A viral challenge called the “Skull Breaker Challenge” that originated on TikTok is landing more and more kids in the hospital with serious injuries—and now school officials are sounding the alarm to parents and educators.
The challenge, also called the “Tripping Jump Challenge” is a prank where two people ask a third to record a synchronized jump for social media. They jump once in tandem, then on the second jump, the two people on the outside sweep the legs of the middle person out from under him. The resulting undercut usually causes the person to fall flat on his back and hit his head—and can cause life-threatening injuries.
The #skullbreakerchallenge which is currently trending on #tiktok is fatal. Please pay attention to our kids. pic.twitter.com/SQi9RPpk6j
— Nicole Wong 王晓庭 (@nicolewong89) February 14, 2020
The parents of a New Jersey 13-year-old told CBS News their son suffered a concussion that resulted in a seizure after the prank. Reports of injuries have also surfaced in Alabama, Florida, and Arizona.
In one Louisana school district, officials released a warning on Facebook this week alerting teachers and parents of the dangerous prank after a 7th grader fell victim to the prank at recess on Monday and ended up in the hospital.
“We ask that you notify your staff about this challenge and have your PE coaches educate each class on the dangers of this activity and that participation in this behavior will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action,” the statement read.
Doctors say injuries from an unprotected fall like the one caused in the Skull Breaker Challenge can be very serious or even fatal.
With the massive popularity of TikTok and other social media apps, this latest challenge is just another reason it’s so important to talk with our tweens and teens about their online activity.
Their lives could very well depend on it.
Raising kids in a technology-driven world can be a challenge. We love the practical advice in [easyazon_link identifier=”B01KP2XNKQ” locale=”US” tag=”herview16-20″]Screenwise[/easyazon_link] for helping kids navigate the digital world around them. Don’t have time to sit and read? [easyazon_link identifier=”B01KP2XNKQ” locale=”US” tag=”herview16-20″]Listen here, on Audible[/easyazon_link].
[easyazon_image align=”none” height=”160″ identifier=”1629561452″ locale=”US” src=”https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413xTr74wFL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”herview16-20″ width=”101″]
Recommendations in this post contain affiliate links. Her View From Home may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase.