Since the early 2000s, the Internet has been seeking an answer to the age-old question: “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” And if viral Internet challenges are anything to go by, the answer is a resounding yes. Whether it’s swallowing a spoonful of cinnamon, eating a furiously hot pepper, engorging the blood vessels in your lips, or just flat out setting yourself on fire, all these challenges center around some outlandish task that guarantees embarrassment and/or injury.
- What are some of the current dangerous trends you’ve seen on the internet or in your group of friends? (Allow willing participants to share their stories with the class.)
- Have you ever participated in a dangerous Internet challenge? What was the challenge, and why did you choose to participate? (Allow willing participants to share their stories with the class.)
While there are many dangerous and destructive challenges on the internet, a school district in Florida wanted to offer teens a positive internet challenge. The school had been facing the ramifications of TikTok trends that encouraged vandalizing schools, destroying property, and stealing. So, they decided to change the course of peer pressure to participate in trends.
Play this clip for your students [1:52].
BCPS organizes new initiative to deter students from taking part in dangerous TikTok trends
- How might the new challenges take the focus away from more dangerous trends? (Possible answers include peer pressure, prize incentives, etc.)
The current social media landscape has many of us finding our worth in the acceptance of our peers. The pressure to be or become or remain popular creates a constant distraction that can take us down paths that are truly unwise to take.
Today, we’ll learn how to listen to the one Person who always has our best interests at heart and will always guide us in the right direction.
