Mom Uses Videos of 4-Year-Old Daughter to Gain More Followers until Girl Nearly Dies Making One — Story of the Day

A mother gets obsessed with a social media app and pushes her daughter to help her in filming videos to gain followers. Sadly, she doesn't realize the disaster she's doing until the child's life is put in danger one day.

When Alicia and Jonathan Murray welcomed their daughter Evie 4 years ago, Alicia gave up her job and became a stay-at-home mom.

Jonathan initially had no objections to Alicia's decision, and he supported her. But a few years down the line, when Evie turned 4, Jonathan began complaining about providing for them alone.

He'd complain about his boss, how he didn't get any vacation time, and eventually, he'd vent his frustrations on Alicia. He'd criticize her for being a terrible housewife, complaining about her cooking, and that their house was always a mess because of Evie's toys strewn about the whole place.

Alicia didn't argue with Jonathan since she understood how tedious work could get sometimes. But it wasn't as if her job was easy. She had to cook, clean, and watch after Evie and Jonathan's needs. So, when she became too frustrated with everything, she began carving out an hour each day for herself.

Alicia spent that hour watching Netflix, tending to her outdoor mini-garden, leisurely scrolling through Facebook to get a peek into her friends' lives, or listening to music.

One day, she was scrolling through her phone when she came across a cute video of a three-year-old child dancing with his parents on the social media app Videodo. Alicia found the video super adorable and decided to create an account on the app, thinking it would be fun to make such videos with Evie and post them.

Two days later, Alicia finally got her chance when she recorded a video of little Evie cutely dancing and uploaded it. The next evening, after finishing dinner preparations, she checked her phone and noticed tons of notifications about the video. Everyone loved it, and there were numerous comments such as "Aww! Wow, the girl is stunning!"

This inspired Alicia to create more videos with Evie, and this time she uploaded a dancing video in which she was also there. Alicia used to be a dance teacher before she took voluntary retirement, so she could easily teach Evie the steps she wanted her to do.

After she posted the video, it received a lot of attention again, so Alicia continued to make videos for months and eventually landed brand collaborations. The regular housewife and her daughter suddenly became well-known stars on the platform!

Alicia was thrilled at this point. She was not only loving the process of creating videos, but she was also earning money now. In fact, the day she received her first check as a result of the brand collaboration, she excitedly told Jonathan about it over dinner.

"Are you even aware of what happened today, Jonathan? Oh my gosh, I'm just going insane!"

"Well, Alicia, I would know about it only if you tell me!" he said indifferently while watching sports on his phone and eating dinner.

"I started uploading these videos with Evie on social media, and people love them!" she said cheerfully. "Their comments are extremely encouraging! I'd like to do more of them!"

He laughed mockingly. "Yeah, that's how people waste time on social media! It's just a piece of crap and nothing else! But then, you've got all the time, so carry on!"

"Oh, shut up," she scolded him gently. "Do you even know how much I made through the brand collaboration? It's more than how much I used to make when I was working! See this…" She showed him a message about the money transfer to her account, and Jonathan almost dropped the fork from his hands. "What the hell? This is insane!"

"Oh, it's amazing! Now I'm going to teach Evie some more difficult dance moves! Everyone will be shocked when they see our 4-year-old daughter! Our daughter's talent will amaze them! More views and followers!"

"Hey, hey, Alicia, take it slow, okay. Don't force it on Evie, she's just a child," Jonathan warned her.

"But she loves making the videos too! I don't think there's a problem with that, Jonathan!"

Jonathan didn't like how Alicia was pressuring Evie to participate in the videos. He was scared that Evie was unnecessarily being dragged into this, and sadly, he was right.

One weekend, Jonathan saw Alicia and Evie filming a video and realized Evie was distressed. She finally told Alicia that she didn't want to be in the video.

"Mommy, I want to play with my dolls! Please! I want to go!" she complained.

But Alicia insisted she wait till the video ended. "Honey, please. It will just take a little more time!"

