VIRAL AND ADOLESCENT CHALLENGES: EXPERT ADVICE TO PREVENT RISK SITUATIONS

Almost 70 percent of children between the ages of ten and 15 have a cell phone, and most teenagers also have social profiles. According to a recent survey, social networks are essential for young people to introduce themselves to others and feel integrated within a group. But experts warn that this need for acceptance could lead them to take on dangerous viral challenges for their safety.

Therefore, National Police and Orange, through their initiative "For a love use of technology", have joined in a campaign of awareness and prevention, which aims to warn adolescents and youth of the risks that may come to pose some viral challenges.

The fashion of viral challenges

In recent years social networks have become the perfect scenario for the dissemination of so-called viral challenges or social challenges, which are actions that are proposed in the digital environment and that are invited to be carried out by users from all over the world.

Anyone can join the challenge with the only condition that such action is filmed and shared under certain hashtag in order to make it viral.

"10 Years Challenge", "Four Generations" or "Ice Bucket Challenge" have been the fun, innocent and supportive viral challenges most played lately, but on other occasions the challenges hide dangers and even death.

Such is the case of "In My Feelings Challenge", which prompts to get out of a moving car and dance; the unfortunately famous "Blue Whale", a sequence of challenges whose culmination is the suicide of its protagonists; the terrifying "Momo", which forces to follow the dangerous directions of WhatsApp received by a strange figure; or the most recent "Bird Box Challenge", which consists of going out into the street blindfolded, emulating the protagonist of the film "Blind".

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Therefore, the Orange telephone company and the National Police have wanted to join in an initiative framed within the project "For a love use of technology", with which they intend alert young people and adolescents of the dangers of imitating this type of behavior.

"The goal we have set is end the damage caused by the viral challenges circulating on the internet and that endanger not only the health, but the life of our children "- indicated Francisco Pardo, director of the National Police.
"We want to invite reflection within families about the importance of have a healthy relationship with technology, and that the so-called "dictatorship of the like" does not lead our children to injure themselves or even put their lives at risk by pleasing their followers "- said Samuel Muñoz, general director of Marketing of Orange Spain.

"For a love use of technology"

The campaign will have an educational character and will have online information content, advice and messages from experts, and two videos with which they intend to impact among the youngest.

The first is a fiction video where an unfortunately very real situation is exposed, which is that of a teenager doing stunts on the ledge of a building while it is recorded with their mobiles by a group of friends.

With this video, experts want parents and children to talk about the feelings caused by the filmed situation, and for young people to rethink this story.

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The second is a realistic and extremely impressive video, which records the reaction of a group of friends who are invited to conduct an experiment on viral challenges. At first, it all starts as a game, but you will soon realize the terrible consequences that one of these challenges can have.

The initiative, “For a Love use of Technology”, was launched in September 2017 by the Orange company to raise awareness among children, youth and adults about the importance of use ICT safely and responsibly, in order to avoid phenomena such as sexting, cyberbullying, solitary confinement, sharenting or early exposure of minors to adult content.

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For its part, the National Police has been informing and educating minors about the risks related to the inappropriate use of ICTs, the Internet and social networks.

Education as a prevention tool

According to experts, trust with our children and communication are the main tools we have parents and guardians to prevent risk situations arising from viral challenges.

And to achieve this, National Police and Orange offer us the following keys:

Monitor the type of contents that they access Our children on the Internet.

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Observe what they publish in their social profiles and if they tend to imitate other people's behavior.
Know the influencers they follow and if they pose challenges or publish photographs or videos of them.
Agree with the minors on rules of responsible, intelligent and respectful use of computers, tablets or smartphones.
Warn them of the risks involved in sharing personal data with other online users.
Work their self-esteem so that they know how to manage the opinion of others.

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In case of detecting that someone proposes a viral challenge that could be dangerous for children and adolescents, must be communicated and reported in the corresponding social network or space, and alert, if necessary, the State Security Forces.

Photos | iStock