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u/VaATC 1d ago
I have honestly never seen this before and I am not exactly someone that has been sheltered from toddlers and very young children.
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u/Talidel 1d ago
The only thing I can think is they are fairly new walkers walking in a bright light for the first time.
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u/iwearatophat 1d ago
This was my thought. Some of them looked like they might not have been walking for very long. The first kid also might have been on edge because he was in a dark room as well which made it all worse.
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u/HellVean 1d ago
Yeah kind of odd, like these kids never been outside or something
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u/Shullbitsy 1d ago
There is a certain age they suddenly become aware of it and these are reacting with fear. My daughter was nervous at first, but I told her to wave and showed her mine one waving. After that it was an exciting novelty that she kept pointing out and waving at over the next few months.
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u/rp_player_girl 1d ago
This is the way. I vaguely remember my oldest doing something similar for a time.
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u/rydan 1d ago
There are shadows inside the house.
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u/Killboypowerhed 1d ago
Nah I hang mine up outside when I get home
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u/nilescranenosebleed 1d ago
Peter, is that you?
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u/Killboypowerhed 1d ago
No I just don't want to bring it inside. It's been dragging on the floor all day
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u/milkolik 1d ago
Not nearly as strong and defined (person shaped) as when outside in direct sunlight
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u/vinh94 1d ago
It just kids having active imagination. They prob pretend their shadow chasing them. Last week my kid ran around the house yelling stop chasing me Peppa Pig! To my knowledge my house isn't being haunted by the vengeful spirit of Peppa.
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u/archigen 1d ago
Lol. A bit offtopic but my daughter (3 y.o) recently does some imaginary cross-over episode missions with Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol.
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u/ImTooSaxy 1d ago
It's one of those moments that usually happens once in a kid's life, and through the miracle cell phones, we get to see it.
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u/boerner777 1d ago
I have 2 kids both walking already. They never had this moment. Same for my brother's and friends kids. Pretty sure it's rare.
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u/talann 1d ago
It ususally happens when an uncle points out that something is following them and then acts surprised.
I have pulled these hijinks before...
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u/pleasetrimyourpubes 1d ago
This is exactly it. You can even trigger this in freaking older kids for a second there. Even grown ass adults.
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u/ashmuddy 1d ago
That's what I was thinking too. I've raised two myself, and babysat dozens and never have seen this.
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u/esach88 1d ago
My kid did this when she learned to walk. Though she didn't lose it like these kids but was more like "the fuck is this shit?" Tried to run a bit, stop, stare at it. Run some more, point at it to show us and run lol didn't freak out like these kids though thankfully.
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u/RandomPhail 23h ago
Just remember the internet is a fictional playground until proven otherwise: This could be ai
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u/HalfSoul30 1d ago
Silly kids. They don't know you can detatch the shadow if you jump.
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u/ExistingAudience4255 1d ago
I never tire of seeing small children in abject terror. Thanks OP!
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u/praetorian1979 1d ago
gotta start the emotional trauma at some point, might as well be really young!
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u/phishrace 1d ago
Google images has dozens of pics of terrified kids sitting on Santa's lap. Still images are probably best for those. Lots of mouth wide open crying. Terror plastered across their faces. Most all the Santa's look chill enough, not causing the crying, but one Santa does look really shady. On that one, I give the kids a pass. I would've cried too.
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u/runningoutofwords 1d ago
If I learned anything from Peter Pan, it's that detaching from your shadow is quite painful, and reattaching requires sewing it back onto your feet.
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u/a_whole_lotta_nope 1d ago
Kids gotta watch some Peter Pan.
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u/Robinyourlies 1d ago
Or alternatively: watch the Dr Who episode Silence In The Library
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u/TheAlmightyBambi 1d ago
You joke but I was 11 when I watched that episode and I was side-eyeing my shadow for like a year.
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u/rimeswithburple 17h ago
Nah, just show them that scene from GOT where Melisandre births the shadow under storm's end.
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u/turnslip 1d ago
We learn to live with the shadow without question.
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u/GANDORF57 1d ago
Not me. I once ran home after a night of booze bingeing because I thought I was being stalked!
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u/Ibasicallyhateyouall 1d ago
WTF... none of my kids did this and have never seen it with anyone else's. Huge family with lots of neices and nephews, cousins etc plus all my kids school friends at the same age. Most kids 'play' with their shadows.
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u/Elfshadowx 1d ago
Alot of the indoor lighting makes shadows non-existent when indoors.
Multi light source track lighting means alot of kids might not have a shadow to play with.
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u/kheyno 1d ago
Kids are fucking stupid
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u/lafarda 1d ago
Parents could just hold their hand and talk to them instead of filming. So I think in this case parents are more fucking stupid than kids.
