World
December 5, 2024 11:30
brasschaat - A TikTok trend called the 'Superman Challenge' is leading to dramatic accidents around the world, including in Belgium, where children end up in hospitals with injuries.
A seemingly harmless TikTok trend, known as the 'Superman Challenge', has resulted in serious accidents. Children worldwide are ending up in hospitals with injuries after playing the game, including in Belgium.
Parents of students from a high school in Brasschaat, just over the Dutch border and a residence to many affluent Dutch nationals, received an email on Tuesday. 'During today's lunch break, a boy from the first year fell heavily,' wrote the school board. 'It was the result of a reckless game, apparently also a TikTok craze: Superman Challenge.'
The challenge involves two rows of young people facing each other with crossed arms and hands clasped together. Another child jumps into the group with fists forward, like a flying Superman. They then catapult them back to where they were standing a few seconds earlier. However, in some cases, they do not catch you but let you fall hard on the ground.
In recent days, numerous cases of injuries have been reported in hospitals worldwide. Local media in Romania and Israel reported around twenty young people being hospitalized in a single day. They suffered severe bruises and fractures. A 12-year-old girl from Israel even suffered a concussion. 'It was terrifying. They threw me very high, I fell, didn't react, and immediately passed out,' she told YnetNews.
The Belgian teenager in Brasschaat also had an unlucky outcome. 'The student will not return to school this month, and therefore will not be able to take exams,' the principal told Het Nieuwsblad.
Doctors warn of life-threatening risks and urge parents and teenagers not to be swayed by social media trends.
Belgian Olympic gymnastics coach Valerie Van Cauwenberghe is also concerned. 'If you know what you're doing, it's not really dangerous. But that's the issue, children don't know that.'
'Gymnasts know how to uplift someone: how much the other person weighs, how fast they move their arms. But if it goes wrong, they can fly in the wrong direction,' said Van Cauwenberghe. 'And then a playground becomes a very harsh runway. But even on a gymnastics mat, you can break both arms if you fly forward. This is not a good idea for those who are unfamiliar with it, not in the gym, and certainly not on the playground. Those who jump must realize that they are placing their fate in the hands of those catching them.'