Students have created online challenges for others to participate in and post. Although some of these challenges seem harmless, participating in what seems like an innocent post could end in serious consequences.
Teenagers are not solely focused on the content they are posting. Instead, they are focused on the attention that they crave from fellow users online.
“Nothing good is coming from social media. it’s almost like y’all aren’t doing it to do it, it’s just for likes on social media,” Officer Moring said.
Teenagers feel the need to post things to feel accepted, when in reality, there are dangerous consequences. One challenge that posed severe health risks is known as the Tide Pod challenge. The tide pod challenge involved consuming the pods filled with laundry detergent and posting it online.
“Teens can aspirate on the liquid by inhaling it into their lungs, or they can become ill by ingesting it–experiencing a change in blood pressure and heart rate, losing consciousness or having seizures,” Lindsey Bever reported in her article “Teens are daring each other to eat Tide pods. We don’t need to tell you that’s a bad idea.” in The Washington Post.
Teens are aware of the health risks these challenges pose, yet they seem to not care. The number of intentional participants in these challenges has only increased in the past several years.
“So far in 2018, there have been 37 reported cases among teenagers–half of them intentional, according to the data,” Bever said.
Teens willingly participate in these challenges to feel the release of dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter. Ignorance and fulfilling a dopamine rush are the main factors of participation in internet challenges. Teens are ignorant to the health risks because of their young age.
“‘On average teenagers’ brains don’t finish developing until their mid 20’s’,” a study by healthychildren.org said.
Teens act impulsively in the moment without thinking of the dangers and legal ramifications. Another challenge with severe consequences teens participated in is known as the devious lick. This challenge consisted of teens stealing from their school’s bathroom and recording it to post on the internet.
“I know some people who have done some of those challenges and got suspended, it was pretty crazy,” Rice said.
A majority of the kids participating in these trends are not realizing that the things they post remain on social media forever, and can cause them legal and social problems.
“The devious lick stuff, I had to deal with some of the kids that were taking stuff from the bathrooms. Kids don’t seem to realize that these trends can lead them down the wrong path,” Moring said.
Despite the bad trends, there are also some that seem to be harmless. TikTok dance challenges have become increasingly popular over the past few years. However, this leads to the consequence of teenagers,especially girls, being exposed to online predators.
“I see so many girls at this school do those TikTok dances in the hall and post them. As a police officer I know that even though they are posting for their friends to see, creeps online can too,” Moring said.
Overall, social media challenges can be associated with negative changes in behavior, legal trouble, and even life-threatening health risks.
“Nothing good ever comes out of social media,” Moring said.
