Mom asks if she went too far with punishment of daughter for pranking brother.

Family pranks can be a fun tradition to laugh together and bond, but sometimes there's a fine line between a hilarious practical joke and bullying.If the "victim" of your viral prank isn't laughing with you, then your joke was probably just mean. This can be a difficult lesson for kids to grasp, and with TikTok pranks easily going viral and tempting teens with the opportunity to get hundreds of thousands of views and likes in a few hours, practical jokes can start with a pair of scissors and a hidden camera and quickly turn into a haircut from hell. Teaching kids about privacy online, respecting personal boundaries and internet safety can be challenging enough without social media apps turning kids into pop stars overnight or convincing them to casually file down their own teeth with an unsanitary enamel-damaging emery board.Whether or not parents understand or respect it, social media is often how kids today comunicate and connect with each other outside of school, and taking away their access to TikTok or Instagram could seriously damage their social life and development. So, when a conflicted mom decided to consult the online courtroom of moral philosophy about the punishment she gave her 13-year-old TikTok-obsessed teen, people were there to help deem a verdict.AITA for "going too far" with my punishment? My daughter is 13 now, and she LOVES TikTok. She'd be on it 24/7 if I didn't make sure she did other stuff with her life. Up until now it's been annoying for me and my husband, but bearable. I feel like this is partially our fault, as we are big pranksters. However, the pranks we do are harmless, like waking someone up and telling them they're a little late, when they're actually right on time, then revealing it 5 minutes later. Or making an extra portion of food for them, and then doing the salt bottle prank. We always thought we've instilled these values into our kids, to make sure they always have everyone laughing at the end. Recently, our daughter shattered all our rules by "pranking" my 17 year old son. Whilst my son was asleep, she walked into his room with his electric razor, and and shaved off a massive part of his hair. He was angry and immediately went into the bathroom to see the damage, where she came up behind him and shaved a large part off the back of his hair. She'd set up a camera in the bathroom, and I looked at the video. She was giggling and having a grand time whilst doing it. Now, to him, his hair is a sensitive topic, as a couple years ago, he had pretty bad hair, by his standards, and over the past couple of months he has started to get his hair looking good and feeling happy with it. He puts a lot of effort into his hair, and was devastated when this happened. He was obviously devastated, and didn't want to go to school for the upcoming year. This year was pretty much the last year he'd have to be a teenager, because after this he wants to go to med school, and it'll be high stress for the next 10 years. Now to him, his year is ruined. My daughter was saying "it's just hair, and you're not even a girl, get over it" which made me furious. Me and my husband discussed, and we decided that she knew exactly what she was doing, and she deserved to be massively punished. We're taking away her phone, and giving her a Nokia, we're also going to be taking away her laptop, and only giving it back to work on homework. We've decided to block all websites other than Google drive, and her school website. If she needs to look something up she can ask us. We're also going to be grounding her for the next year as well, or until his hair grows back and looks as good as it did to him. We're doing this because we want her to realize the damage is not over with a simple apology, and his year has been ruined, and his mental health may well be down the toilet. Her aunt, my sister, who has always favored her in my opinion, is completely on her side, saying it's just a joke and it was funny, and we need to give her a small punishment only. I feel like her punishment is deserved, but now I'm not so sure, and maybe I'm being to harsh, taking a 13-year-old's phone and contact with friends away. AITA? Here's what the jury of internet strangers had to say: Taking away her access to TikTok, and even other social media is an entirely appropriate punishment. Completely cutting her off from her friends and extracurriculars, as well as most forms of entertainment, for an entire year really isn't. At 13, that will do some serious damage to her mental health, and two wrongs don't make a right. Also, it sounds like she doesn't actually understand the impact of what she did, and an the punishment won't help her understand. It would be much better if she could earn back those freedoms by developing her empathy, by volunteering or reading about the importance of bodily autonomy and body image. - neurealis NTA (Not the As*hole). She's old enough to know better. This will be a good lesson for her, I think. Also, how old is your sister? An aunt thinking that such a tasteless prank is funny, that's just ridiculous. NTA at all, and you are doing some good parenting. The only thing that you could change is about the next year's punishment. You could slowly return her access to social media after this year is done, just to see if she learned her lesson. - Hawly NTA. You're trying to teach her a little empathy and that her actions have consequences. A year seems like a little much, but I think it's fine to start that way and then let her off on parole if things improve. You may find it easier to enforce if you give your daughter a time box for using her laptop rather than trying to restrict use to homework and certain websites only. In that way, you're not the bad guy EVERY time, the clock is. This is especially true if you're really going to do this for a year. You don't want your daughter to resent you, but, instead, reflect on how her actions had real ramifications for her brother. Lastly, please take the time to explain to her that, unless everyone is laughing, it's not a good prank and is instead just mean. - woodchuck33 NTA. I can honestly say I have no idea what the punishment would be for this in our home, but you are absolutely not going too far with yours. I'd be furious with her, and anyone else who thought it was funny to do that. Holy sh*t. This was not "just a funny joke", that's so uncalled for. - doubleblended NTA. If it's “only hair” give her two options: sh*tty shaved head, similar to what she did to brother; or grounded as you’re planning. My guess? She’ll choose the grounding. - bloodfeier ESH (Everyone Sucks Here), except your son. Her behavior was wildly inappropriate, but she's still a child. I don't think she "knew exactly what she was doing" re: your son's mental health and how long this will be affecting him. She probably figured that it'd grow back and wouldn't be a big deal. I highly doubt she thought it through entirely, and she may not understand your son's anxieties about his hair. Unless she has other sociopathic tendencies (in which case get her therapy!), it sounds like this was an idiot kid pulling a poorly thought out prank. Your punishment sounds too severe. To me, it seems like it will sow resentment towards you and your husband more than it will teach a lesson. It also sounds like you did NOT teach her harmless pranking as you say. I'm sure she did take it further than you and your husband have in the past, but between your antics and tiktok, she got inspired. She definitely deserves to be punished, but more importantly she needs to understand why she is being punished in order to grow. Rather than just serving the time so to speak. I'm not sure what the proper punishment should be for this because TBH it is pretty bad. But no phone, laptop, or face to face time with friends for an entire year at the tender age of 13 definitely ain't it. Best of luck to you and your family. - AdventurousCups4 So, there you have it!While the opinions were somewhat mixed for this one, most people thought that this mom wasn't exactly wrong to set such harsh punishments considering the damage her daughter caused her son, but perhaps she should reacess her behavior after a few weeks as a full year is an eternity for a 13-year-old.