The world has been through a lot of different fads over the years. They are generally short-lived but can leave a lasting impact.
One of the earliest challenges brought to social media outlets was the “ice bucket challenge”. Someone got a bucket of ice water poured over their heads, generally, these became a means of fundraising.
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Up from there and to the extreme was the “Tide Pod Challenge”. People would literally consume Tide Pods (laundry detergent pods) for a means of comical entertainment. Serious internal injuries were reported for this.
Now that the social media platform TikTok has taken off with the teenage population, a new fad is beginning to emerge from its screen.
“The Skull Breaker Challenge” is a prank that originally went viral on TikTok. Now kids across the world are reproducing it.
In order to execute the prank, two people have to convince a third person to jump up in the air. While the person is in the air, they kick their feet out from under them. This sends them hurtling head-first into the floor.
This was a challenge that became real to a 13-year-old Lawrence, Massachusetts teenager named Kathleen DeJesus. She ended up being the target of the challenge while she was at school.
DeJesus had to be rushed from Lawrence Massachusetts Middle School to the hospital where she spent two days for a massive concussion.
She described the injuries sustained from the prank in vivid detail. She said that her whole body went numb. She couldn’t get up off of the floor because she couldn’t feel her hand, her feet, her legs, or her body.
She remembered screaming for someone to get an ambulance. She thought she was losing her life over a social media challenge.
DeJesus is not the first or the last to suffer from one of these challenges. Medical professionals who have begun to see a rise in them have taken to their own social media platforms.
They are creating videos to make preteens and teens aware of the dangers of participating in challenges like this. The injuries can have a lasting effect on a person. This includes short term and long term physical or mental deficits.