Beware of The 48-Hour Challenge: DANGEROUS Facebook Game Urges Teens to Go Missing
The latest viral trend on Facebook? Teenagers are playing a game called the 48-Hour Challenge that’s a lot more sinister than it sounds. Hardly a real game, the challenge is in fact quite serious and has parents across the country worried about the safety of their kids.
The 48-Hour Challenge asks teenagers to disappear for a full 48 hours at a time. Teens who successfully escape discovery by their family members, teachers and friends for the entire time win the challenge.
Sound a little PANIC-INDUCING? Yeah, it turns out that’s the whole point. If people post to social media looking for their child, worried sick about whether they’ve been kidnapped, hurt or even killed, then the teen scores MORE POINTS for the challenge.
This isn’t the first time a dangerous viral trend has popped up on Facebook. The popular social media platform seems vulnerable to being used for evil — in the past, users have streamed illegal activities onto Facebook Live, even going so far as to assault people on camera and share it with the public!!! Why doesn’t Facebook have more policies in place to prevent being involved in crimes like this???
The 48-Hour Challenge is inspired by a similar challenge from a few years back, the Game of 72. That version of the game originated in the U.K. in 2015 and it encouraged kids to disappear for up to 72 hours at a time. The game was later determined to have been “false,” in the sense that no teenagers actually completed the game according to local law enforcement. Some news outlets are reporting that the 48-Hour Challenge is a hoax, too.
Because of the 48-Hour Challenge, however, a mother in Northern Ireland LOST TRACK OF HER 14-YEAR-OLD CHILD for 55 hours. The teen was eventually taken into police custody and brought home, but seemed to feel no regret about what happened. It’s NOT a smart idea to cry wolf like this—if something were to actually happen later, how would parents know whether it’s a “game” or real?
Police departments in the U.S. are warning parents to keep an eye on their children’s social media activities. Parents, too, are sharing posts about the game on Facebook so that everyone is on alert.
