A dad says he's managed to keep hi son out of trouble by encouraging him to egg other people's houses. Jason Knight has become a TikTok star by posting videos of his six-year-old son Jack pelting eggs at homes around Oldham.
Jason, 29, insists the egging s are just pranks are harmless fun - and the pair return to the properties the following day to clean up the mess. Speaking to the MEN, the dad-of-four said: “In my eyes, I see it as a little thing for my son where he cleans up afterwards and it teaches him a lesson.
“There was someone running around with a machete where I live a few weeks ago saying he was going to slice everyone up. My son is egging houses, not running around with a machete. In my eyes, I’m doing the right thing.”
The first video posted on TikTok, which involved his youngest throwing eggs at his sister’s home, racked up more than 300,000 views. Following that, the owner of a vehicle recovery business found himself being bombarded with requests from people asking their family and friends to be targeted.
In many videos Jason can be heard offering words of encouragement to his son, telling him to get closer to the window and take his time throwing the egg before running back to the car.
“We’re not doing it maliciously,” Jason said . “We have people give us addresses whether it be their family or friends. We always go back the next day and clean up. It’s not like [Jack] is running off and leaving it for other people to clean.
“We show them the address that’s been given to us and we let the people know who has [thrown the eggs]. Everyone started liking the videos and commenting; some people take it as a joke and some people see it like I’m in the wrong. Even if Jack gets [TikTok] famous, it’s a good thing for him, [TikTok famous] people move to different areas with the money they get.”
Jason says another reason he records the videos is to keep the old-school prank alive. “I don’t want the tradition to die,” he added. “I’d like to keep what I did as a kid in my family. I know in my head he’s out doing normal little kid stuff that everyone used to do when they were kids. I did it as a kid and I’ve turned out to be a nice person.
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“The estate I live on, it’s crazy. The police are there all the time and people are racing up and down in cars. It’s not a nice place to live. It steers [Jack] away from all the other kids swearing and bullying other kids. I let him out the other day on the park and he came back crying his eyes out saying the other kids were bullying him. I’m trying to do it for him so he’s got a better life so he can move away from around here.”