Trends – they come and go. While some of them are good and entertaining, majority of them leave you questioning the sanity of humanity. Before the advent of social media, trends were mostly confined to fashion or lifestyle. I’m not saying there weren’t challenges back then, but they weren’t as rampant as they are now. Now we see a surge of trends that cover anything and every aspect of life. Who even comes up with these trends and why? The rush to be a part of this culture is crazy. We see a lot of people feeling pressurized to take part in these trends or challenges, just for the sake of fitting in and not be left out from the “circle”. Why anyone would even want to partake in such challenges is beyond me.

We all know of the deadly Blue Whale Challenge that became a huge concern across the globe. In this article, I’m going to list out what I feel are a few dangerous challenges that have serious consequences. I’ve mainly included challenges that have resulted in serious injuries or death.

The cereal challenge

                This is a popular challenge that has been making its way around Tik Tok and Instagram. To complete the challenge, you must successfully pour cereal and milk into someone’s mouth and then eat it with a spoon. I mean, why? Why would anyone even want to eat cereal from someone else’s mouth? This is totally pointless and it’s a risky challenge that can choke you to death. Imagine this epitaph on your tombstone ‘Died by choking on cereal’. This is a truly dramatic death by drowning and choking in a bid to become TikTok famous. What a way to go!

The nutmeg challenge:

            Some people have been making bets on whether they can complete the nutmeg challenge. For the popular nutmeg challenge, TikTok users drink a mix of two to four tablespoons of nutmeg with milk or water and document their reactions, as large amounts of the spice can lead to intoxication. But the high that comes from the spice is actually pretty dangerous. Side effects of nutmeg consumption include hallucinations, drowsiness, hypothermia, dizziness, dry mouth, confusion, seizures and in some cases, coma and death. If you are thinking of doing this challenge, just please don’t.

The outlet challenge:

                It involves slipping a penny between a partly-dislodged phone charger and the wall outlet and watching the sparks fly. This challenge is extremely dangerous and moronic as it can lead to injury and fire accidents. Has your science teacher never told you not to mess with electricity?

The skull-breaker challenge:

                This challenge is exactly as it sounds. It involves two people kicking the legs from under a third, making them fall over backwards and hit the ground, sometimes head first. And the fact that it doesn’t involve the consent of the unsuspecting individual who is being tripped, amounts to bullying. The free fall can result in head injuries, fractures in the joint, and can even break your skull — literally. There have been many reports of kids severely hurting themselves and being rushed to the hospital.

Salt and ice challenge:

                This is a challenge where people put salt and ice on their skin, and see how long they can withstand the pain. Because the salt lowers the temperature of the ice, the participants end up feeling frostbite like pain. Side effects of this challenge include second and third degree burns, scarring, and even lasting nerve damage.

Concussion challenge:

                In this challenge, a group of people stand around in a circle and throw a basketball or baseball in the air. The challenge is that no one should move out of the way of the falling object, thus ending up with a concussion.  People took a stupid step further by throwing tricycles and luggage in the air. This reminds me of those old cartoons where a piano falls on the character’s head. Hope that heavy baggage knocks some sense into them.

Cinnamon challenge:

                This appeared years before the nutmeg challenge. The cinnamon challenge is a popular video stunt where people shovel a spoonful of ground cinnamon into their mouth in 60 seconds without drinking any liquid. It sounds pretty harmless, but it’s more dangerous than it appears. People end up coughing, choking, poisoned and in some cases long-lasting lung problems. Some teenagers have suffered collapsed lungs and ended up on ventilators. C’mon guys, use cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices for baking instead.

Fire challenge:

                This is one of the most extreme challenges. In this, participants douse a portion of their body with a flammable liquid. Then they light it up and record the effects, which often lead to first or second degree burns. The challenge is as foolish as it sounds and has burned and put many teenagers in the emergency ward. Didn’t our parents teach us not to play with fire?

The taser challenge:

                Remember how tasers were initially invented for self-defense?  Well, now tasers are being used for an entirely different purpose. This game involves someone putting a metal object in their mouth and tasing the object with a taser or just randomly tasing their friends. Why would anyone actually want to do this?

Vodka eyeballing challenge:

                This trend prevalent among college kids in USA and UK is to take a shot of vodka, not by mouth, but by eye. You read that right. They pour vodka into their eyes in order to get drunk, which is actually not possible. Vodka has corrosive effects on the eye and causes corneal abrasions, scarring, loss of vision and increase risk of ocular infection. I would rather just stick to the traditional way of drinking – through my mouth.

Tide pod challenge:

                It involves biting down on a brightly colored laundry detergent packet of any brand and spitting out or ingesting its contents. Consuming a laundry detergent pod can cause organ damage, burns in the esophagus, loss of consciousness, and even death. This is when brushing your teeth with toothpaste isn’t enough.

The pass out challenge:

                In the Pass out Challenge (choking game), participants temporarily cut the flow of blood and oxygen to their brain. This causes users to temporarily pass out, with a moment of lightheadedness as breathing recommences. This is a very dangerous challenge. Low oxygen to the brain for over three minutes can result in brain damage and low oxygen to the brain for over five minutes could result in death. A similar challenge plagued the 1990s long before Instagram and TikTok which resulted in the death of over 80 kids in the US.

Social media can be a powerful tool for world change. But unfortunately it is being used for the most trivial purposes. Is there anything people won’t do for likes on social media? I don’t know what’s wrong with people nowadays that they lose all sense when it comes to such stuff. We’ve started living such virtual lives that we have let reality slip away from us. It’s sad to see total disregard for safety in the name of trends.