How can I teach not to forward a funny clip that humiliates someone? 

Parenting Perspective 

When a humiliating video clip lands in your child’s inbox, the urge to forward it can feel playful and harmless. However, behind the laughter, there is often someone’s pain, a private mistake made public, or a reputation being damaged. Your goal is to guide your child from seeking quick amusement to acting with thoughtful responsibility, so they learn to choose dignity over virality. 

Make the Hidden Person Visible 

Begin by building their empathy. Ask them, ‘If this clip was about you or your sibling, how would it feel to have strangers sharing and laughing at it?’ Help them to imagine the feelings of the person in the video, their family, and their friends. Humanising the subject turns a target back into a person and activates the conscience. Establish a simple rule: ‘We never build our fun on someone else’s hurt.’ 

Teach a Two-Second Moral Check 

Provide them with a simple, repeatable pause to take before they hit ‘share’. 

• Truth: Do I know the full context of this clip? Could it be edited or fake? 

• Consent: Would the person in this clip want it to be shared? 

• Care: Will forwarding this protect someone’s dignity or spread harm? 

If the answer to any of these is uncertain, the decision is simple: do not forward. 

Provide Easy, Dignified Opt-Out Scripts 

Children often fear losing their sense of belonging more than they fear breaking a rule. Rehearse a few short phrases that can end the pressure to share without shaming their peers. 

• ‘I am not going to share this; it feels like someone’s bad moment.’ 

• ‘Let us not make this worse for them.’ 

• ‘I am sitting this one out. Send me something kind instead.’ 

Pairing these words with action is also important. Teach them to mute or leave group chats that regularly post humiliating content. This helps them to protect their heart with calm boundaries. 

Model Repair If They Have Already Shared 

If your child has already forwarded a humiliating clip, guide them through a simple process of apology and repair. They should delete the post where possible and then send a message to the person or group they shared it with: ‘I shared something that was unkind earlier. I should not have done that, and I have removed it. I am sorry.’ At home, praise them for taking this step. This teaches that integrity grows when we take responsibility for our mistakes. 

Spiritual Insight 

In Islam, sharing content that humiliates another person is not seen as entertainment. It touches upon the serious sins of backbiting, mockery, and public shaming. We want to teach our children to carry the values of ihsan (excellence and beauty in conduct) and rahmah (mercy) into their digital lives, guarding the dignity of others as an act of worship. 

Honour People’s Dignity, Even When They Slip 

The Quran explicitly forbids believers from ridiculing one another. 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Hujuraat (49), Verse 11: 

‘Those of you who are believers, do not let a nation ridicule another nation, as perhaps it may be that they are better than them…’ 

This verse reminds us that mockery blinds us to a person’s true worth. Teach your child to see this verse as a digital principle: ‘If a post or a video invites ridicule, we close it. We do not become another link in a chain of harm.’ Linking their online actions to Allah’s guidance turns restraint into an act of devotion. 

Speak Good or Stay Silent 

The teachings of our Prophet ﷺ provide a simple but profound filter for all our communications, whether online or offline. 

It is recorded in Riyadh Al Saliheen, Hadith 705, that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent.’ 

This hadith is a perfect guide for the digital age. Invite your child to ask themselves before they share, ‘Is this good, or is silence better?’ If silence is better, then not forwarding becomes a form of worship. 

Remind them that Allah Almighty honours those who conceal the faults of others and protect people from shame. Every time they refuse to spread a humiliating clip, they are safeguarding someone’s dignity and cleaning their own record.