Home   >   Feature   >   Parents and Schools Beware! The dangerous TikTok Challenge that could hurt children

Parents and Schools Beware! The dangerous TikTok Challenge that could hurt children

By on February 16, 2020

TikTok, a social media platform with over 500 million active users worldwide, has some of the most creative and short funny clips that go trending.

But the newest one to go viral called “SKULL BREAKER” is anything but fun. It’s extremely dangerous.

Skull breaker, a TikTok challenge aka a prank, appears to have originated in South America and has the potential to cause serious body injuries. The challenge called “Rompcráneos” in Spanish (skull breaker), has been trending on TikTok and other places.

Here’s how it’s played. Three people stand side-by-side. The person in the middle jumps up high and the people on either side kick out the middle person’s legs before he/she can land. If the jumper loses balance and control, he/she could end up hitting the head fast and hard, potentially causing skull fractures, as a consequence. The prank is that the middle person has no clue of what it involves.

There are funny pranks but this is, clearly, not one of them. Skullbreaker exploits a balance of power. Between peers, it’s usually the stronger members of the group who plays a trick on the weaker ones.

Watch the video clip on YouTube which now has 63,244 views in just 12 days. The Spanish title reads: “Viral .!! Reto de moda en las escuelas.” ( challenge trending in schools). The description reads: “Reto de moda en las escuelas esta causando fractura de cráneo y otras lesiones.”  (Challenge causing skull fracture and other injuries in school trending).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD6Aj583WkQ

Parents in Miami recently warned others against the danger of the newest TikTok challenge after son, Jamie Guirola ended up in intensive care.

Two kids did the prank on their 12-year old brother in Alabama, U.S.A., who ended up with a fractured arm.

The latest injury happened to a teen from Canada who was approached by older students in Calgary, saying they want help in filming a TikTok video. Luckily, the teen had light injuries, but it could have been much worse.

Twitterers are saying:

“Skullbreaker Challenge” I hope that Malaysian will never do that. NON-SENSE. RIDICULOUS. STUPID.”

https://twitter.com/hashtag/tiktok?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc^tfw

“This is the skull breaker challenge. Please please PLEASE don’t do this ?????? People have died from this (I cut the video I received from another mum)

Why do kids do these stupid things ? pic.twitter.com/WNgn2HcPTp”

— ♔ Jennifer ♔ (@britishchickAD) February 14, 2020

Benda bodoh yang orang buat di TikTok.

P/s: Saya terima video ini dari group WhatsApp sekolah anak. Ada ibubapa ingatkan supaya anak-anak tak terikut dengan #SkullBreakerChallenge. pic.twitter.com/Mo1CIRyHsr

 

What can you do as parent to prevent your teen from downloading TikTok?

TikTok has a score of a 12+ rating. This enables parents to use the device-based parental controls in order to block apps from an underage child’s phone.

Check Apple App Store or Google Play Store instructions for more on parental controls and how to enable them.

How can my teen control who sees their videos and sends them messages?

If your teens are on TikTok, they can control who sees their uploaded content, follows them, and sends them messages by making their account private.

But be aware that even with a private account, profile info, profile photo, username, and bio will be visible to all TikTok users.

How can my teen report inappropriate content or behavior?

If you or your teen sees something that might violate the app’s Terms of Service, it can be reported to TikTok’s moderation team. Users can report a specific video, user or comment within the app itself.

About TF Tribe