Backpacking through 60 countries photographer, Mihaela Noroc photographed hundreds of women from different cultures to compile her ambitious project, “The Atlas of Beauty.”

It’s peer pressure mixed with a desire for attention and shit like that gets views. It’s bad, it’s dangerous, but don’t spread misinformation and put blame where it shouldn’t be bc I guarantee you 6 months from now there will be another horrifying and dangerous challenge on YouTube.

YouTube challenges like the cinnamon one sound more innocent but “dry cinnamon coats the throat and mouth, which can lead to gagging, vomiting and inhalation of the powder into the lungs. Between January and March 2012, U.S. poison control centers received more than 120 emergency calls related to the “game.” Some suffered lung scarring, ephysema, and — in one case — a collapsed lung.” (source)

Salt and ice challenge is another that sounds more innocent, but “when combined with salt, ice actually becomes colder than the standard freezing temperature for water, exposing the body to extreme cold. Several participants, one as young as 12, sustained second- and third-degree burns; amputation is also a risk.” (source)

Kylie Jenner Lip challenge sounds bad and is bad. It “involves grabbing a shot glass and putting your lips inside it and then sucking as hard as you can. It artificially plumps your lips and the results are startling and dangerous. Experts say the shot glass can break under the pressure, resulting in broken blood vessels, requiring stitches, and other issues when undergoing this challenge.” (source)

The choking challenge, obviously very dangerous. “To get a high or faint, kids either choke other kids, press hard on their chests, or hyperventilate. Obviously, this is very risky, and it has resulted in death.” (source)

Car surfing challenge, also obviously dangerous. “ In this challenge, a teen “surfs” on the roof, bumper, or hood of a car. This game has led to multiple deaths and many horrible injuries.” (source)

The eyeballing challenge, you guessed it, dangerous. “Teens take a shot of hard liquor…into their eye socket. This can cause cornea scarring, swelling, irritation, and plenty of other issues.” (source) Also see “butt chugging” which is very similar.

And the fire challenge where “teens put flammable liquid on themselves and then light a match. Hazards are obvious and range from serious second and third-degree burns, all the way up to death.” (source)

I mean, shit, did you hear about the Blue Whale Challenge? “ Over the course of 50 days, an anonymous “administrator” assigns self-harm tasks, like cutting, until the 50th day, when the participant is supposed to commit suicide. It is rumored to have begun in Russia, and there were reports that suicides were tied to the trend, but those are unverified and likely not true. Apps related to the Blue Whale Challenge were said to appear and were then removed. The biggest concern is teens who are at risk and may be susceptible to trends and media about suicide, because even if the challenge began as an isolated incident or hoax, it could become real.” (source)

Be careful with the links, some of them show graphic injuries.

These aren’t isolated incidents, these pop up routinely. These are just a small sampling gathered from the first 3 articles that come up when you google “dangerous youtube challenges” and it’s not hard to find for yourself. I remember these being popular, knew people who did them.

Like, I’m not trying to be an asshole, but the tide pod challenge is part of a larger, specific problem that deserves to be addressed and to be honest its irresponsible to suggest that “forbidden fruit” memes have led kids to do this on their own. 

It’s like the 100th post I’ve seen saying, “way to go guys, your meme broke the kids! they think the pods are ok to eat!” These kids aren’t stupid, they know tide pods are dangerous to eat. It says so on the box, and it’s common sense. But their brains are still developing and their risk/reward ratio is skewed and the possibility of getting views and subscriptions to them IS WORTH THE RISK. Additionally, being bullied for not trying it seems WORSE than eating the pod. No teen wants to seem lame, and you’ll do things you don’t want to if it makes you cooler or everyone else is.