Gold fish swallowing was nothing compared to what young people are doing these days.
You won’t believe this
Remember old-time movies showing you fads in past eras: goldfish swallowing, telephone booth jamming, VW cramming, flagpole sitting and others things like that. For the most part, these fads were not dangerous, at least not life-threatening. Today’s young people are taking fads to new levels, life-threatening levels.
Now comes the “Blackout Challenge” from Tik Tok, total insanity and potentially life-threatening. Tik Tok is being sued by the families of two young girls who died, allegedly due to the viral challenge. The families call the app’s algorithms “dangerous” and blame the social media juggernaut for the children’s deaths.
The blackout challenge is stupid and dangerous: people are encouraged to hold their breath until they pass out, and even use belts or purse strings to choke themselves.
The predecessor to the Blackout Challenge was “the choking game” stunningly popular among young people about 2008. At least 82 people had died because of the “game” by the time a national warning was rolled out.
What can parents do?
Parents need to really consider how to deal with this topic and their kids. Frank and honest discussion may make them aware of this life-threatening challenge. It’s not a ‘game,’ maybe cannot even be called a prank. It can kill them.
Parents need to have open and frank discussions with their kids about peer pressure, bullying, and Internet dangers. Remember digitally-literate kids can be pretty good at outsmarting parental controls, so don’t count on them to entirely stop viewing dangerous things on the Internet.
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