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There’s nothing as special in this life as having a friend, nothing can bring a smile to your face faster than knowing you’ve got someone on your team, acknowledging that someone has your back. In the same breath, there’s nothing more heartwrenching than feeling like you’re going through life without one, and the idea of going through life without friends has been the talk of social media through the last week after the vulnerability of a kid who was brave enough to ring a doorbell.

In a viral TikTok video, Shayden Walker approached his neighbor’s home and asked the people there if they knew of any nearby kids he could hang out with, and the reason behind his asking will bring tears to your eyes.

“I just wanted to see if you knew any kids around like 11 or 12, maybe because I need…I need some friends like really bad,” Shayden says to the man who answered the ring doorbell. After learning that there are kids of similar age nearby, Shayden reveals that those kids have turned into his bullies, and he doesn’t feel comfortable reaching out to them.

It’s not just the fact that he’s been bullied; the defeat in his face and voice as he explains it pulls on your heartstrings. We’ve all been there; kids can be cruel, but the devastation in his presence as he opens up is enough to ignite a fire in your heart; and his pleas for a friend reached someone who is determined to help him out of his current situation and into a realm where he feels confident enough to say hello and make a new friend, without worrying about the past and the hurt he’s been caused.

Rener Gracie felt compelled to get in touch with Walker’s family after the video reached him on social media, and there’s no one better to set out to help him.

You might recognize Gracie from his stint on Shark Tank, where he showcased the QuikFlip and made a deal with Lori Greiner. Gracie also has a Kickstarter open now for his next creation, the Sleeper Hold, and we think it’s safe to say that jiu-jitsu isn’t just in his blood; it’s at the root of everything he does.

Another thing at the root of what Gracie does is helping children, especially by building confidence and skill; sometimes, that makes all the difference. It’s hard to put your best foot forward when you’re not feeling confident, especially at the age of preteen awkwardness and the stage of life when you realize that there are social circles and sometimes not everyone you meet will necessarily be your close-knit group; it can be challenging. As adults, we too can face challenges when it comes to navigating our identity within social groups, despite having fully developed brains.

At the age that Shayden is at, friends are one of — if not the most important thing, and realizing that he’s just one of many kids who walk around and feel that loneliness daily is heartbreaking. It might sound cliche, but in becoming a parent, you acknowledge that a piece of your heart walks around in the world every day, but it doesn’t take being a parent to feel hurt when a child deals with bullying and isolation.

Sharing the same video to his own TikTok, Gracie offered to send Shayden to Torrance for the bullyproof summer camp he’s hosting and send the family to Disneyland.

“He needs help. We’ll fly this kid to Torrance for the Gracie Bullyproof Summer Camp (July 31 to Aug 4); all expenses paid (+ tickets to Disneyland) if anyone can connect us to the family. BullyproofSummerCamp.com — This is what we do.”

The camp helps kids learn the art of jiu-jitsu and how important it is to stand up for yourself. Gracie remarks that every kid will be bullied sometime in their life, which is true, and his camp helps to prepare children for what to do when that happens and have the skills to stand up for themselves if things escalate.

Gracie’s website shows some of the following highlights that happen when children advance through the week-long camp:

• “Bullies target children who don’t stand up for themselves. By giving your child the non-violent Gracie Jiu-Jitsu techniques to neutralize a physical attack, they will have the confidence to take a stand against bullies before the harassment spirals out of control.
• Verbal harassment is more common and oftentimes more damaging than physical harassment. To ensure your child is ready to identify and overcome these inevitable attacks, we conduct a series of specific role-playing exercises each day of the camp.”

We’ve yet to hear if the family has reached out to Gracie yet, but we have a feeling that they’ll find one another soon enough and that Walker’s story will soon have a very different message; one of overcoming loneliness, finding friends and more importantly — believing in the power of himself. His kindness and compassion for others were evident as he spoke in the few moments long video, and we have a feeling he’s on his way to meeting the kind of people who appreciate all the best things about him.

Here’s hoping we get an update video soon, and in the meantime, may we all remember that how we treat people matters.

WARNING: The following article contains mentions of child endangerment, child death, and vague descriptions of gore.

As if Squid Game hadn’t enthralled us enough in 2021, TikTok has found a novel by Aron Beauregard, a known splatterpunk author, called Playground. Beauregard’s gorefest hit the shelves in 2022, over a year after Korean drama series Squid Game aired on Netflix, and essentially retells the story of Hwang Dong-hyuk’s poverty-stricken free-for-all, but this time with children.

Playground sees a group of dysfunctional families, all of whom are struggling financially, approached to test out some revolutionary playground equipment. With the incentive that their participation will be handsomely rewarded, the families agree to partake and sign their children up. Soon after, the adults find themselves locked in a viewing room and forced to watch on the monitors as their children are brutally slaughtered, all for the sadistic entertainment of Geraldine, the creator.

TikTok seems to have waited a whole other year before discovering Playground, but now that content creators are going ape over one of Beauregard’s latest, all those uncomfortable emotions have come swarming back. Needless to say, Beauregard outdid himself with Playground, and TikTok users are struggling to pry their eyes away. Even worse, some of them can’t make it past the first 40 pages.

As we’ll remember from Squid Game, the participants are presented with seemingly harmless ‘challenges’ to complete, but soon discover that one small slip-up will result in their immediate ‘disqualification’ from the competition.

In the same vein, the children in Playground are tricked into believing that they’ll win a substantial amount of money for the families by simply having fun. They’re forced to make difficult decisions and grow up drastically fast in order to survive when it’s revealed that Geraldine is an infamous child murderer.

If gore churns your stomach, this definitely isn’t the book for you, but if you’ve shamelessly enjoyed Saw and The Human Centipede — or you loved Squid Game — then maybe this is right up your alley. We won’t judge you for enjoying Playground… we promise.

