The ‘Skull-Breaker Challenge’ Spreads On TikTok, Here Is What Can Go Wrong

(Forbes) – The descriptor “skull-breaker” usually implies a bad ending. A skull-breaker date. A skull-breaker job interview. A skull-breaker spa visit. These typically are not good things.

So when you hear about a “skull-breaker challenge” spreading on social media platforms like TikTok, your natural reaction may be, “uh oh, this can’t be good.”

And you’d have hit the nail on the head, so to speak.

The “skull-breaker challenge” begins with three people standing alongside each other, seemingly ready to jump into the air all at once. Sounds innocent, right? Sort of like a musical or a pharmaceutical ad. Ah, but the two people on the sides actually have something bad planned ahead for the person in the middle. The side people don’t end up jumping, letting the middle person jump alone. Here is where the “hilarity” ensues. The two side people then try to kick the middle person’s legs out from under him or her.

The result if you are the middle person? Well, unless you are a basketball, you need your legs and feet braced to land safely. Without your legs in the right position, you can lose your balance and ho ho ho, fall awkwardly to the floor or ground.

Guess what might happen if you happen to land on your head? Yeah, your skull, you know that hard candy coating that surrounds your brain, may crack. And hence the nickname “skull-breaker.

What can be “funnier” than doing something that could crack your skull? How about someone filming it to post on social media? Yep, that’s what people have been doing on platforms such as TikTok. Congrats you can not only fracture your skull but also your dignity.

Of course, “skull-breaker” may not be 100% accurate. When you are flying in the air, who knows where and how you may land. This can be the skull-face-neck-shoulder-elbow-arm-back-pelvis-leg-knee-genitalia-which-may-not-really-break-but-instead-tear-either-way-it-isn’t-pretty-or-other-body-part-teaser-or-breaker challenge. That doesn’t quote roll off the tongue (which, by the way, you can also seriously hurt in this challenge). Regardless, the point is that your body is not just a Wonderland, it is like a cabinet of insecure glassware and dishes, more fragile than you may realize. Yes, this challenge can leave you like that lovelytheband song: broken, very broken.

In fact, landing on body parts besides your feet can easily land you in the hospital.

Gee, aren’t potentially life-threatening injuries just hilarious? It only takes an awkward fall on the neck to result in paralysis or possibly death. Head trauma could led to a serious bleed in your brain. Falling on other parts of your body can lead to major damage and uncontrolled bleeding as well. Just because you fell once, twice, or even three times a lady or a gentleman, doesn’t mean that you will necessarily survive your next fall unscathed.

Why oh why would anyone try this brain-challenged challenge? Well, if your friends tricked you into being the middle person, then they should not be your friends anymore. Call me picky, but “not doing something that may crack your skull” is a pretty low bar to set for friendship. Don’t worry about acceptance when people are trying to hurt you. Hang our with the people playing board games instead.

If you are a willing participant as a middle person, knowing that the other two will kick your legs, then what the heck are you doing? Social media fame, acceptance, or whatever short-term benefits you may expect to get from being the center stooge for this challenge ain’t worth risking your health and life. You are not made out of tofu. Don’t underestimate the damage that you can suffer when falling.

If you are one of the two outside people intending to kick the middle person, then you are what is known in technical language as a bleep-head. You are a bully. You are Biff Tannen mixed with Regina George. You are Biff George. A bully is someone who tries to intimidate or harm a person who is vulnerable. Guess what a person jumping in the air because he or she trusts you is? Very vulnerable. This is like the opposite of organizational team-building trust exercises.

Before you even consider doing this to someone, think of the damage that you could do. You could literally kill someone. And killing someone is not a good look on social media.

If you are a parent and worried that your children may participate in some potential skull-breaking activities, this is part of the new reality in front of you. Your kids will be exposed to all kinds of challenges. So it is better to have open conversations with your children. While you want to build up your kids’ confidence, don’t make them think that they are indestructible. “You can do any thing that you want to do “should stop somewhere before “skull-breaking,” way before that.

The only skull-breaking that should be done is by a neurosurgeon. And a neurosurgeon is who you may end up seeing if you participate in the skull-breaker challenge.