Why Parents Are Being Warned About A Scary New TikTok Challenge
Parents may have sent their kids off to school today with a heavy heart in light of a new and dangerous TikTok challenge. As Today reports, a threat of violence in schools was trending on the creation platform, calling Friday, December 17, 2021 "National Shoot Up Your School Day" (via People). This upsetting challenge is just the latest seemingly inane provocation to emerge from TikTok, with another recent dare encouraging kids to kick doors of homes. But as the San Francisco Chronicle reports, officials are warning kids this challenge may turn deadly, as some people are mistaking the loud bangs for being a home invasion.
As for today's threat, some students stayed home out of fear for their safety, while many school districts addressed the problem by taking more precautions (via WPVI).
Meanwhile, it's very important to note that while the challenge was going viral, it contains no credible threat. As for TikTok, the platform issued a statement via Twitter, saying, "We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we're working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok."
Families express fears around the TikTok challenge
At time of writing, no actual violence in schools had been reported. But students and parents alike were taking to Twitter to share their fears about the upsetting trend, with one person tweeting, "So, can we talk about these kids with the national shoot up your school day? what is going on? This just keeps getting worse."
"Sometimes I think I've heard a lot of things, and then there's times like today when the superintendent leaves a voicemail saying 'We heard about the TikTok video challenging kids to participate in 'National Shoot Up Your School Day,'" tweeted someone else.
"What terrible world do we live in where someone would make today National Shoot Up Your School Day? Kids are dealing with enough anxiety. They don't need threats like this, credible or not. Do better America," another frustrated Twitter user said.
Many other Twitter users expressed trepidation about going to school, but it's important to report that countless tweets shared emails from schools making parents aware of the concerning trend, spreading awareness and hopefully keeping any incidents from taking place.