The challenges, challenges, challenges… is an activity almost intrinsic to the use of TikTok, the network of short videos that has children and adolescents hooked. One has to record oneself doing something out of the ordinary because attention span is short and consumption is rapid. The search for likes, for those 30 seconds of fame (they are no longer 15 minutes because no one can last that long without swiping) leads some minors to perform nice performances that sometimes get out of hand. The Traumatic Pathology Working Group of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Emergencies (SEUP), one of the societies federated to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), has launched for the first time an alert about the risks of one of these challenges: the ‘Superman Challenge’. This challenge consists of a teenager jumping into the arms of some classmates adopting the flying posture of the well-known superhero. In the most extreme versions, the participant is thrown into the air backwards, tips forward or even has the arms that are going to support him removed so that he falls, multiplying the risk of serious injuries. Countries such as Romania, France and Israel have documented cases of wounds, fractures and even concussions. In Spain, the SEUP Traumatic Pathology working group has collected information on cases treated in pediatric emergencies in hospitals that belong to its network in Andalusia, the Basque Country or Catalonia, although experts warn that the figures may be underestimated, reflecting only the tip of the iceberg of the problem since many times adolescents go to the emergency room and do not tell the truth about how they have been hurt out of fear and/or shame. “These challenges expose them to unnecessary risks and, sometimes, to serious consequences for their health,” emphasizes the president of the SEUP, Dr. Paula Vázquez, president of the SEUP. “We are seeing cuts, bruises, head trauma, wounds… Knowing the biomechanics of the challenge, most potential injuries are traumatic, which, depending on the severity, can leave physical consequences. Not to mention the potential psychological damage that this and other Tik Tok challenges can entail, in which the user seeks validation and if on top of that they have an injury and have to seek medical help, there is a feeling of shame and guilt,” he explains to ABC Dr. Carlos Miguel Angelats, coordinator of the SEUP Traumatic Pathology Working Group. Prevention in these cases is essential. In a digitalized world it is difficult to isolate children and adolescents from screens, but the expert advocates “teaching at home and at school the consequences of these challenges, stimulating critical thinking in young people so that they judge the suitability of the acts they are carrying out. In addition to this, it also recommends having some type of social media monitoring. «Technology has many advantages but excessive use and at inappropriate ages depends on us, as educators and as a society. These types of situations must be discussed with children and young people so that they collaborate with their concerns. Maintain open, non-critical thinking towards them in a safe environment. And that real life takes on more importance than the digital environment,” says Dr. Angelats. The ‘Superman challenge’ is the first challenge that the SEUP Traumatic Pathology Working Group analyzes the data from the hospitals in its network and has disseminated. «There are case reports and it represents a new form of injury and traumatic pathology. This is where we come in as a working group and we probably have to be alert and more attentive to be able to report these cases and inform society,” he points out. It is not an isolated case. In recent years, some viral challenges have posed serious physical and psychological risks, such as the blue whale game (a suicidal game that invited participants to complete 50 tasks in 50 days), the blackout challenge (holding your breath until you can’t more and faint), the milk crate challenge (walking on a pyramid of plastic baskets placed to form a very high and unstable ladder that ascends and descends), the momo challenge (a photograph of a terrifying-looking sculpture encourages minors to self-harm under the threat that, otherwise, “it will come back to hurt them”), or the hot water challenge (throwing or drinking a glass of boiling water). What lies behind What leads to the youngest to participate in these viral challenges? «What this social network sells is that everyone can become famous by being anonymous by making funny little films in which they break the rules. It is so successful with teenagers because it fills a need for approval and relationships. They relate through the challenge and a kind of community is created because others do it. And another fundamental key to Tik Tok is that it can help you know whether you like it or not with less risk than in personal relationships,” explains Raquel Huéscar, psychologist, member of the Official College of Psychologists of Madrid. The most pernicious effect of this type of challenge, in the expert’s opinion, is that it “charges the critical spirit” of the adolescent. To encourage this “critical spirit,” the psychologist assures that there must be “accompaniment in the digital world with words at all ages” from parents. Talk about what you find.” »We must explain to them what the digital fingerprint is, that those images remain. Talk to them about security and privacy, offer them alternatives so that the use is balanced, with a limited time, always taking into account not losing the essential thing of the human being, which is seeing each other face to face, looking into each other’s eyes and being with friends in person. , lists. In his opinion, the best preparation for digital is “a good in-person relationship. The best prevention is to have family meals without screens because it is in those moments where, sooner or later, they tell their things,” says the psychologist. When tiktokers are the parentsAlthough the topic of viral challenges seems limited to adolescents who have not yet developed the prefrontal cortex, some adult parents also participate in others, in which babies or very young children who cannot give their opinion and are involved. which, although they seem funny and bland, are very questionable. For example, the ‘cheese challenge’, in which to stop a baby from crying, they record and broadcast how they throw a slice of cheese at his head; another in which they hit a stuffed animal that does not want to eat in front of the child to make it eat; the ‘Egg Crack Challenge’, in which they break an egg on children’s foreheads to see their reaction; or the ‘flip kid challenge’ (flipping between the two parents to a very young child without him expecting it). Regarding the latter, nurse Jorge Ángel Heras, better known as @enfermerojorgeangel on social networks, spoke in a video on Tik Tok in which he asked parents to please not participate in this challenge: «Don’t do this. In children, it can cause shaken or shaken child syndrome, which is a set of signs and symptoms such as seizures, irritability, and drowsiness. In the end, the structures of the little ones are not fully mature and the brain can begin to collide against the skull, causing permanent neurological damage, even death. It’s a shame that videos like the previous one go viral, so you have to be careful.” “We’re not talking about parents not having fun times, but this entails unregulated and sometimes unshared overexposure, because we’re talking about minors who do not even know how to speak in some cases, this can lead to a feeling of helplessness for the minor when they grow up and realize that they have been exposed by the people who should be there to care for them and serve as an example and model. They may feel mistrust, fear, low self-esteem and in the long term they may feel unprotected and be exposed to non-negligible psychological consequences,” warns Dr. Angelats. In his opinion, as parents, before doing any seemingly fun challenge with our children, we should ask ourselves 3 questions: first, is it physically and psychologically safe? If you think it is not going to be minimally safe, you don’t have to do it. Second: am I doing it because it is a recreational activity? But if the consequence is not going to be positive, why am I going to do it if I am going to cause fear or humiliation in my child? And lastly, am I disrespecting this human being in my care? «If any of these answers are affirmative, it should be rejected. And to that, adding that it is going to be uploaded to a social network where many people and strangers can see it and comment on it and generating this overexposure can lead to certain psychological damage, in self-esteem, anxiety, fear and distrust towards parents,” concludes the doctor. . The psychologist Raquel Huéscar is of the same opinion: «If the adult wants to do a challenge, he or she should do it. The participation of minor children in these things seems irresponsible to me. Why does a parent decide to record and share it? And what place does he give to his son. Children are not objects that come to satisfy us, they are subjects in their own right. The right to privacy of minors is important and that parents preserve it. Showing them in a ridiculous way or shaming them and posting them on a social network that many people will see is not protecting their rights.”
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