The family said a 12-year-old boy from Oklahoma died this week after participating in TikTok’s “Blackout Challenge.”
In June, Tennessee’s 9-year-old La Terius “TJ” Smith Jr. was found dead in his bedroom, and in April, Colorado’s 12-year-old Joshua Haileyesus was found dead in his bedroom. rice field. Haileyesus was described on the GoFundMe page set up for his family as “intelligent, entertaining, compassionate, and talented.”
Internet challenges are exploding on social media, from charity to benign, dangerous to deadly. Some are well-meaning, light and entertaining, while others pose a health risk.
In 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge raised millions of dollars for ALS research. The InMyFeelings Dance Challenge continued to entertain us in the summer of 2018. However, the Benedrill Challenge, which emerged in 2020, encouraged people to take excessive amounts of medication to attempt hallucinations. The coronavirus challenge encouraged people to lick the surface in public. The Blackout Challenge, which killed Haileyesus, also killed a 10-year-old girl in Italy earlier this year.
Social media challenges seek clues from peers about what’s cool, crave positive reinforcement from friends and social networks, and take risky behavior, especially if they know they’re being observed. Especially attractive to adolescents who are prone to wake up who have the approval they crave.
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Mitchell Princestein, Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association, said: Author of “Popularity: Finding Happiness and Success in a World That Cares Too Much of the Wrong Kind of Relationships”.
Teens may find these challenges interesting and sometimes thrilling, especially when they are not seeing people injured. This will increase your chances of participating. Teens are already less skilled in assessing risk than adults, and if their peers are praised for engaging in risk-taking behavior through likes and comments, it is disinhibited. May become.
According to a 2016 survey by the journal Psychological Science, adolescents tend to prefer popular photos to those who don’t like them, both neutral and photos of dangerous behaviors such as drinking and smoking. Was true. Looking at many like pictures, the activity of the part of the brain related to imitation becomes active.
“These children are affected at a level that goes beyond their conscious consciousness,” said Princestein.
“Audiences around the world … 24/7 fuss”
A generation ago, children left schools, malls and cinemas, essentially leaving their companions for the day. The house was a break from social pressure. But social media now means that children’s companions are always everywhere.
Jacqueline Nessi, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, said: A university studying how social media affects the mental health of adolescents. “These create strong incentives to maximize positive peer feedback and approval.”
Princestein said there are four mechanisms that promote the influence of peers.
Obvious Companion Pressure: This is someone who says, “You should do this, otherwise I won’t be your friend.” Prior to social media, that pressure usually existed only during face-to-face interactions. Now, Princestein says, “There is a global audience of people who can literally provide that type of cajoling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Deviance training: This is when adolescents get a positive boost to do what is considered cool, but often involves breaking rules or taking dangerous actions.
Norm mispresumption: The teenage brain is constantly trying to figure out what is normal and whether they fit the majority. Social media can complicate this. If you have 20 posts in the newsfeed about the Coronavirus Challenge, you might think that everyone is doing the Coronavirus Challenge, even if the 20 people with such poor judgment are actually the Coronavirus Challenge. not.
Strengthening identity: As adults, we tend to have a safer sense of self, but in adolescence we manage our identities based on the feedback of our good and bad peers. If a friend on social media takes part in a viral challenge and gets hundreds of likes, we see that positive enhancement and want the same.
Parents have to talk to their children about viral tendencies
Nesi said that one of the most important things parents can do when it comes to teenage social media use is to keep the lines of communication open.
“Ask teenage questions, show them the accounts they follow, and ask where they come from,” she said. “If you see something upset online, tell your teens that you can ask and talk.”
Especially with regard to the viral challenge, Nesi said he would first assess your child’s awareness of any of the trends you might have heard and then ask their opinion about it. You can ask why they think others are following a trend and what they think are some of the risks of following that trend. Take this opportunity to explain why a particular trend is relevant to you.
Discussing the risks of using social media with children is challenging for parents today as they did not grow under these particular pressures.
“Many parents naturally feel a little helpless, but we have to oppose it,” said Princestein. “We need to spend a lot of time and energy asking our children.’Show me, tell me and explain what that means. When you see it, how do you Do you feel that? ”Really, we have no experience ourselves, so we are really overcompensating.”
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