I can't be the only person who gets worried when he hears about a new so-called "challenge" on TikTok. That's not because I'm a killjoy, but because so many of the viral challenges we've seen in the past have been, well, downright dangerous.
Obviously, not every challenge that's appeared on the platform poses a risk to life and limb. But by now we've seen plenty of foolhardy stunts and risky pranks performed for the benefit of the cameras.
Some of these challenges have left their participants seriously injured, or have even proven fatal, due to the extreme threat they pose.
So for your own personal safety, take a look at this list of the most dangerous TikTok challenges on the internet, and please, don't try any of them yourself.
1. The Skullbreaker Challenge
The Skullbreaker Challenge, also known as the 'Jump Trip Challenge', first emerged on the platform in 2019. It involves two people asking a third to be in a video with them, telling the participant to jump. One all three leap into the air, the two on the outside kick out the legs from under the third to delibertaelymake them fall over.
A number of people were seriously hurt as a result of their taking part. For example, Brazilian 16-year-old Emanuela Medeiros died after taking part and landing on her head.
2. The Concussion Challenge
The Concussion Challenge, also known as the 'Throw It In The Air Challenge', sees participants cluster into a tight huddle and throw various objects over their heads. Players are unable to leave the circle until an object hits a member of the group.
Although most TikTok users used harmless objects such as basketballs and eggs, others employed more dangerous missiles, such as plastic chairs, basketball hoops, and tricycles.
3. The Penny Challenge
This stunt involved participants plugging a mobile phone charger halfway into an electrical socket and then attempting to strike spark by touching the exposed prongs of the plug with a coin.
According to The New York Post, a student at Plymouth North High started a fire on the school premises after performing the irresponsible stunt and scorched the classroom. Local firefighters were summoned to the campus as a result.
4. The Cha Cha Slide Challenge
Named after the DJ Casper dance track, this challenge involves drivers filming themselves swerving to the right and left, and even crossing lanes while on the road.
Although there were no reported deaths as a result of the challenge, the social media site added a caption on videos using the hashtag which read: "The action in this video could result in serious injury."
5. The Cereal Challenge
The Cereal Challenge involves one person tilting their head back and opening their mouth.
A partner then fills their mouth with milk and breakfast cereal, which the first person gargles, while the second uses a spoon to eat it out of their mouth, creating a potentially lethal choking hazard.
Why anyone would attempt this is beyond me.
6. The Bright Eye Challenge
The so-called Bright Eye Challenge saw TikTok users attempt to change the color of their eyes, by mixing bleach, hand sanitizer, jelly, and shaving cream in a bag, and rubbing it on their eyeball.
Aside from the risk posed by the harmful chemicals, pressing the bag against the eye itself could lead to contamination from dirt, or could scratch the retina.
Speaking to The Mirror about the challenge, Royal College of Optometrists Clinical Advisor Dr. Susan Blakeney stated: "You can’t change the color of eyes by pressing a bag against it. It can cause corneal scarring and affect your sight.
"The cornea is the most sensitive part of the body - it’s the clear part that enables us to see clearly and anything that affects that can have a significant effect on your eyes and be extremely painful."
7. The Blackout Challenge
The Blackout Challenge is a viral stunt that sees TikTok users asphyxiating themselves or choking other people into near-unconsciousness in order to induce an artificial euphoria through oxygen starvation.
However, the restriction of the respiratory system can have tragic consequences, as the recent case of 12-year-old Colorado schoolboy Joshua Haileyesus shows.
The New York Post reports that Joshua was found passed out on the bathroom floor after attempting the stunt with a shoelace on March 22, and has since been declared brain dead.
8. The Benadryl Challenge
This challenge saw TikTok users ingesting a large amount of the cough and flu medication Benadryl to induce a hallucinogenic high, which could lead to a fatal overdose.
According to Newsweek, some users were taking as many as 12 pills at once, which could induce a range of effects, such as dizziness, vomiting, seizures, cardiac arrest, and even provoke a coma.
As a result, the United States Food and Drug Administration launched an investigation into the trend and urged the platform to remove videos of the stunt.
9. The Coronavirus Challenge
In the early stages of the COVID outbreak in the western world, a number of videos began circulating on TikTok daring users to lick objects in public places.
It goes without saying that doing so could easily lead to the transmission spread of the virus.
In one instance, a 21-year-old influencer who filmed himself licking a toilet bowl later revealed he'd been hospitalized with COVID-19.
So the next time you hear about a new TikTok Challenge, please don't take part if it sounds unsafe.
You could be avoiding something seriously deadly.