# How bad is it to make toddlers cry for the sake of art (photography, movies, etc.)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-it-to-make-toddlers-cry-for-the-sake-of-art-photography-movies-etc/366914>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 1, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-it-to-make-toddlers-cry-for-the-sake-of-art-photography-movies-etc/366914 "2006-08-01T17:48:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-it-to-make-toddlers-cry-for-the-sake-of-art-photography-movies-etc/366914/21 "2006-08-02T14:30:21Z")

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The real guilty party here is whoever gave the girl on [this](http://www.popphoto.com/inamericanphotomagazine/2552/cry-babies.html) page a haircut.

Anyway, I think I’d feel worse for the kids if the series of pictures showed them eating french fries from McDonalds.

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-it-to-make-toddlers-cry-for-the-sake-of-art-photography-movies-etc/366914/22 "2006-08-02T14:41:36Z")

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[QUOTE=Walter Windchill]  
Well, aside from using words like “mean” and “cruel,” which are merely substitute words for “bad,” how can you support your claims if the children aren’t harmed in any way? Have you ever raised a toddler? Is it “mean” and “cruel” to make the child go to daycare, or to stop eating the dogfood, or to not let her watch The Aristocats for the fifth time that day, because it makes her cry? If you do have a toddler, you know that the tears are nearly constant, are rarely an index of actual need or sorrow, and are quickly forgotten when the next distraction comes along.  
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Yes - my son is now four, which means he was, in fact, a toddler.

It’s not mean or cruel to make the child go to daycare to stop eating dogfood, even if those actions make him cry.

It _is_ mean and cruel to elicit the tears for no good reason. Both daycare attendance and non-consumption of dogfood qualify as good reasons.

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**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-is-it-to-make-toddlers-cry-for-the-sake-of-art-photography-movies-etc/366914/23 "2006-08-02T15:34:55Z")

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I find it unlikely to disabuse you of that notion at this point.

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