“I Did Not Hold Back”: Man Punches His Teenage Stepdaughter After She Pulls A Prank On Him

Pranks are not equally favored by all and neither is having a video of your startled self uploaded online for everyone to see. Yet, many people prank their friends and family nevertheless, often trying to capture it on camera, too, in the hopes that such content brings them clout.

Well, for this redditor’s stepdaughter, trying to film herself pranking her stepfather didn’t result in hundreds of likes; it led to a hospital visit instead. Scroll down to find the full story below.

Being startled is rarely ever fun… Take it from someone who jumps at close to any sound that is stronger than a snowflake hitting the ground. But it’s something few people have control over, especially bearing in mind the complexity of the reaction.

While being startled is basically a reflex, it’s also closely intertwined with a person’s emotions. "To psychologists, startle is very interesting. It’s a reflex, but it is also affected by psychological processes, especially emotion," Adjunct Professor Professor at Curtin University, Ottmar Lipp told HuffPost, discussing the phenomenon.

"If I put you in a situation where you feel unpleasant, anxious or nervous, you might have a heightened startle reflex," Lipp explained, pointing out that the extent to which a person is startled depends largely on the situation they find themselves in. "Whereas if I put you in a state where you are feeling pleasant and I am showing you materials you like and find pleasant, the startle reflex is usually reduced.”

While some people believe that a restroom is a place where a person can relax, others might argue that—as one redditor in the comments pointed out—it is a place where a person might feel vulnerable, too, which can arguably strengthen their reaction to an unexpected occurrence.

Another thing quite a few netizens discussed in the comments is how inappropriate filming someone in the bathroom is. As a matter of fact, it would even be considered a felony under certain circumstances.

Unfortunately, the news has covered quite a few cases of someone recording people in private settings, which is unlawful in most places. That likely means that was the stepdaughter to prank someone else in such a way, it might have had way stronger consequences than the ones she had to deal with.

To make matters worse, some people try to catch such situations on camera so they can upload them on the internet, which—it’s no secret—not everyone wants to be a part of. A research on Perception of Pranks on Social Media: Clout-Lighting found that in a romantic setting, for instance, people pulling pranks on their significant other is negatively linked to their level of satisfaction in the relationship. Chances are, such situations don’t make family relationships any better either; so it’s safe to assume that the OP’s stepdaughter's pranks and her broken nose weren’t something the two could bond over.