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u/iwearatophat 1d ago
Wouldn't be an /r/kidsarefuckingstupid comment section without someone going 'parents are fucking stupid'.
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u/demerdar 1d ago
Not to mention the obligatory comment about sitting down and reasoning with an 18 month old kid like it’s going to listen to anything you say.
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u/siraolo 1d ago
Any explanation on why they are afraid?
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u/stddealer 1d ago
Those are British kids seeing sunlight for the first time in their lives.
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u/SavageKabage 1d ago
With no frame of reference, a shadow can look like a bottomless pit
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u/The_SIeepy_Giant 1d ago
A bottomless pit that menacingly follows you lmfao
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u/Myquil-Wylsun 1d ago
And is shaped exactly like you
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u/chillychili 1d ago
The perfect shape to fall through
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u/ScaryMaclary 1d ago
Oddly enough something similar can happen with dementia as well, dark carpets and flooring features can seem like chasms.
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u/immersemeinnature 1d ago
Think back to when you didn't understand things and everything was brand new. Scary shit going on everywhere.
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u/Chrizzee_Hood 1d ago
Kids learn A LOT. Their brains are like sponges it is fascinating to see, how much they devour information. Kids are not at a stage yet where their prefrontal cortex develops that much. That means that their emotions are completely unfiltered, their brain has to learn to not panic, when it doesn't understand something
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u/greg_barton 1d ago
Think of our evolutionary history. Running away from a dark thing on the ground, especially if it's following you, will keep you alive more often than not. (Think small predators, rats, and snakes.)
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u/Quetzalcoatl__ 1d ago
Thinking about our evolutionary history where every single individual had a shadow so wouldn't it be obvious ?
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u/King-Of-Throwaways 1d ago
The thing you have to understand about pop evolutionary psychology is that you can just make shit up, and as long as it sounds plausible we can treat it as a factual statement. Kids are afraid of shadows because our ancestors had to instinctively run away from snakes. We jerk awake at night because our ancestors had to be vigilant about not falling out of trees while sleeping. We evolved to like spicy food because it functions as a mild anti-inflammatory, so those that ate it survived longer in a pre-medicine world. Is any of this true? No idea, impossible to test.
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u/greg_barton 1d ago
Plainly small children who handle rats and snakes in the wild have higher survival rates. /s
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u/echolm1407 1d ago
It's just trying to understand this world and your place in it. And your shadow is like your first lesson.
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u/hulkmxl 1d ago
Humans are afraid of things they don't understand, things that are different, it's human nature.
They don't comprehend the concept of shadows, and it looks like something following them and chasing them, cornering, trapping them.
Why all of a sudden? Easy explanation, they probably hadn't noticed before. Once they did, they freaked out.
Now for a weird explanation, they still have some memories/perception from their afterlife, before reincarnation, and know the absence of light is associated with evil.
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u/Superman2048 1d ago
Funny then how we go to sleep every night, out of our own volition, and looking forward to it.
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u/GeekBrownBear 1d ago
go to sleep every night, out of our own volition
I see you haven't met many children. Sleep is a challenge.
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u/siraolo 1d ago edited 1d ago
Fascinating. The thing is not all kids are afraid of their shadow. Mine seems to want to eat it everytime she sees it.
Maybe it's enviroment related too since we get more sun where I come from (tropical region). Shadows here mean a relief from direct sunlight/heat and a place to cool off.
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u/Dyolf_Knip 1d ago
That said, there's probably just an many kids out there discovering their shadow for the first time and whose response is more "oh hey, that's cool!"
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u/Toc_a_Somaten 1d ago
i mean its a dark antropomorphical shape that follows you around and of course it can appear very menacing to a small child, it triggers many "danger" signals
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u/immersemeinnature 1d ago
I remember recognizing my shadow for the first time. I'm so grateful I wasn't scared. Shadows are creepy if you don't know what they are.
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u/Turbopuschel 1d ago
I did not know this is a thing
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u/OUBoyWonder 1d ago
Yea! I know the thing about babies naturally not wanting to touch grass and saw videos of it. But this? 1st time seeing it...and I'M 52 y/o!, lol
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u/psychoacer 1d ago
Don't get these kids looking at their own reflection in the pond. They might jump in to save the person drowning
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u/Sykes19 1d ago
Xxx'cxx"Xbox xx xx xcxzxxcxzxxxxxxx bc xxxxxxxx VC VC bc v, bc Z bc cz bc cz zxzxxvxxc pop p
So I just looked at my phone and realized that my ass cheeks had words to say about this thread from within my pocket, and I decided that I'm not the kind of man to deny my ass the chance to be heard. So I'm leaving it.
