Teenagers are continually bombarded and influenced by YouTube videos and social media showing dares and risky behaviors. These videos look like fun and they try to mimic or one-up what they see. They don’t think about the consequences of attempting these dares or dangerous behaviors.

What can parents do? Watch these videos with your kids…it is easy to laugh at them…however, talk about the dangers involved in the stunts you are watching and what could happen.

More examples of risky teen behavior:

Salt and ice challenge – holding a handful of salt and ice in your hand or against your skin to see how long you can tolerate the pain. Dangers: second and third degree burns to the skin.

Polar baring – getting naked and laying in the snow and taking a picture or video and posting on social media sites. Dangers: frostbite

Condom challenge – taking a condom and snorting it into the nose and pulling it out through the mouth. Dangers: choking, choking to death

Inhaling nutmeg – ingesting ground nutmeg by snorting or sniffing through the nose to get a “high.” Dangers: fever, heart palpitations, hallucinations, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, poisoning, dehydration, headache.

Teen shaming – a form of cyberbullying by taking a picture of someone and adding embarrassing or insulting text captions and posting on social media sites. A form of harassing someone.

Chubby Bunny Challenge – shoving as many marshmallows in your mouth as possible. Dangers: choking and suffocation because the marshmallows are difficult to get out.

The Knife Game, Pinfinger, Nerve, Bishop, Stabscotch or Five Finger Fillet – a game of using a knife or sharp object to stab back and forth between the fingers of a hand placed on a flat surface. There are various patterns and songs associated with this game. The goal is to see who can play the game the fastest. Dangers: cutting a finger or thumb or part of the hand, nerve damage

Datura or Angle Trumpet Flower Abuse – eating this flower can cause a person to get “high.” Dangers: it is very toxic and ingesting too much can lead to death.

Trunking – having passengers ride in the trunk of a car. Dangers: accidents

Biting or Vampire Biting – this is the modern day equivalent of a hickey except the person breaks the skin and draws blood. Dangers: infection, HIV and hepatitis

Talk to your teens. Be involved in their lives. Get help if you need it.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chubby_bunny