Can tickling children be harmful?

Jayden

If so, why? And in what situations

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2.0k views • 2 upvotes • 91 comments

COMMENT (91)

Be

Posted at
Like, say a child falls out his treehouse and breaks some ribs. That's not a good time to tickle him. Hope this helps.

Cr

Crystal • Feb 14, 2019
Lol lol

Ar

Ariana • Feb 11, 2019
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😭😅🙃

Ma

Marlei Mae • Feb 5, 2019
😂😂😂😂👏👏👏

Ma

Posted at
Tickling in and of itself isn't. But I think if the child is continuously telling you to stop and you don't, it might send the message that their wishes aren't important and their "no" isn't taken seriously.

mr

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Fucking hate being tickled, I never tickle my kids

Me

Me • Feb 4, 2019
My dad used to tickle me until I cried. I hated it. It was so fucked up. If anyone tries to tickle me as an adult I snap a bit.

Th

TheNatureGirlAdgeFlair • Feb 3, 2019
Me too! I was the odd kid, don’t tickle me and don’t you DARE put a fkn sticker on me aunt Janine!!

🕶

🕶 • Feb 3, 2019
Me too. It hurts me and I get would get so upset when someone didn’t stop.

Sh

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🙄🙄🙄 oh my lanta. It's fun, a parent and any sane person knows the difference between a laughing "stop" and an uncomfortable "stop"

Sh

Sh • Feb 4, 2019
YUCK. I'm sorry, I cant believe your mom didnt do anything

Al

Al • Feb 4, 2019
I am still bothered by when my uncle tickled me as a kid. He would do it until I peed. Once he did it when I was about 8 or 9 under my shirt and I was super self conscious because things were starting to change there. He wouldn't stop and my mom just watched. He definitely took it way too far.

Ki

KillerKakapo • Feb 4, 2019
@Sam I can see where you’re coming from (teaching children that their “no’s” are important and explaining if we have to go against them), there can be grey areas. @KittyCatt seems to know her child well and is teaching her about the hard “no’s” with her grandpa. I definitely used to be a child that would playfully say no to my mom and she recognized it. The problem only occurred when she started ignoring the hard “no’s” and my clear discomfort. I still have fond memories of us playing around and her listening to me when I really meant it. There doesn’t have to be a black and white to everything. One could make the argument that black and white is easier for children to understand but at that point it is a parenting decision. As long as someone truly knows their child and listens to them, I don’t believe anything is wrong.

Qu

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I don’t remember which country it was, but I did read that a country way back in the day used tickling as a form of torture. It does get painful after a while, and people often take it too far because they think their laughing victim is having fun as well. Yes I tickle my kids, but stop as soon as they say/ only tickle for so long. I want them to enjoy it rather then dreading it like I do since people in my life have taken it too far.

Qu

QueenBee320 • Feb 3, 2019

lk

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I don't think tickling as a thing is harmful, but it can become harmful if the tickler won't stop when asked. Then it moves over into consent issues and violation of personal boundaries.

E

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Yup it can be. The laughter that occurs is likely a reflex and doesn’t at all indicate the person you are tickling is laughing out of pleasure. It used to be used as a form of torture 🙃. I hated being tickled as a kid, it gave me panic attacks and made me feel like I couldn’t escape, but I was laughing so was never taken seriously. I was taught just to take it.I don’t understand why people get mad, when helpful information comes out and gets shared.

E

E • Feb 3, 2019
*contradicts

E

E • Feb 3, 2019
I completely agree! It can be fun, but if we’re not mindful it can be traumatic (like you said). I agree with the point about intentions and I think it’s mixed with willful ignorance. People want to believe what they want to believe and if there’s evidence that contracts those beliefs all of a sudden the “snowflake” and “everyone is offended” attacks come out.

Sa

Sa • Feb 3, 2019
It’s like people think if the intentions are good, it can’t possibly be harmful to someone.

Va

Posted at
Being tickled is actually a great early way to teach a child about consent. Some kids love to be tickled and ask to be (my 7yo daughter is one of them), and others don’t... it can also depend on who is doing the tickling and how comfortable they feel being touched by that person... the main point is that they know the moment they say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ or do anything to show it’s not fun anymore, it stops completely. Likewise it can show them when they should stop tickling somebody... I hate being tickled, always have... I had an uncle who thought it was all in good fun to tickle to the point of begging to stop... he wasn’t a pervert or anything, he just didn’t think about it being a bad thing for kids because he was raised the same. I have explained to my daughter that I don’t like it, and she has learned not to tickle Mommy because you don’t touch people in ways they don’t want you to

Pl

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When my mom was a kid, her older brothers would sit on her and tickle her till she cried. She HATES being touched to this day because of it so I would say yes, it can be harmful.

Or

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I have asthma, being tickled is weirdly enough one of my triggers. Almost half of the attacks I have had was when someone tickled me and continued after begging them to stop.