kids

Parents slammed for "mentally torturing" their children in YouTube prank.

Father-of-five Mike Martin is known for playing outrageous pranks on his children and filming them for his thousands of YouTube fans.

However, Mike and his wife Heather’s most recent prank on their youngest son Cody has been slammed by viewers as “mentally torturing” the children. Some have even labelled their actions “child abuse”.

In the since deleted clip, posted on Martin’s DaddyOFive YouTube channel, Heather explains she’s going to use disappearing ink to trick her son into believing he has ruined the carpet — something he has done in the past.

Heather with the invisible ink. (Image via YouTube/DaddyoFive.)
ADVERTISEMENT

"Get your f**king ass up here! What the f**k?!”" she yells at her son as he walks into his room to see ink spilled on the floor.

Mike joins in the yelling, while sibling Alex is also drawn into the frenzied scene. The boys begin to cry as they protest their innocence while their parents continue to yell at them.

It is six minutes before Heather and Mike tell their children they've been pranked. The parents are laughing and taunting their sons, who look shell-shocked.

Heather taunts Cody, who isn't amused by the prank. (Image via YouTube/DaddyoFive.)
ADVERTISEMENT

The confronting video has been removed from YouTube for "violating YouTube's policy on harassment and bullying", but drew criticism on a number of social media platforms.

"Why is mentally torturing your kids till they cry funny to you?" one user wrote on Instagram.

The criticism has led Mike to restrict access to his social media profiles and the family to create a response video titled 'Blocking All The Haters'.

"A lot of people don't get it, apparently. A lot of people don't see the humour in it," Mike says in the clip.

Cody and Alex tell their dad they are not traumatised by the ink prank in the video.

Mike has also tweeted at people who have allegedly made death threats against him and his wife and implored people to stop for the sake of his children who are upset by the negative attention.

He later tweeted footage of his wife in tears, upset by the allegations of child abuse she has received.

Watch the DaddyOFive response video below:

Do you play pranks on your children?