If you haven't heard about the "Bleach Challenge", a word of advice: don't try it. As its name suggests, the American-bred social media trend consists of drinking bleach, and it has already claimed a victim in Belgium.
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A 17-year-old boy from Leeuw-Saint-Pierre, Belgium, suffered the consequences of partaking in the Bleach Challenge. In this new "game," which is very popular on American social networks, players are asked to swallow a certain amount of bleach for money!
What the young teenager apparently didn't know was that the majority of American YouTubers who did it actually replaced the bleach with water. Doctors said they found large amounts of bleach in the boy's esophagus, which had started to burn.
Although doctors believe it could have been much more serious, they still want to remind everyone to go to the hospital immediately if they accidentally swallow any amount of the highly toxic liquid.
Of course, this isn't the first challenge we've seen that involves health risks. Have you ever heard of the "A4 Waist Challenge" or the "Thigh Gap Challenge," which both promote extreme thinness?
What's the actual point of the challenge? The goal is to be able to circle your whole thigh with your hands, as in both of your thumbs and indexes have to touch. Young women who are able to achieve this physical "feat" proudly post their photos online. This murky challenge indirectly caused many a fragile Internet user to sink into the devastating spiral of eating disorders. What can be done to stop these challenges' terrifying snowball effect?
Fortunately, there are also many "softer," fun challenges on the Internet. For example, during quarantine, many creative Internet users participated in the “pillow challenge,” which consists of using a belt to wear a pillow like a dress. Much less risky than some of the challenges that pop up all over social media, the "pillow challenge" gave Internet users a good laugh without putting anyone in danger.
