Are your Kid's at Risk again from Facebook's 48 Hour Challenge game ?
It is stated
that Kids as young as 14 are taking part in the 48-Hour Challenge during which
they vanish without a word to families, often in pairs or small groups. It is a
copycat of the 'Game of 72' which swept parts of Western Europe four years ago.
That craze saw
children dare each other to vanish without trace for up to three days and took
off quickly in France. However, the 48-Hour Challenge has a distinct twist.
Every mention the missing teen gets on social media increases their score. This
means frantic parents asking Facebook followers for help only add to the
“game”.
One Co Derry mum whose child disappeared recently said: “This is a competition and it’s sick. The anxiety it left our family in is unspeakable.“ My child and others left Co Down and Co Antrim and were found 55 hours later in Ballymena.
“I was terrified they were dead or would be raped, trafficked or killed. But these kids just think it’s funny. There was not even a moment of remorse when my child was taken into police custody and when the police brought my child home, I could see posts of selfies from the police car.
“I’ve been told my child and friends are in the lead in this competition because they managed to vanish for 55 hours before they were discovered.
“It was just terrifying and my child, who is 14, doesn’t seem to get it. They need a wakeup call but I’m worried what that would be.”
When police visited the teenager’s school pupils assured officers it was just a Facebook challenge and would be over within 48 hours. But the youngsters ignored the 48-hour goal and kept the game going.
The mum said: “We got lucky this time. Another teenager may not be so lucky and I dread to think of the consequences that could bring about.”
But as it is reported in an
article on FOX 11 stated the whole case as “A Facebook game encouraging kids
to disappear that was widely reported by media in the UK appears to be false.
Dubbed the '48-hour challenge,'
the supposed prank encouraged kids to hide from their parents and loved ones
for as long as possible. Every mention the 'missing' person received on a
social media platform increased their score in the alleged game.
According to the website Snopes Multiple media
outlets reported on the "48-Hour Challenge" which is quite similar to
the "Game of 72," but it once again appears to not be an actual trend
people are doing.
And it all started with one UK website quoting an unnamed
parent who mentioned one instance of the game- but no other media has any other
examples of the game actually being played by kids: "References to the
challenge were made primarily by social media users and news sites, and we were
again unable to find any examples of teen participation on the platforms via
which they purportedly “dared” each other to disappear."
Sources BelfastLive, Fox 11, Snopes
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