Trending Challenge Era Needs to Come to an End
posted by Victoria Walker | October 4, 2021 | In OpinionIt is no secret that our generation of social media trends and challenges have been going on for a while now. In middle school and high school, for some, we had challenges such as the cinnamon (where people try and eat a spoonful of cinnamon; don’t do it) and cloud 9 (where TikToker’s use the Beach Bunny’s song to express their love for something), but most recently with the help of TikTok, some of the most recent challenges have been out of control.
Let’s start by talking about the “Crate Challenge” going around the internet.
People put milk crates into a pyramid and then attempted to cross them without toppling the pyramid. The video went viral with many people including celebrities giving the challenge a try.
We can all agree while it was very entertaining it was also both stupid and dangerous for a few laughs and views.
The Crate Challenge eventually slowed down but was later replaced with the “TikTok Bathroom” challenge in which student trashed and completely destroyed their school’s bathroom. The trend was not only disrespectful but very unthoughtful as many schools completely shut down bathrooms as a result. Not only were the students involved facing charges for defacing and destroying school properties, but students that had done nothing wrong had to suffer the whole school day with no access to a bathroom.
With the closing of school bathrooms, an even newer and crazier trend has appeared as of last week known as “The Slap a Teacher” Challenge. This challenge is simple: find a teacher and slap them, but the whole thing must be recorded on camera.
The Slap a Teacher challenge officially kicked off on October 1. This challenge was both senseless and rude. This challenge would pose the risk of students being brought up on charges for assault and like the one prior could result in serious damage to their reputation.
These are just three of the many challenges coming to light recently. Many of these challenges will carry long-term effects for the person participating, rather it be with a scar from falling or a charge for participating in these challenges.
These challenges may get you a few seconds of fame but at what cost? Is permanent damage to both your public image, future, and yourself worth it?
Photo courtesy of Solen Feyissa
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