Thursday, August 7, 2014

The Fire Challenge Game

I’ve got an idea:  What do you say we poor rubbing alcohol all over you. Then I’ll grab a camera and light you on fire while filming what happens.

No? Does this not sound like a game you want to play? Startlingly, the answer your teen might give to this question is not an emphatic no, but an enthusiastic “Let’s do it!”  It’s called the fire challenge game and it’s the latest trend in dumb things kids are willing to do in their pursuit of internet glory.

Fire challenge videos are popping up all over the internet, featuring young people who light themselves on fire and emerge seemingly no worse for the ware.  But as you might imagine, things don’t always go as planned.  A number of kids have been seriously burned, and the screams of those victims is something you never forget.

Don’t assume that your kid is smart enough to know better.  All teens become temporarily dumb.  Talk with tweens, too, who are in the danger zone for mimicking what teens do.  Make sure kids know that the stunts which don’t go as planned don’t generally get posted on YouTube, and permanent disfiguration is an outcome just as likely as internet glory.

1 comment:

  1. "All teens become temporarily dumb"

    Um, not all teens become THAT temporarily dumb. I know none of the teens I knew growing up were that stupid (and trust me, it was a greater number than the few you probably know). It's the few stupid teens that make "adults" like you feel like you have the right to be horribly condescending toward teens that know better.

    ReplyDelete