While some people have been dumping ice water on themselves to get attention on Facebook, others have been setting themselves on fire.
Over the past couple of months, a disturbing and utterly moronic trend has swept across social media. It’s called the “Fire Challenge”, and it involves dousing yourself with some sort of flammable liquid and setting yourself on fire. Participants usually take the challenge in the shower, or at least near some source of water so that they can quickly put out their flaming bodies.
Of course, this doesn’t always work according to plan. The following video is a bit graphic, but here’s what people are doing to themselves:
That incident, which went viral late last month, has now resulted in an arrest. According to Charlotte, North Carolina’s WCOS-TV, 41-year-old Janie Talley has been charged with contributing the the delinquency of a juvenile after she let her son set himself on fire.
Yep, she was there for that. And the kid on fire is her son. she reportedly was “aware” of his intentions and even “facilitated the recording”.
The first known “Fire Challenge” video popped up in 2012, but the stupidly idiotic display of unfathomable human ignorance has seen a resurgence in the past few months. Facebook, for its part, has put extra emphasis on removing the videos as they spread on the network, but kids continue to accept the “dare” and post the proof online.
The kid in the video is ok. He sustained “minor burns” according to police, but did have to undergo surgery.