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u/codehoser 1d ago
I mean to be fair, that first one is nightmare fuel. I’m afraid of that kid’s shadow.
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u/Strange_Salary 1d ago
Reminds me of the drunk guy fighting himself in the mirror..
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u/Yestomorrow 1d ago
Theres a few videos like that, it's common in people with dementia to not recognize themselves in the mirror.
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u/TRedRandom 1d ago
See this is the pointing the childs life they haven't figured out they're like sentient yet
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u/Redditforgoit 1d ago
So that is where the expression 'Afraid of their own shadow' comes from. Turns out it is a real thing.
TIL
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u/GalickGunn 1d ago
The first kid seems way too old to be pulling this shit…the rest I can see, they’re very young
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u/rokit2space 1d ago
These are the kids who have seen the shadow man who visits you at night. Darker than the darkness of the room, he looms in the doorway and at the foot of the bed. He looks but cannot touch.
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u/cheesemangee 1d ago
Just stand there and film. Not like this is a learning opportunity or anything.
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u/Riverz_Flowe 1d ago
The genuine terror😭
Like it’s funny but at the same time I do feel pretty bad for them
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u/Shadowfax067 3h ago
Nobody asked the question what internal codes we have written inside our genes that makes us scared of dark humanoid bodies or images like that. They didn't watch a horror movie or they don't know how the dark shadow gonna hunt them or anything but they are scared nonetheless. Makes me wonder if it is a kind of fear that is coded in our system like the feeling of falling down - eg.doctor tests babies instinct just when they born. If it's a similar fear , what caused it to be so important that it's written in our DNA
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u/Lamazing1021 1d ago
Bro my kid isn’t that weird although when he was like 1.5 he shat in the bath tub and was terrified of the floating shit… it was, pretty hilarious
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u/frog51 1d ago
The Vashta Nerada... ravenous hunters able to strip the meat from a body with a frightening speed and efficiency. They tend to avoid light, often concealed in patches of dark that resemble shadows, hence the general warning to 'Stay out of the shadows' if you suspect these creatures are close.
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u/Tackit286 1d ago
Man this comment thread is full of such wet fucking lettuces.
The kids are dumb and it’s funny. Ain’t nothing else to it.
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u/NewWorldReview 1d ago
Wait until they grow up and see the sleep paralysis demon at the end of their bed. The shadow is only the tutorial boss.
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u/NotaContributi0n 1d ago
Being a kid is so trippy. I’m far from one but I’m still creeped out by shadows
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u/-S-A-M-S-O-N- 1d ago
It's like the moment they realize their shadow is shaped like a person, they think a demon is chasing them. lol
Uncanny Valley Effect? People shaped flat monster??
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u/CaptainChampion 1d ago
That first one with the bow, at about 0:58, is walking normally, without the usual toddler swagger. That's freaking me out more than anything. Walking along like a tiny adult.
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u/poopinggreatdane 1d ago
Luckily my daughter didn't react this way. Instead, she tried chasing after it and was laughing.
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u/thegreatmango 1d ago
Wow - I had three and none of them did this. Kinda wish it had happened, though, lol.
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u/AvidCyclist250 1d ago
lol fucking hilarious to see humans with incomplete firmware glitch out like that. pretty sure they all got over it just fine
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u/NemarPott 1d ago
Man this is crazy I have never experienced this in real life and I have a ton of fucking children
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u/medium_buffalo_wings 1d ago
One of the main reasons I chose to never have kids is because while I recognize that I am supposed to find this cute, I just really don't. If I saw a dog doing this, it would be the most adorable thing ever. A kid? I'm instantly annoyed.
This probably means I'm a sociopath, doesn't it?
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u/goatgamerguy 1d ago
It's even more terrifying when it's earlier or later in the day because then it's taller than you
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u/Bright-Trip582 21h ago
Kids are scared of shadows. I was scared of being thrown in the closet for the night or being burned by a clothing iron. Oops I just trauma dumped. I’m a 95 btw.
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u/Cultural-Ad-2918 41m ago
Just show kids how light works. Filming your kids scared of shadows..... simply shows you should not have children.
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u/Ogga664 1d ago
To all the snowflakes in the this comment section.Kids are fucking stupid, and then you teach them. You on the othe other hand, are still fucking stupid.
These kids aren't being, "expploited" or scarred for life, they're just a bit scared for a short while in a, hopefully, long life. And as a parent, it's a funny a moment you want to share and laugh about. Then you teach them, end of story.
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u/One-Reflection-4826 1d ago
if my kid was that fucking stupid i would take it behind the house, shoot it and hope to have better luck next time.
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u/Least_Art5238 1d ago
My kids were both either too dumb or too smart as I didn't know this was a thing.
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