A disturbing new trend on social media has arisen in which parents are "Facetiming" their child's new teacher and recording the kid's reaction.
However, the problem is that these adults are actually pranking their children - and rather than showing them photos of their actual new teacher for the upcoming school term, they are instead showing their kids pictures of people with disabilities in order to evoke a reaction of fear.
In one video that has been circulated across social media, a mom can be seen showing her son a picture of disability activist Lizzie Velasquez (all while pretending it is a Facetime conversation).
A clip of the video can be seen below, as Velasquez responds to the hurtful footage:Velasquez was born with an extremely rare congenital disease called Marfanoid–progeroid–lipodystrophy syndrome, and upon seeing her face, the young boy physically recoils in fear.
Now, the disgusting new trend has been slammed by Velasquez herself, who has taken to social media to share an important message with parents and adults with children in their lives.
In the video, Velasquez says: "TikTok I need your help.
"This trend where you are pretending to FaceTime someone who is either disabled or is a baby or just some crazy mugshot and you're showing it to someone to get their reaction to saying, 'Oh hey, talk to this person' just to get a quick laugh, this is not funny. This is not a joke."
Speaking about the particular video where her photo was used, Velasquez says: "He had a scared reaction on his face.
"If you are an adult who has a young human in your life, please do not teach them that being scared of someone who does not look like them is okay. Please, everything that these kids need to know about having empathy and being kind to one another starts at home."
Speaking to Yahoo Life, Velasquez revealed that she "knew in her gut" that her photograph was going to be used for the prank the moment she first saw it.
The 31-year-old added: "After dealing with things like this for a while now, I can sense when this might happen."
A few years ago, a picture of the Texas native when she was just 13 was circulated across social media in a video calling her "the world’s ugliest woman".
When she saw that her picture had indeed been used for the prank, Velasquez says she was swept into a "whirlwind". Unable to sleep, she recorded her response video.
She said: "I couldn’t sleep. All that kept running through my mind was the innocent people used in these videos. Whether their photo is photoshopped to look exaggerated or whether they are babies who were born uniquely different, nobody has the right to use that in the form of humor.
"When things like this are brought to my attention my number one concern is how can I make this a teaching moment. How can I best use my platform for good."
Velasquez's response has since received over 11.1 million views on Twitter alone (as of this writing), and she has also been flooded with messages of support:
One person wrote: "This is such a powerful and compelling message. Thank you so much for saying this. This resonated with me so much. Those of us who are fighting for #disability rights are battling stigma in our own lives every day. Thank you for reminding people of that."
Velasquez also commented on the importance of parents and adults setting an example to children about being kind to those with differences.
She says: "When kids are in school or whether they are out in public, it's crucial to teach them the importance of respecting someone who doesn’t look like them. Showing them a video might be a joke, but it can be something that shows a child if my mom or dad thinks it's funny then it must be okay for me to laugh at as well.
"I take great responsibility in the fact that now is the time time to do all I can to speak up for those who might not have a voice or for those who don’t know how to use theirs."