Being a parent is quite a joy; there’s something special about bringing a life into the world, watching them grow up, and having a front-row seat to seeing their personalities develop. When you’re a gamer and lover of all things pop culture, there are times when you’ve got to get a little creative regarding winning, losing, and reacting to both.

Gamer dad and streamer TimTheTatman recently shared a clip on TikTok and gave his fans a masterclass in how to deal with frustration while gaming when his son is within earshot. We have to admit, we’ve tried quite a few interesting ways to hide a specific word from our children’s ears, but this is a surefire way to express some passion while gaming and make your kid laugh!

So what is Tim’s strategy? It’s simple; he yells breakfast food names loudly. When attempting to perform a jump in Fortnite Only Up, he quickly realizes that he’s not lined up for success. That’s when he starts calling out the names of breakfast treats.

“French toast, bagels, give me some waffles, eggs…eggs,” he bellowed, before shaking his head and saying he can hear his son laughing in the background. Not only was he laughing, he had some words to share with his father.

“You’re bad at this game,” he told his dad, and his dad just looked at the screen and shared a laugh that covered his face.

There’s nothing like your own flesh and blood telling you that you’re garbage, especially when you’re censoring yourself for their sake. All jokes aside, we love this dad’s way of gaming, getting his son involved, and making it fun. Plus, everyone knows that talking smack is a big piece of the gaming realm, so he’s already gearing up to be a great sidekick when the time comes.

Maybe he’ll even inspire his dad to get better since he clearly believes he needs it. Cheers to awesome gaming dads whose TikTok videos make our day and inspire us on how to be more clever with our frustration. We have a feeling we’ve got a new one to throw out next time we lose our footing in Mario Kart — Mickey Waffles!

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Things just keep getting worse for YouTube star Colleen Ballinger, but perhaps that’s okay given allegations of how she’s treated fans and co-workers. Known as Miranda Sings on YouTube, Ballinger went viral last month with a series of accusations that she has harassed, bullied, and groomed underage fans.

Ballinger addressed the accusations in an embarrassing video where she tried to sing her way through half-hearted explanations while playing the ukulele. After that, a writers’ assistant on Ballinger’s Netflix series Haters Back Off wrote a lengthy blog post criticizing the ukulele move and accusing the YouTube star of inappropriate behavior and racism.

Now, a particularly icky video has surfaced that at least seems to prove the racism allegation. This footage, taken during a stage show, reveals Ballinger in blackface singing Beyoncé’s “All the Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Just a warning that the video could prove disturbing for people with a conscience:

Let’s all just take a second. Get some water, then come back.

Per Variety, it’s unclear when the video was shot, but Ballinger apparently shared it in February 2018 on her Miranda Sings YouTube channel, where it’s still viewable for some reason. The footage was clearly taken at a Miranda Sings live performance, where Ballinger appears to have dark greasepaint smeared on her face to hide the shame she’s probably not even feeling.

The clip resurfaced on Wednesday this week. It was originally posted by social media influencer Paige Christie, who theorized that the performance took place in London’s West End around summer of 2010. And if we check our calendars… yes, that’s still too recent for this to be considered anything other than mean-spirited and tone-deaf.

Regarding the backlog of previous allegations, several screenshots have made their way online showing Ballinger questioning underaged fans about sexual topics, genitalia, periods, and more. Former stans also have accused her of manipulating them into doing free favors.

In addition, there are plenty of Miranda Sings videos showing Ballinger acting in a sexually suggestive manner in front of her real-life nephew, which is always just a gas. Furthermore, there’s footage of live shows where Ballinger urges children to take the stage and act out adult situations, such as pretending to give birth or going on a date with her.

The video below shows Ballinger asking a nine-year-old boy to stick his hand down her pants, and the child looks noticeably uncomfortable by the end. Again, this content could be seen as, and definitely is, disturbing:

So, what about that blog post last week?

The writer, April Korto Quioh, didn’t mince words about her time working on Ballinger’s Netflix show:

“Upon meeting Colleen, my first impression of her was that she was boisterous, opinionated, and had a stunning lack of humility that was unlike anything I had ever seen. Immediately upon entering the writers’ room, I was treated to story after story about her sold-out shows, how obsessed her fans were with her and the lengths they would go to get her attention.”

Oh, it goes on:

“Most days, the first hour or so of work was dedicated to Colleen forcing us all to perform the emotional labor of counseling her through her marital concerns, being a listening ear to her complaints about fans (they were being ‘so sensitive lately’ aka they had spoken up about their discomfort with her using a blaccent) and getting the latest updates on the antics of her fellow YouTubers. I recall overhearing her once brag that a creator was being ‘cancelled’ for saying the n-word (and if you think she went with “n-word” instead of hitting that hard ‘r’ then you haven’t been paying attention) and that she would never be stupid enough to get caught doing something like that.”

And finally:

“Colleen made it known on several occasions that she could tell I was less-than-thrilled with the show, even once pulling me aside and quipping, ‘You totally hate this, right?’ I could tell that my discomfort with the ‘art’ that we were creating was notable to her. She would often pitch something vile and then look over to me and ask, ‘Any thoughts, April?’ It was almost like she took a weird pleasure in making me uncomfortable and knowing that even if I wanted to, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. She was cruel.”

Even Quioh notes in her blog post that “cancel culture isn’t real” because people like Ballinger seem to get away with this stuff time and time again. But just once we would like everyone reading this article to tell their friends and their friends’ friends to never watch a Miranda Sings video or an episode of Haters Back Off ever again.

If Ballinger never got a single click for the rest of her life, she might feel a fraction of the misery she’s foisted upon the people around her.