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Kids will endure a lot of emotionally and physical pain to be liked by their peers- it is a social phenomenon.
The formative school age years bring the most danger with daily developmental changes and increasing societal pressures to fit in.
Frightening combinations of these factors and digital input has made a deadly trend on Tik-Tok popular- and one young boy is suffering the consequences.
We continue to hear about social media trends that end up putting kids in the hospital.
Mommy Underground previously reported on 11-year-old Tyler Broome who suffered injuries never seen before in a child after teenage boys talked him into participating in the “roundabout of death.”
And this is far from the only story making recent headlines that involves children and dangerous pranks trending on social media.
TikTok is a new social media platform that has experienced a popularity explosion in the past year.
I know what you are thinking, “Oh, great. Another social media account I have to worry about my kids having.”And you are right!
In 2019, TikTok had to pay millions to the Federal Trade Commission for breaking child privacy laws with all the children under 13 on the site.
Now there is a kids section of the app where only “clean” videos can be accessed and they can’t comment on a video or post their own video.
But all kids have to do is lie about their birthday and bam! They are open to the big, scary world of social media influence.
A new challenge being presented on TikTok called the “skull-breaker” encourages two people to stand on either side of the victim to sweep their legs out from under them when they jump; all under the guise of learning a new dance.
This extremely dangerous and unintelligent prank seems too cruel to perform, but there have been many young people who have tried it with expected painful effects.
Insider reports:
“A young boy in New Jersey was hospitalized after his friends performed the prank and he hit his head on the floor, suffering a concussion and seizures.”
The boys parents, Stacy and Marc Shenker from Cherry Hill, told CBS Los Angeles that their son experienced seizures after his “friends” performed the “skull breaker” on him.
“He was laying down unresponsive, and they had called the ambulance,” the horrified mother relayed to the news agency.
Out of all the scary and dangerous things in the world to worry about as a parent, being fearful your child’s friends are going to put your baby in the hospital after joking around shouldn’t be one of them.
Business Insider India discovered the challenge began in Venezuela under the title “rompecraneos,” which goes to show how far spread viral pranks can spread; making them that much more dangerous.
Most videos tagged with #skullbreakerchallenge are now warnings against the dangerous stunt.
The school where the young boy who suffered the seizures from the prank sent out a message to all parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of replicating social media challenges.
Kids can be impulsive, curious, and longing for acceptance.
We as parents need to stay vigilant in protecting our children from the dangers of social media.
Setting parent controls and privacy settings help guard young minds from content well beyond their years, and can save your family a lot of heartache.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]