Cass Tech senior Courtney Whitaker covers her eyes to imitate the actors in the movie “Bird Box.”
Do you follow social media trends/challenges? Are these challenges dangerous? Social media makes it look so fun and entertaining.
Unfortunately, social media challenges have become darker lately. They are now life threatening. Of course no one can see that people are being harmed by it because they’re too busy having fun doing it.
It starts with one person coming up with something they believe is “fun” but is actually not fully thought out and could start up mischief.
What makes challenges and dares online so irresistible to everyone? With the advancement of social media, people were given the ability to showcase the popular tradition of daring friends to a variety of activities like these challenges.
Social media rewards crazy behavior. The more crazy, the bigger bragging rights. It affects people’s ability to think through their actions and possible consequences.
Is this why no one cares about challenges hurting them?
A new Netflix film called “Bird Box” has stirred up a new internet challenge that’s encouraging people to blindfold themselves and then perform different stunts in public.
The movie is about when a mysterious force decimates the population, only one thing is certain — if you see it, you die. The survivors must now avoid coming face to face with an entity that takes the form of their worst fears.
Searching for hope and a new beginning, a woman and her children embark on a dangerous journey through the woods and down a river to find the one place that may offer sanctuary. To make it, they’ll have to cover their eyes from the evil that chases them — and complete the trip blindfolded.
This challenge started by one person who thought they could do dangerous activities while blindfolded. Kids, teens, and adults are all involved in this.
A video went viral, a man put blindfolds on his two toddlers and himself to run around the house while holding their hands. He believed it was just a little challenge that could be fun for him and his kids. One of his toddlers ran into the wall while he ran in the hallway and with recorder and laughed while the baby could’ve been terribly hurt.
Others saw this video and thought that their remake would be much better. A man decided to go to the extreme, he decided to go on a railroad blindfolded just to do this challenge. Now he’s being investigated by the police because they believe it was a cry for help and he could’ve been suicidal.
The challenge is being called a problem for the visually-impaired community, they claim it’s mockery towards them because they have to use every other sense they have besides their vision, just to live.
This challenge has been taken too far. People on social media are following challenges just because other people are doing it.
Most people just watched the movie because they saw their peers posting about it. So they see people having fun with this challenge and decide to put themselves in harm’s way just for followers. The people who were brutally hurt by doing this challenge have received double the followers and views. People enjoy watching other people get hurt. Some may just watch the challenges and not participate in it, but they are still helping people get views.
Netflix made a Twitter post stating “Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE. We don’t know how this started, and we appreciate the love, but Boy and Girl have just one wish for 2019 and it is that you not end up in the hospital due to memes.”
Even YouTube banned dangerous and distressing pranks following ‘Bird Box Challenge’ as a warning.
Why aren’t people listening to these warnings?
