Challenges at TikTok, YouTube & Co.

What is a challenge on social media? Children and young people are repeatedly confronted with tests of courage online, in which participants film themselves. They share their video clips via video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok , hoping for likes and thus recognition. Many of these contests trend in places and then spread rapidly on social media. They range from harmless challenges to risky challenges that can cause serious damage to health.

Since the Ice Bucket Challenge, there have been many other challenges that have gone viral around the world. Challenges often have the character of an invitation. Other people are specifically nominated and thus challenged to take part. Even without a nomination, popular challenges spread quickly on social media and find many imitators. These include fitness exercises such as the "Plank Challenge" or skill tasks such as the "Bottle Cap Challenge".

However, challenges that encourage risky and unhealthy behavior are also becoming increasingly popular. These include, for example, the so-called Hot Chip Challenge or One Chip Challenge, in which extremely hot chips have to be eaten. Or fainting tests of courage such as the Blackout Challenge or the Pilot Test.

In the time before the Internet, tests of courage were a typical behavior of many young people as part of their development. The ambition was to measure themselves against others or to prove themselves by overcoming unpleasant feelings. An important incentive for this was recognition within their peer group.

Images of burns, scars or bleeding wounds can lower inhibitions and encourage unhealthy behavior. Even if children and adolescents do not actively participate in dangerous challenges. Particular caution is needed when dealing with eating disorders or the topic of suicide: Children and adolescents in crisis situations can be further destabilized by the portrayal of dangerous behaviors.

Support children and young people in recognizing and correctly assessing the risks of challenges:

• Stay in regular contact with children and young people to find out which dares are currently in vogue.
• Discuss that there are also many fakes circulating among risky challenges. Encourage children and young people to critically question the actions shown.
• Encourage children and young people not to put themselves or others in danger and not to give in to peer pressure when asked to do so.
• Communicate that spreading dangerous challenges can endanger others.
• Inform other parents and class administrators if dangerous challenges are circulating among friends or at school.
• Self-harming internet challenges should be reported to internet-complaints-agency.com or jugendschutz.net as well as the corresponding online platform
• Do not warn by posting or sharing the dangerous Challenges. This can lead to the challenges being spread further.
• Do not condemn challenges across the board and help interested children and young people find safe challenges.