The “knife challenge” seems to be rooted in an urban legend that has been circulating on the internet for years.
On Tiktok a challenge is spreading in which children and young people are urged to bring sharp weapons to school, it was said in the Wilma messages sent by several schools from the beginning of the week.
Also the police warned about the dangerous “Tiktok challenge”, which calls for a knife to be brought to school on Wednesday, April 24.
The police said that they “found out the authenticity of the subpoena”, but had not received confirmation that the subpoena existed.
So what was this scary-sounding challenge really all about?
Influence it seems that the whole joke has started from an urban legend that has been circulating on the internet for a long time.
According to legend, April 24 is “international rape day”. Of course, this is not true.
The rumor started years ago, and there is no complete certainty of its origin.
In 2021, a group of men allegedly made a video declaring April 24 as “Rape Day,” when sexual harassment of women would be allowed.
The rumor led to the point where many young women are making videos saying they are preparing for “rape day” with a bladed weapon.
At least since then, the legend of April 24th has come up again and again in the social media conversation at this time of year.
Interviewed by AFP news agency media researcher Laura Duclos I call this a “zombie rumour”, which keeps coming back, even though it has already been debunked many times.
Like many things that spread online, the phenomenon is not limited to Finland. On Wednesday, for example Berlin's education senator warned about it.
in Finland The “knife challenge” was told not only by schools, the police and the media, but also by the therapist-Ville, i.e. a member of parliament Ville Merinen (s.d.) On Tiktok.
The comment field of the video has been filled with comments from young people who say that this is the first time they hear about the whole “challenge”.
“I haven't even heard (16 years old)”, “I haven't seen”, “I haven't heard but now I have”, the comments repeat.
Of course, it's possible that there was a video on Tiktok that actually encouraged people to bring a knife to school.
It's worrying, and schools need to have a low threshold to intervene in this kind of thing. The threat of school violence must be taken seriously.
To the same however, at this time it is dishonest to talk about a “challenge spreading on social media”, which takes a disgusting internet rumor to excessive proportions.
The conversation accidentally stirs up an urban legend: If the police also warn about knife holders, the legend of April 24th may be true, one might think.
So let's emphasize again: there is no such thing as a “rape day” and April 24th, or any day for that matter, is not. Carrying a knife at school is also illegal every day of the year.
I encourage parents, on the other hand, to get to know together with the young person what kind of videos he watches on Tiktok. This can be done through the settings of the user's profile in the action center.
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