Several weeks ago, we were all shocked by the news about the case of a 12-year-old teenager in Santa Fe who died while submitting to the viral challenge “Blackout Challenge” on the Tik Tok social network. The challenge, also known as the “blackout challenge” or “blackout challenge,” consists of putting a belt or noose around your neck and holding out for as long as possible without breathing.
What characterizes this behavior is that it is filmed and shared with an audience that watches from the other side of the screen. Those who practice the challenge are as if they were permanently “on stage”, with the intention of reaching more followers and adding likesor as a way of constituting a personality that is accepted by their peers and friends, regardless of whether the challenge involves having to endure humiliation and suffering.
We might wonder how the identity of young people is expressed in the age of applications. For some, it will be a way of presenting a desirable image, away from conflicts and difficulties.
For others, it means differentiating from adults or following the pack. However, we are well aware that applications may contain challenges that broaden or limit the expression of the identity that is being established.
One of the questions that young people who are beginning adolescence ask themselves is, precisely, “who am I?”. And social networks condition them the need to demonstrate that they are capable of achieving the challenges that are imposed, despite the risks that these imply, which is part of adolescent omnipotence, a feeling that “nothing bad” can happen to them. .
Characteristic of this stage of life is the lack of awareness of taking dangerous paths and often in almost deadly scenarios, that is, they play with limits and on the brink of situations that can become catastrophic.
What can we adults do? I consider it extremely important that the family and the environment that accompany pubescent and adolescents are aware of and know the digital world of children. This should not be lived from the sanction, but from dialogue and clarification, to be able to anticipate and prevent possible risks that they may face, as a way to build a space of trust, containment and respect.
The mere fact of sharing spaces, discussing links and activities, can enable conversations in which risks are exposed.
* Psychologist, psychologist specializing in vocational guidance and professor of Psychology, Uade.