Social Media Challenges: How Parents Can Spot Risks and Start Conversations
From dangerous stunts to everyday trends, a child psychologist explains how families can approach online safety conversations
Many people remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral fundraising campaign that encouraged participants to dump ice water over their heads. The challenge had a wholesome goal: raise awareness and money for ALS research. Many of today’s viral social media challenges, however, have a very different and sometimes dangerous focus.
Examples of Dangerous Social Media Challenges
Today’s social media challenges—viral trends that encourage users to perform a specific activity, stunt, prank, or dare and then share a video of themselves participating online—can be far riskier, with some encouraging behaviors that pose serious health and safety consequences. Recent examples include the following:
The Benadryl Challenge
Participants took excessive amounts of diphenhydramine (Benadryl) pills to induce hallucinations. Overdoses can cause irregular heart rhythms, seizures, and, in some cases, death. The challenge drew national attention after several teenagers were hospitalized and a 15-year-old girl reportedly died after participating, prompting the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a public warning about the dangerous trend.
The Microwave NeeDoh Challenge
Children microwaved the squishy NeeDoh toy to make it more malleable, causing its gel filling to explode, resulting in severe burns to hands, arms, laps, and faces.
The Blackout Challenge
Participants held their breath or choked themselves in an attempt to experience a brief feeling of euphoria. The Blackout Challenge has been linked to multiple deaths among children and teens worldwide and has prompted lawsuits against TikTok alleging that the platform’s algorithm promoted the videos to young users.
To better understand why these social media challenges spread so quickly—and how to speak with your kids about the risks—we consulted an expert on children’s media use.
Why social media challenges go viral
While the dangers of these trends are obvious to adults, tweens and teens often view risk differently. One reason is that their prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain involved in decision-making, weighing consequences, and impulse control, is still developing.
Social media can also make these trends seem even less risky. When kids see people repeatedly participating in social media challenges, they may assume that the behavior is relatively safe.
Dr. Sarah E. Domoff, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University at Albany and a clinical child psychologist, explains this. “Because of how social media algorithms work, these types of posts are delivered to users because they are attention-grabbing,” she says. “Youth may inaccurately believe that the challenge may not be as harmful as others are warning since it seems that many youth are doing it.”
But why do they participate in the first place? The same reason teens have pushed boundaries for centuries: to fit in.
“Seeing posts that get shared frequently or get a lot of engagement (through likes and comments) communicates to teens that doing something similar (or partaking in the challenge) will be rewarding through peer acceptance or attention,” Dr. Domoff explains.
How to speak with your child about social media challenges
One of the most effective ways to navigate viral social media challenges is through ongoing, nonjudgmental conversations. Rather than waiting until a dangerous trend makes headlines, make discussions about social media a regular part of family life.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends approaching these conversations with curiosity instead of criticism.
- Ask what your child likes to watch online. Be genuinely curious about their favorite videos, creators, and online trends. “Starting with the positives may make them more open to discussing the negatives,” Dr. Domoff says.
- Ask to see their social media feed. Invite your child to share their favorite videos. If you come across dangerous viral challenges, many platforms allow you to select “Not Interested” to reduce these types of posts. You can also review your child’s social media privacy, content, and age-specific safety settings together.
- Ask about their friends or peers. Kids may be more open to talking about what their friends are doing than about their own experiences. Dr. Domoff suggests asking your child whether friends or classmates are talking about or trying these challenges. “Discussing with them about why kids may do that and what they think could happen can open the door for conversation about the dangers with these challenges,” she says.
Tips for ongoing online safety
While no strategy can eliminate every online risk, experts say parents can reduce the likelihood that children will participate in dangerous trends by setting clear expectations, staying engaged with their online lives, and maintaining open communication. Here are a few ways to get started.
- Create a family media plan. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the technology available to kids today. For help in structuring social media use, the AAP encourages families to create a Family Media Plan—a personalized set of household guidelines that outlines when, where, and how devices and social media can be used. The plan can also include screen-free times, expectations for online behavior, privacy settings, and family rules for discussing concerns.
Developing the plan together can help set age-appropriate boundaries while giving children a voice in the process.
- Don’t participate in viral challenges yourself. Model the online behavior you want your child to emulate. Some parents post videos of themselves pranking their kids or participating in viral trends. While these pranks may seem innocent, they can send the message that it’s okay to partake in these challenges—and they may decide to try a more dangerous one on their own.
- Stay calm and validate their feelings. When your child’s safety is at stake, it’s natural to feel alarmed and impassioned while voicing concern. But when kids start to feel defensive, they stop listening. Try to stay calm, listen to their perspective, and acknowledge their feelings while clearly explaining the potential risks. Keeping the conversation open makes it more likely they’ll come to you with questions or concerns in the future.
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By following these tips, you can help keep the door open to ongoing conversations about social media challenges, social media safety, and other online experiences with your kids.