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‘Pass-out challenge’ raises concerns
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A dangerous game in which players try choking themselves, sometimes to get a high from the lack of oxygen. (Tempo/File)
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ourteen-year-old Ben Wilson Habas is a junior high school student who loves to upload footage of his activities onto his YouTube channel. One day, when looking for new content, he stumbled upon a video from an Indonesian channel about deliberately making someone pass out.
Unable to resist his curiosity, he then attempted to try the “skip challenge” with his friends, making himself pass out by having people press hard on his chest so he would run out of air.
“I thought the challenge was unique, so I tried it,” said Ben, who did it at his school in West Jakarta. “I woke up seconds after I passed out, but it felt like I was gone for a long time.”
He recorded himself fainting and uploaded the video onto his channel on March 5, only to have it taken down by YouTube on Friday after he received a lot of backlash and thumbs-down from viewers. Despite that, the video had gotten more than 3,000 views in five days.
Ben said he did not do any research prior to his attempt. “I only heard about it causing you to lose memories and I wasn’t aware of the other dangers posed by the challenge,” he said. “I was thankful I recovered just fine after getting ‘skipped’ because my friends said they got headaches afterwards.”
After getting reprimanded by his teacher, Ben swore never to attempt to do the challenge again.
The fainting challenge, known by the hashtags #skipchallenge or #passoutchallenge, is gaining popularity among teenagers as many of them record themselves attempting to lose consciousness on purpose and upload the videos onto their social media, raising concerns for parents who broadcast warning messages regarding the challenge.
Allegedly started in the late 1990s, the pass-out challenge became popular when many teenagers recorded themselves doing it and posting the footage on the web. In 2016, an 11-year-old American boy named Da’Vorious Gray from South Carolina died during his attempt to fulfill the challenge.
Another student who preferred to stay anonymous said that he had known of the challenge since four years ago, but chose not to try it. “I think it’s ridiculous that someone would want to experience being knocked out,” he said.
Elizabeth Santosa, the mother of a fifth-grade student, said her daughter was aware of the challenge but did not participate, knowing that it was too risky.
Elizabeth, who is a psychologist, said that the challenge spread among teenagers because of their need to be accepted by their peers. “They may have known from the beginning that the challenge is dangerous, but did it anyway for the sake of following whatever is trending,” she explained.
“Such attempts are very dangerous because it cuts the blood supply to the brain, causing oxygen deprivation,” said Slamet Budiarto, head of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI). ‘‘It can stop the brain from functioning, leading to seizure, stroke, coma and even death,” he said.
Slamet urged teachers to pay more attention to their students so the trend could be stopped. “Teachers must take stern measures against this trend because it’s life threatening,” he said.
Renowned children’s rights activist Seto Mulyadi regrets that such an outrageous trend could spread among students, citing it as a violation of their rights.
“They were not aware of the repercussions despite the fact that it could cost them their lives,” he said. “That can already be categorized as an act of violence.”
Seto also wanted all relevant government institutions to take measures to tackle the trend and put it to rest. “The government should start spreading the information regarding the dangers of the challenge to citizens, especially school children,” he said.(dea)
