The skullbreaker challenge is the latest social media viral trend that has taken the internet by storm in recent times. While many of these “challenges” are harmless and are done in fun (like the bottle cap challenge), some are problematic and, in this case, highly dangerous.
The new trend that's fast gaining popularity on video-sharing platform TikTok involves three people standing next to each other and jumping in the air. The catch is, when the person standing in the middle jumps, the other two kick the jumper's legs, making him or her fall. The challenge gets its name for making the person jump and fall on their back, which could cause head injuries or even break their skull.
It is believed to have started off as a prank, where two people get a third person to make a video of all of them jumping. However, people have voiced their concerns over this “prank” which has now developed into a challenge that kids and adults alike are trying out.
Parents and social media users have also warned people to not try the challenge after getting reports of injuries, concussions and people falling unconscious. One of the first videos to go viral was shot in a school in Venezuela. Another video shows three men trying the challenge with the jumper losing consciousness.
The trend has not caught on in India, though parents of youngsters have voiced their concerns. Some believe that this is similar to the Blue Whale challenge, which invloved goading teenagers to complete several tasks in a stipulated time with the final task being taking their own lives. The skullbreaker challenge is dangerous and can be fatal, but has not been categorised as a suicide game like the Blue Whale.
A mother in Arizona, US posted her ordeal on Facebook, after her son was hospitalised with a head injury, several stitches and cuts on his face and mouth, when he did a “jumping contest” with two of his friends. She said that the “premise of the prank is to get an unsuspecting individual to jump, so the pranksters can kick/trip the person to see how hard they fall”.
Social media has witnessed such challenges in the past, getting people to try out dangerous stunts like the Kiki challenge in which people got out a moving vehicle and danced along to “In My Feelings”, a song by Drake.
Another trend called the outlet challenge involved plugging a phone charger into a socket and placing a coin in the gap between the charger and the wall outlet, causing sparks and even electric shocks if a person is in contact.
The Bird Box challenge which went viral after the release of the Sandra Bullock movie Bird Box saw youngsters doing daily tasks while blindfolded, leading to dangerous situations.
