Dangerous TikTok Challenges

The condom challenge

Another challenge that can lead to asphyxiation, the condom challenge hasn’t been around nearly as long as the choking game. This dangerous TikTok challenge requires a condom, some water, and at least two willing participants.

The fire challenge

Performing the challenge is as simple and foolish as you might assume. Participants douse a portion of their body — usually the chest or hands — with a flammable liquid. Then they light it up and record the effects, which often lead to first- or second-degree burns. Videos of badly burned teenagers are all over the web thanks to this particular viral challenge.

The outlet challenge

One of social media’s newest trends, the outlet challenge is also one of the more dangerous TikTok challenges we’ve seen. This viral sensation can easily result in electrical system damage, fires, and electric shock.

To perform the — extremely inadvisable — outlet challenge, people use a phone charger partially plugged into the wall. Then they touch a penny to the exposed prongs, creating a large spark. The challenge has already caused property damage at a high school in Massachusetts.

Ghost pepper challenge

If you’re a big fan of hot food, the ghost pepper challenge — also called the hot pepper challenge — might be right up your alley. Blessedly less dangerous than many of its fellows, the ghost pepper challenge has nonetheless resulted in some major side effects among its participants.

Participation in this challenge merely requires that you locate and consume a hot pepper that lands high on the Scoville scale and upload your reaction online. Usually, people select between ghost, cayenne, and habanero peppers. The majority of people manage to walk away from this challenge unscathed, thankfully, but ghost peppers are nothing to mess with.

The Choking Challenge

Anything that involves choking a friend — or yourself — into near-unconsciousness is, unsurprisingly, ill-advised. Considering this is the very idea behind the choking challenge, it’s safe to say that anyone and everyone should steer clear of this particular trend.

Teens have been partially strangling themselves for decades, just to feel the brief euphoria that follows that first, desperate gasp of air. The game ebbs and flows in terms of popularity but reached its viral zenith in 2017. Since then, the dangerous challenge has cropped up on various social media platforms, including TikTok. Risks of participating in the choking challenge are pretty much what you’d expect.