Lifestyle

The Most Dangerous TikTok Challenges

Published

5 years ago

May 5, 2020

TikTok has been a popular video-sharing application. Based on the lines of the app Vines by Snapchat, TikTok has captured millions of global audiences. Especially after Snapchat suspended the services of Vine, TikTok was a hot favorite among the young fans of this app. It has been the second- most downloaded app in the year 2019 only after Whatsapp. The popularity of TikTok among youngsters has been so much that over 40% of TikTok users consist of teenagers and young adults. In such a situation, some dangerous trends have alarmed adults and authorities.

Why the need for dangerous trends?

TikTok is all about getting more views for the videos one uploads. In the quest of getting more people to view and follow their videos, many people start posting very dangerous content that has a potential risk to their lives and can cause personal injury. In many cases, these become popular trends and soon more youngsters are replicating this act for heroism and keeping up with the trend.

This herd mentality or struggle to be a part of the group has affected the young community often. Lives have been lost and serious injuries have been caused while trying to pull off these following TikTok challenges. If you are an adult, you must ensure supervision so that the young ones are not getting themselves into such dangerous acts for the mere purpose of getting more views.

Some harmful TikTok Challenges:

Skullbreaker Challenge: The name of the challenge is enough to understand the painstaking consequences of this challenge. It involves three individuals standing side by side. Once the person in the middle jumps, the other two kick his legs out resulting in an uncontrolled fall. This has resulted in multiple cases of skull injuries besides injuries to other parts of the body. Even deaths have been caused by this challenge being performed by youngsters. All these videos of the Skullbreaker Challenge have been taken off by TikTok.
Throw It in the Air Challenge: What do you think about a challenge the goal of which is to cause a concussion? As dangerous as it sounds, Throw It in the Air Challenge has attracted a lot of serious injuries. To perform this challenge, a group of people stand in a circle and throw an object high in the air. They do not shift until one of them is hit by the falling object. This object can be a small ball and can also be a heavy object having the potential to cause a serious head or neck injury.
The Cha-Cha Slide Challenge: This was a challenge involving driving cars to particular music and resulted in numerous accidents. Finally, TikTok pulled down all the videos of the same and it was regarded as a dangerous TikTok challenge which could potentially be life-threatening.
The Cereal Challenge: For the Cereal Challenge, someone’s mouth is used as a bowl for cereal as he lies down. Cereal and milk are poured into his mouth and consumed with a spoon by another. Besides being gross, the challenge had the potential to choke an individual, and in many cases that happened.
The Pass Out Challenge: The objective of this TikTok Challenge is to somehow manage to pass out through some actions. For instance, one could pass out after swaying their head to and fro multiple times or by holding their breath. As can be understood, this had the risk of serious threats to young lives and was pulled down by TikTok.

Not All TikTok Challenges are Bad:

There are many TikTok Challenges which are great fun and can be a cause for great entertainment. The Renegade Challenge, Yeehaw Challenge, Flip the Switch Challenge, and many such other challenges have no safety concerns and can be safely performed. The Renegade Challenge, for instance, is a dancing challenge where the user has to perform the particular dance steps.

It should be the priority of concerned authorities that instead of dangerous and life-threatening challenges, users are into these fun and harmless challenges. The key thus lies in controlling the trend rather than stopping it altogether.

Conclusion:

These challenges and many others have prompted authorities to ban TikTok in many places temporarily. Despite having a young audience base, TikTok has also been accused of letting vulgar content slip through the scrutiny. The solution is, however, not in stopping TikTok altogether. It is already too big to go down and thus there are supposed to be safety nets to ensure that the young users are kept safe. Dangerous trends can be pulled down before they go viral and a healthy vigilance from the adults can ensure that such unfortunate incidents do not endanger the lives of the youth.

Lifestyle

The Future of Social Dancing: How Latin Dance is Adapting to a New Generation

Published

5 days ago

August 21, 2025

Michelle Langton

Latin dance thrives on connection. The music, the partner, and the crowd all feed one another.

Today, that connection is shaped by a younger, digitally fluent generation, and few understand the shift better than Damian Guzman, founder of Bachata Sensual America (BSA). From prize-winning festivals to late-night socials, Guzman and BSA show how the scene is evolving without losing its roots.

Streaming steps, viral beats

A decade ago, beginners to Latin dance hunted for grainy DVD tutorials; now they unlock entire combinations on their phones. TikTok loops, YouTube shorts, and Instagram reels have compressed learning into snack-sized bursts.

Many of the artists signed on with Bachata Sensual America meet dancers where they scroll, posting slow-motion breakdowns and “follow-along” drills that rack up thousands of views. This approach addresses two key Gen Z demands: instant access and a clear path from screen to floor.

By allowing newcomers to practice at home before facing a packed room, the online channel lowers the fear barrier while seeding a desire for in-person connection.

Festivals as entry points, not finish lines

Digital discovery is only the first act. For many people, their real baptism happens at multi-day events where practice hours blur into sunrise socials.

BSA’s flagship Houston Bachata Sensual Festival returned on May 2^nd, 2025, with a follow-up week slated for Bachata Sensual Festival Chicago, September 4^th-9^th, 2025. Both weekends pair technique labs with mental-wellness talks and DJs specializing in bachata, mirroring the playlists in dancers’ earbuds.

That balance of skills and community is why independent reviewers named BSA one of the “Top Latin Dance Festivals in the United States” for 2025. Yet, for Damian, awards matter less than the message: a festival can feel world-class without pricing out college students. He keeps passes tiered, encourages volunteer shifts that offset costs, and prepares bootcamps for absolute beginners, ensuring the dance floor reflects the same diversity he sees online.

Teaching culture, not just choreography

Bachata’s recent boom owes much to its European reinvention. Damian experienced that surge firsthand while earning one of the first U.S. instructor certifications in the Bachata Sensual style. He returned determined to give American dancers the same blend of precision and musicality he had experienced abroad.

BSA classes devote equal time to connection cues, body mechanics, and the genre’s Dominican roots. That trifecta resonates with younger students who want authenticity, not just a viral dip.

“In class I tell people, ‘Technique is how you respect your partner; musicality is how you respect the song,’” Guzman said during a recent podcast. The line distills his mission: elevate standards while keeping the dance welcoming.

Building inclusive, mindful spaces

Generation Z brings new expectations around consent, identity, and mental health. BSA’s code of conduct spells out everything from appropriate touch to gender-neutral role selection. Security staff mediate conflicts quickly, and workshop leaders open sessions with grounding exercises to calm nerves. These actions might sound small, yet they remove friction that once pushed many newcomers away.

Damian argues that such policies go beyond ethics; they future-proof the scene. Normalizing role fluidity in Latin dance widens its talent pool and invites richer musical interpretations. By acknowledging anxiety and overstimulation — common concerns for digital natives — events can retain dancers who might otherwise retreat after their first crowded social.

Latin dance has never stood still, and its next evolution is already spinning under disco lights from Houston to Helsinki. With a phone in every pocket and a festival on every calendar, the gap between discovery and mastery keeps shrinking.

Damian Guzman and Bachata Sensual America illustrate what happens when tradition listens, adapts, and leads with purpose. The result is a scene ready for whatever beat the next generation drops — and a future where social dancing feels more connected, inclusive, and alive than ever.