TikTok‘s latest trend, the boat jumping challenge, has sparked intense controversy in light of the tragic passing of four people.
As previously reported, the overall premise of the boat jumping challenge, which became widely popular in 2020 and gained its virality again recently, is to showcase individuals landing feet first into the water as they jumped off a moving speedboat.
According to NBC News, four Alabama residents have died within six months since participating in the trend. During an interview with the outlet, the Sea Tow Foundation’s executive director, Gail Kulp, revealed the possible reasons behind the causalities ranging from broken bones to getting run over by another boat. Kulp said,
“You can wind up with broken bones, a broken neck, or you could end up running into the propeller of your own boat or another boat could run over you and that would cause lots of damage if not death. Hitting the water from a moving boat is like hitting concrete from jumping multiple stories stories up.”
As news regarding the boat jumping challenge began gaining traction, TikTok released a statement to NBC News regarding the tragedy — officials revealed that they have placed warnings on many of the videos to discourage others from participating in the trend because it “could result in you or others getting hurt.”
Also, in the statement, TikTok officials clarified that the company doesn’t consider the boat-jumping trend a challenge for unknown reasons. Still, many can assume it’s because it doesn’t meet some of TikTok’s requirements, including safety.
This isn’t the only craze that has caused severe injury. In the skull breaker challenge, a trend where a standing individual has their legs kicked out from under them, a TikTok user claimed they were forced to undergo surgery after participating in it.
Another trend that injured social media users was the Salt and Ice Challenge. Many reported second-degree burns after putting salt and ice on their skin. All in all, just because something sounds fun to participate in, make sure there aren’t any harmful effects.