First there was #planking, then the ALS #IceBucketChallenge, now the #BostonBlizzardChallenge?
After a winter storm dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the Northeast last Tuesday, officials warned millions of people to stay inside. Thousands of young adults, however, took the warning as a challenge and took part in a dangerous stunt involving participants to strip down and hurdle themselves into piles of snow.
Since the storm, teenagers all over Boston have been uploading videos of themselves diving into the snow wearing nothing but their underwear and including the hashtag #BostonBlizzardChallenge. Some are even combining the stunt with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by dumping ice cold water over their heads while half-naked in the freezing temperatures.
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The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was a social media campaign by the ALS Association to raise awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The challenge called for participants to get drenched with a bucket of ice water, posting the video on social media, and nominating others to do the same to donate to ALS. But unlike the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Boston Blizzard Challenge isn’t raising awareness for anything besides idiotic behavior.
“The #BostonBlizzardChallenge lets see who’s brave enough lol who’s down !?!?” one Twitter user posted.
“Bouta do that #bostonblizzardchallenge stay tuned follow my gram,” wrote another.
Although it may be funny to watch, it’s actually very risky to expose the body to frozen precipitation. Even though participants are only throwing themselves in the snow for a quick dive, frostbite can occur on the extremities in a short period of time.
So next time you are thinking about stripping down to your skivvies and hurdling your body into the snow…don’t!
Reference
- Breslin S. #BostonBlizzardChallenge was probably a bad idea. The Weather Channel website. January 29, 2015. http://www.weather.com/safety/winter/news/snow-diving-boston-juno.
- Earl J. Blizzard of 2015 brings #BostonBlizzardChallenge. CBS News website. January 28, 2015. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blizzard-of-2015-brings-bostonblizzardchallenge.
