Attention PARENTS: The Latest SOCIAL MEDIA Trend is Sending KIDS to Hospital

Social Media is now part of everybody's life and plays a vital role especially for long distance family in terms of good communication, making transactions,meeting new friends and many more. Internet is also a source of information and entertainment, Many uploaded videos gone viral but not all should be followed because it may harm you .Take this as an example. 

Some are created just for the sake of having fun, like the mannequin challenge, which even got a try from many celebrities including Beyonce, and the New York Giants. 

But, since everyone has the access to the Internet, there are viral trends created from not-so-wise people who will do anything to get “likes”, even if that means putting their life in danger. 

The latest viral challenge is called “The Salt and Ice Challenge.”  Even for those who aren’t familiar with it, he name says it all.  Namely, for this challenge, people sprinkle salt on the skin, usually the forearms and hands.  Then, they press ice cubes on the slated spot which creates a burning sensation.  The challenge is in how long you can withstand the pain.  Then, the salt is rinsed off and the resulting burn shown to the camera. 

Salt lowers the freezing point of ice, causing severe injuries, and some of the kids who tried this challenge got treated for second-degree burns.  The risk is even higher because of how the challenge gets kids to leave the ice on for as long as possible. 

Another dangerous challenge that was famous in 2011-2012 was the Cinnamon Challenge.  The participants would try to swallow a spoonful of powdered cinnamon, causing them to choke.  The challenge resulted in hundreds of calls to poison control centers and thousands of hospital visits.  Cinnamon is caustic to the lung tissue, causing intense damage when inhaled, even in small quantities.  Some teens even suffered collapsed lungs and ended up in the hospital. 

These challenges are most famous among kids and teenagers.  They are becoming more and more dependent on the social media and they will try anything for 5 minutes of fame.  Try to keep up with these types of trends in order to inform your kids about the potential danger.