Jonathan couldn't stand seeing Evie like that, so he stepped in and took her to her room. Later that night, he told Alicia to stop putting so much pressure on the child. The whole conversation escalated into an argument, and Alicia burst out crying, making the whole thing about herself.

"You don't get it! I get to do this one small thing to make myself happy. I work all day, Jonathan, with no breaks. I don't have as many free weekends as you do!"

"It has nothing to do with you or me, Alicia. This is about Evie! She is exhausted! Can't you see?"

"She isn't! She enjoys it!" Alicia retorted.

Jonathan knew Alicia would not admit her fault and that arguing with her would be futile, so he devised a plan. "OK, fine, if you're just doing it for fun and a break, I promise we'll go on a trip this weekend. Remember that waterfall you've always wanted to see? Let's go there."

"What?" Alicia's eyes suddenly lit up. "Really?"

"Yes! But we are not taking cameras there. No stupid video making, either! We'll be spending time together as a family there! Deal?"

"OMG! Done!" Alicia said cheerfully. However, she quickly changed her mind the following weekend while they were enjoying their time at the waterfall.

She glanced around the area and realized that the setting and lighting were perfect for shooting. Jonathan had gone to fetch them some snacks so he wouldn't nag her about it.

She ignored her promise not to film a video near the waterfall and thought about the thousands of followers and appreciation she would receive once the video was released. She approached Evie and asked her to dance for the video. She didn't have her camera with her, but she had her phone.

"Evie, honey," she said. "Could you please do a little dance for mommy beside the waterfall? Mommy will record the video as quickly as possible!"

"I'm scared, Mommy," Evie replied, dropping her head. "I'm not going there."

"Oh, come on, honey," Alicia said. "Mommy is here, okay? Nothing will happen. Mommy will get you a new Barbie doll if you do it nicely!"

When Evie heard about the Barbie doll, she immediately agreed as she had wanted it for a long time. "A new doll? Promise?" she asked happily.

"Of course, sweetheart. Now go quickly!"

While Alicia adjusted her phone settings, Evie slowly jumped on the rocks and walked toward a fallen tree limb. She moved closer to the log to obtain a better view of the waterfall.

Meanwhile, Alica adjusted her camera focus to capture the video, but it wasn't clear, so she began to move back, and when the angel was perfect, she motioned Evie to start.

Evie did a few steps Alicia had taught her before and was about to finish her dance by spinning around and ultimately bowing when she slipped near some rocks. Alicia dropped her phone from her grasp as she saw Evie lose her balance.

"EVIE! OH, NO!" she cried, her heart racing fast as she dashed over to her.

Fortunately, a man nearby Evie ran to her and grabbed her before she fell into the water and possibly hit her head on a rock. Evie began to cry, and Alicia's heart felt like it would burst. "OMG! Are you all right, honey?"

The man glared fiercely at Alicia. "Are you out of your mind? Can't you look after your child?"

"Sorry. An- and thank you…" she said, embarrassed, scooping Evie in her arms. "I am sorry, baby. I am so sorry!" She kissed Evie and hugged her tightly. "Mommy is not doing this again! No more videos. No more…Oh, my baby!" she whispered.

Jonathan witnessed that moment, and he scolded Alicia. She didn't utter a word in response and promised never to make those videos again.

That day, Alicia was taught a lesson about the foolishness she was about to commit and the severe consequences she could have faced if that stranger had not assisted her. She could have ended up losing Evie! So she stopped making those videos after that and instead started raising important causes through Videodo, such as the negative effects of social media, highlighting her awful experience at the waterfall and how much it could have cost her.

Her subsequent videos drew some criticism that she risked her daughter's life for a video, but others were relieved that she'd learned her lesson and was open about it so that others wouldn't make the same mistake.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't risk your child's life for something as trivial as social media. If Alicia hadn't received help in time, she might have lost Evie, just because she wanted that perfect shot.
• Every child deserves to have a happy childhood. Everyone enjoyed Alicia and Evie's videos on the video platform, but this also deprived Evie of the kind of childhood she wanted.

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