--- title: First Day of School Crying Kid description: Little Andrew Macias was excited about pre-k, until he realized his mom wouldn't be there canonical: https://time.com/4003093/first-day-of-school-crying/ author: ashley Ross article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-19T15:52:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:01.874Z og:title: Watch This Reporter Break a Kid's Heart On His First Day of School og:description: Andrew Macias was excited about pre-k, until he realized his mom wouldn't be there og:url: https://time.com/4003093/first-day-of-school-crying/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch This Reporter Break a Kid's Heart On His First Day of School twitter:description: Andrew Macias was excited about pre-k, until he realized his mom wouldn't be there twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch This Reporter Break a Kid's Heart On His First Day of School > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=31b3863e-7259-4cd2-af7f-7b69906f111a&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Elements of A Viral Video [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Elements of A Viral Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-22. 5 Elements of A Viral Video_ by [ashley Ross](https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Aug 19, 2015 3:52 PM UTC by [ashley Ross](https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Aug 19, 2015 3:52 PM UTC First days of school can be hard: What to wear. Where to sit. Who to be friends with. Poor little Andrew Macias couldn’t even navigate all his feelings on camera when a reporter from [KTLA 5 News](http://fox40.com/2015/08/18/tv-reporter-makes-kid-cry-when-she-asks-him-about-first-day-of-school/) asked the 4-year-old if he was excited for pre-kindergarten. Macias’ excitement took a devastating turn, though, when Courtney Friel asked him if he’d miss his mom. When he said no, her giggles spurred his giggles. But only until his face crumpled into devastation and heartbreak and tears. Macias got a hug from his mom off camera, so we can all breathe easy. But we can’t help but wonder how great it would have been if someone in the background screamed, “He doesn’t even go here!” Just your friendly reminder to call your mom today, people. _Read next:_ [_Amazon’s Top-selling Book Will Put Your Kid to Sleep in Minutes_](http://time.com/4003405/amazons-book-sleep-kids/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day_](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript [ NOISE ] What makes a video go viral? Here's our guess. Mishka, I love you. [ NOISE ] Number one, cute animals. [ LAUGH ] Charlie, Charlie bit me. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ], we're going to Disneyland. Oh, my god. Number two, cute kids. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] Number 3, remixes. [ MUSIC ] Whoa, oh my God, oh my God. [ LAUGH ] Oh my God. Whoo. Number four, spontaneity. Look at all those Number five. Cute kids and cute animals. Put this all together and it will certainly end up on your Facebook feed. 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