﻿ 5 insanely wacky ‘viral challenges’ that teens should definitely stay away from. Else, at your own risk


Updated May 10, 2018 | 17:27 IST | Times Now Digital

While some 'viral internet challenges' can be harmless such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge or the Mannequin Challenge, there are some that run the risk of causing injuries, such as the Deodorant Challenge or the Blue Whale Challenge. Here are five such challenges that teens should avoid.

Image posted on Facebook by Jamie Prescott
Image posted on Facebook by Jamie Prescott  |  Photo Credit: Facebook

New Delhi: There was a time when seemingly innocuous acts such as playing with Ouija boards or calling the spirit of ‘Bloody Mary’ in a dark room was the ‘riskiest’ challenge that the kids would attempt, just to taste some thrill and have some fun. However, these days, the young generation appears to have moved on to wackier and more dangerous ‘challenges’, and this time they want the world to know what they are upto, thanks to YouTube and other social media websites. 

In the last few years, several such challenges have flooded the internet via social media, with kids and teenagers falling prey to peer pressure to undertake these rather outrageous and potentially dangerous challenges. Some of these challenges seem to be mostly harmless, such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, or bottle-flipping challenge, or the more recent Mannequin Challenge. 

However, there are a few challenges that could potentially harm the participants and could even cause lasting injuries to them, such as the Salt and Ice challenge, or Choking challenge. Despite the risk factors, more and more youngsters seem to be attracted to these ‘viral challenges’. In fact, there are a few teen fads that have resurfaced in 2018 after first going viral years ago. 
Here are five of the recent ‘viral teen challenges’ that became a craze on social media: 

1.    Deodorant Challenge

This is one of the latest challenges to supposedly ‘resurface’ in 2018 and has already become a cause of concerns for parents. Essentially, the participant is required to spray deodorant on his or hands for as long as possible. 

(Image posted on Facebook by Jamie Prescott)

An aerosol spray tends to cool fairly quickly on the skin and hence can cause frostbite, which is what usually happens when one undertakes the challenge. The very obvious reason why one should avoid taking up this challenge is that it could cause burns on the skin and damage the portion. 

2.    Tide Pod Challenge

Of all the things to eat in the world, why would teens choose to consume detergent is perhaps a question best answered by them. But this is what exactly happened in the early weeks of 2018 when teens decided to dare each other to eat the detergent powder, record themselves chewing and gagging on it and then challenging others to do the same. Others even cooked the pods in frying pans before consuming the same. 

Needless to say, this challenge carries numerous health hazards. The craze behind the fad forced a spokesperson of Procter & Gamble, which manufactures Tide detergent, to tell Buzzfeed News that the very obvious fact that detergent pacs were meant to clean clothes. 

3.    Condom snorting challenge

This was probably the grossest dares that the teenagers could undertake this year. Reports suggested that the challenge had first made grabbed attention of the teens way back in 2013 after a video on it went viral. However, much like the Tide Pod Challenge, it came back in news in 2018, with a few teenagers posting their videos attempting the dare online. 

Screengrab from a Youtube video

As the name suggests, participants are required to snort or inhale the condoms through one of their nostrils and pull it out from their mouth. There is always a risk of choking on the condom and the spermicidal lubricant found on most of the condoms can also cause allergic reactions since it can irritate the inner linings of the nose. 

4.     Kylie Jenner lips challenge

Reality TV Star Kylie Jenner definitely has luscious lips. And perhaps ‘inspired’ by her, several girls decided to ‘artificially’ plump their lips to get that perfect pout, using a shot glass. Participants are supposed to insert their lips in a shot glass and then suck. The result would be reddened, engorged lips. However, this ‘challenge’ posed several health risks, including swelling, and bruising of the lips. If the participants are not careful, they could even end up scarring their lips, causing lasting damage. 

5.    Blue Whale Challenge

This has perhaps been rightly regarded as one of the deadliest challenges, which eventually did prove to be fatal in some case. Participants had to take up the challenge over a span of 50 days, during the course of which an anonymous “administrator” would assign self-harm tasks to them, such as cutting themselves. Finally on the 50th day, the participant would be asked to commit suicide. 

The challenge is supposed to have started in Russia and then reportedly became a rage across the world. There were a few instances of deaths suspected to be associated with the case, with some of them even reported from India. 

Remember, ‘viral challenges’ can be fun, for sure, but only if they do not cause any harm to you. 

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