When so called fun disfigures or kills, we can’t sit with our heads in the sand and ignore it.
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If anyone peruses Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, they’re bound to see videos of one of today’s “teens push it to the edge” challenges. When you think you’ve seen it all, it gets worse.
Kids are literally pouring lighter fluid, propane or acetone on themselves and setting themselves on fire. Then there’s the age old pass out game that’s been around at least as far back as my childhood (yes that was a while ago) where kids either grab you from behind to knock the wind out of you or you hyperventilate and then stick your finger down your throat to pass out so you can wake up like some crazed person as friends laugh hysterically. And, we are still seeing the cinnamon challenge where kids swallow an insane amount of ground cinnamon all at one time to see if they can blow out a yellow cloud of smoke and survive.
Certainly as a kid I pushed the envelope a lot, but this is completely out of control. Children are being taken to the hospital with severe burns, and not everyone is passing the pass out challenge alive. In these videos you will see kids who aren’t able to put the fire out right away and they start burning well past the lighter fluid they’ve poured on themselves. I had to ask myself why on earth any kid would want to do that. The answer is “for the rush, the thrill of it.” Some kids do drugs and for others adrenaline IS their drug.
Parents have to wake up and realize times now are far more dangerous than before. Kids are exposed earlier and more often to acts of violence against others and themselves. Viral videos showing kids doing these challenges makes some other kids feel like they too can beat the fire, cinnamon or lack of oxygen. They think of it as fun because quite honestly many of them are just bored and they too want attention that includes video views and more followers on social media.
If we don’t spend time talking to our kids the only challenges we as parents are going to face is how and when to bury our children. Parents, I’m not blaming you but I am saying it’s time for all of us to get our heads out of the sand and talk to these kids about these dangers today like never before. Surf the same web they surf and find the dangers so you can have the right discussions before it’s too late for your child.
Let’s presume that ev psych is correct. We are evolved to face a certain amount of adrenalin-racing, “interesting” time each day. Suppose they never have it? Do they have to figure out a way to fake it? IMO, the new issue here is that it’s on social media. Kids, especially young boys, have been doing crazy stuff for millenia–esp if young girls are watching–and it costs some of them. Maybe what kids need is some smarter excitement, and I don’t mean either video games or dodgeball without a ball or whatever we’re doing on playgrounds to keep kids safe. But… Read more »