has decided to trick her son again by pretending she forgot to book his air ticket for a family vacation.
Visibly devastated, her son wails in the influencer’s two-minute TikTok video. Many have labelled her actions as exploitative and potentially traumatising for Kyzo.
In Ms Neo’s TikTok video posted on 9 Sep, she shared how she tricked her son into thinking she forgot to book his flight ticket the day before their trip.
Setting her son down, she hesitantly explains that she accidentally forgot to book his air ticket for their family vacation to Australia.
The disappointment is evident as his previously jovial smile drops into a nervous look before crumpling in dismay.
He then protests that he wants to go, even when she says there are no more seats available on the airplane.
The distraught child proceeds to offer options such as sitting on her lap and having her throw away her ticket to stay with him.
When Ms Neo says she can’t do that, he starts crying, repeating that he will miss her.
The situation escalates further when he begins wailing and shaking his head as Ms Neo asks him to stay in Singapore.
“I want to stay with mommy,” he cries. “If you go Australia, who take care of me? How can you forget about me?”
He then curls up in her suitcase in a clear attempt to sneak onto the flight.
Ms Neo may have had good intentions by playing the prank on her son, but it did not sit well with her followers.
While some users gushed over her son’s adorable nature, others pointed out that the prank seemed too malicious to be well-intentioned.
One user also pointed out that such actions can cause children to have childhood trauma, drawing comparisons to their own past.
Noting that this was not Ms Neo’s first prank on Kyzo, another netizen went so far as to accuse her of exploiting her son.
Ms Neo’s followers need not worry, though – the entire family, including Kyzo, is now on their vacation as planned, according to her latest TikTok video.
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Featured image adapted from @naomineo on TikTok.
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