Update: I've just recently found out that Cody and Emma are now back within the foster care of their real biological mother. They're both safe. Thank goodness for good news for once.

I've been meaning to write some two cents of my own regarding a certain controversy that happened on YouTube, since April 19th I believe, and probably still ongoing today. I kinda got sidetracked from that, because I've been starting a new comic as we speak, which, if I can, I want to target its completion on at least this end of May. The story I'm about to discuss now is probably a bit stale now, but I don't care; I just want to get my thoughts out there.

Well, the controversy in question is concerning the situation with DaddyOFive, a YouTuber who is, as the name suggests, the father of five children. The titular father's (now nearly empty) YouTube channel was described as a prank channel, in which the family would do some fun and witty pranks at each other.

That is, by fun, you mean "traumatize the children to the point where they start shouting and crying, and you record everything".

The butt monkey of these videos appears to be Cody, the four-eyed kid who seemed to be taking the most punishments of all from these pranks. He got harassed and bullied by his older brother, and his father did nothing but to keep the camera rolling. He got pushed to the bookcase by his own father and got a nosebleed from it. His Xbox got smashed -- a fake one, but hey -- just so his tears can be recorded on-camera. Then later, a prank gone wrong in which that Xbox got smashed for real this time -- and yet, instead of apologizing, DaddyOFive kept the camera rolling.

But the most damning of all was the latest prank the family did, in which the mother -- here on I'll refer to her as MommyOFive -- pulled a very mean prank on Cody involving invisible ink. The ParentsOFive verbally assaulted Cody, shouting and verbally throwing expletives at him for an act which they both clearly know he didn't do. Cody kept shouting "I didn't do it! I swear to God I didn't do it!" all the five minutes of the video until MommyOFive finally revealed that it was all just a prank. There were no smiles, no laughter from the children... In fact, the ParentsOFive were the only ones laughing in the video. That video was the catalyst to all of these, when people finally realized that their pranks have gotten too far.

And the worse part is, when I saw Cody, I saw myself. ;_; I kid you not; that was how I was bullied at school. Ugh, all these bad school memories kept popping back in... >_<

It doesn't matter if it's all fake. It doesn't matter if the family turned out to be just acting all along, like they claimed in their (unconvincing) apology videos. The fact of the matter is, these videos are still very uncomfortable to watch, and definitely not funny at all. If the kids were indeed acting, they must have won the drama acting award for being able to shed tears for real like that. It could give that unintended message that it's okay to mistreat your own children like this. Plus, I'm deeply worried about the mental well-being of the kids, especially Cody. =( Violent behaviors are often the result of child abuse at a young age, and these mental scars could persist for the rest of their lives... I should know, because I also have those mental scars as well, from my years of being a constant bully target.

Well, it seems that DaddyOFive has already been punished for his actions, in the form of extreme negativity he gained from his videos, as covered by so many YouTubers right now, especially Philip DeFranco. Sure, he has deleted all of his videos on his channel, but that only stirs the unstoppable force of the Streisand Effect even more. I heard that there's even a possible criminal investigation as well.

Moral of the story, don't mistreat your children. Don't be a bad parent. Child abuse is not okay. Child abuse is not corporal punishment (I'm talking to you, State of Maryland). And never underestimate the wrath of the Internet, especially if it involves making your children cry just for monetary gain.

P.S. There's also that viral audio-only interview in which a woman and her sister were being interviewed, claiming to be the real biological mother of two of the children, Cody and Emma. The claims are sketchy, and I'll only classify them as allegation at best, but just wanted to point that out. (Update: Yes, that was indeed the children's real biological mother. Considering the latest update with the DaddyOFive situation, I have no doubts now that the interview was legit.)