TikTok challenge turns unruly
… as pupils dance on cars and taxis
METRO police will be on alert this week after a TikTok dance challenge by some high school pupils turned dangerous.
Several videos have gone viral on social media of pupils participating in a new craze–the TikTok# School bag Challenge. The challenge uses the amapiano song Umlando (which means history in English) by artists TOSS, 9umba and Mdoovar.
Initially, the pupils swopped their school bags for other unconventional items, including cooler boxes, prams, trolleys and shopping bags.
The challenge then turned to pupils dancing on school property during their lunch breaks. In the videos, some of the boys wore women’s clothing.
But since Friday, pupils at some schools have taken the challenge to extreme levels on the streets of Chatsworth, Phoenix, Newlands West, Reservoir Hills, Verulam and Pietermaritzburg. They blocked off roads and clamoured around cars and taxis while being videoed for social media.
One Chatsworth resident, who was caught up in the mayhem for about 20 minutes on Friday, said he felt angry and disappointed.
The man, 42, who declined to be named, was on his way to pick up his daughter at a primary school when a mob of high school pupils surrounded his R700 000 sports car. “While driving towards my daughter’s school I heard
shouting but I could not see what was happening. When I got to the bottom of the road, I saw about 200 high school pupils at the corner of roads 706 and 745 in Montford. They blocked the road and were dancing and shouting.”
He said as he drove cautiously towards them, they moved to the roadside as if to allow him to pass. But when he neared them, they surrounded his car.
“They repeatedly beat their fists against the car. I hooted at them and tried to drive slowly, hoping they would disperse but they did not. Instead, they continued to hit my vehicle’s bonnet, doors, windows and roof. Some even kicked my vehicle. It took about 20 minutes to get away from them.”
The man said he later found out about the challenge. “What is happening is unacceptable. This was not a dance challenge but hooliganism. I have reported the incident to the school and was told they would take action.”
‘Planned’
The principal of a high school in Chatsworth said that on Friday he was inundated with calls from concerned residents. “It looked like the entire affair was planned. Some of the pupils wore caps and sunglasses, while a handful of male pupils wore dresses or skirts.
“They danced on the road, even on taxis and cars, as they made their way to another school for a dance battle. This resulted in traffic congestion, and residents were scared. I had to explain
to them that it was a TikTok challenge.”
The principal said cellphones were prohibited at the school but were allowed during the pandemic in case of emergencies. He said the pupils were told at the school's assembly on Monday to refrain from participating in the potentially dangerous challenge.
Andrew Moodley, the principal of Woodlands Secondary in Pietermaritzburg, said a video of the challenge was recorded at the school during a lunch break on Friday. It was posted on TikTok.
It showed a group of boys dancing before others joined in. The boys, from grades 10 to 12, have been identified and their parents notified. Moodley sent a notice to parents to not allow their children to participate in the challenge.
The principal of Dr AD Lazarus Secondary in Reservoir Hills sent a circular to parents on Monday. This was after pupils from the school were videoed jumping on to a moving vehicle near the Reservoir Hills Mall.
The letter said that despite addressing the pupils in the assembly that day on the matter, they continued with the challenge. The principal said if pupils were caught engaging in the challenge, they would be dealt with as per the school’s code of conduct.
This week, there were also reports of pupils from high schools in Phoenix and Verulam participating in the challenge.
Suspensions
Vee Gani, the chairperson of the KZN
Parents’ Association, said: “These pupils have no concept of the gravity of their behaviour and the consequences. While looking for popularity and acceptance, they are not realising that they and others can be seriously injured or even die.”
Muzi Mahlambi, spokesperson for the KZN Department of Education, said: “It is disturbing and worrying that instead of learning, pupils are doing these videos. I have seen some pupils standing on rooftops of school buildings and holding on to wiper blades of vehicles. This is a danger not only to themselves but to others.”
Mahlambi said several pupils had been suspended for participating in the challenge.
“This is a social activity and we can’t deal with this matter alone. We need help. We appeal to parents to talk to their children. We also appeal to pupils to stop this before we start losing lives.”
A police officer, who declined to be named, said: “On Friday, things started getting out of hand. Following reports of pupils protesting on the roads, my unit was called to a school in Shallcross. While on our way, we were radioed and informed that pupils at another nearby school were stoning and jumping on vehicles. We put on the sirens and proceeded there first.”
He said about 200 pupils were on the road and they scattered when they heard the vehicle’s siren.
“Pupils and parents don’t seem to realise the danger and what the perpetrators
could face. This is malicious damage to property. The offending pupils and their parents as guardians can be charged. Do you really want to risk your school career and have a criminal record for a TikTok challenge?”
Senior Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad, a Durban metro police spokesperson, said: “We have been called out to maintain law and order in various parts of eThekwini, but mainly the Chatsworth and Phoenix areas. We are extremely concerned about this challenge. We are only able to provide police visibility in an attempt to disperse the large groups of minors.
“We do expect more of the challenges to be done in other areas over the next couple of days. Therefore our road safety unit will be engaging with the Department of Education to find a way forward in dealing with this behaviour.”
Colonel Thembeka Mbele, a provincial spokesperson, said the police had become aware of the challenge this week after pupils from different schools in Phoenix became unruly.
“They embarked on rebellious behaviour by illegally gathering in groups, stoning vehicles, disrupting school, and damaging school property … At 12pm they decided to move to Woodview Park, chanting and running around with sticks in the park.”
She said police were called to disperse them.
WITH over one billion users around the world and already about 9.5million – mainly the youth – in South Africa, TikTok is fast becoming the preferred platform for creative expression.
Nobody would deny that the youth need outlets to express their creativity, and TikTok, which allows users to make and share short videos, has proved to be the ideal medium.
Like other social media apps, TikTok is a source of entertainment and creates communities of like-minded people.
Users have spawned several challenges since the service was launched in 2017, many of them harmless and which helped people pass downtime during the long lockdown periods spent at home.
Cooking and baking challenges became popular during this time, with home-baked bread a trending theme.
However, like with all social media, TikTok is open to being abused, too, with many challenges calling on users to place themselves in danger.
The latest of these is the innocuously named #SchoolbagChallenge. Started in January, it simply asked users to carry anything to school other than their usual bags and backpacks, resulting in TikTokers taking cooler boxes, prams and trolleys to schools instead.
Innocent, harmless fun, which few schools would object
Youthful enthusiasm saw the effort quickly morph into a dance challenge, with pupils dancing in schools during breaks.
Still nothing to complain about.
However, one of the downsides to social media is the desire for attention, expressed in clicks, likes, follows, and the like, and competition is created among users for the videos which are viewed and shared most.
This leads to seemingly innocent challenges suddenly taking a turn for the worst.
In the present case, the dance challenge has progressed to the realms of the dangerous and outrageous, all in pursuit of fame through clicks.
TikTokers have been filmed dancing on the roofs of multi-storey school buildings, hanging out of windows while dancing, and gyrating on balustrades.
All fun and games, until someone gets hurt. Or worse. Taking the craze to the road, pupils have leapt and danced on moving vehicles. And some vehicles have simply been surrounded, stoned and otherwise damaged.
This is not creativity being expressed. This is not a childish, school yard prank. This is simply dangerous, delinquent, bizarre behaviour. This is a disaster waiting to happen.
Who would be held responsible if a child is run down while getting on to a vehicle?
Would a school be able to escape culpability if a pupil falls off a roof on its premises?
Youthful enthusiasm is unpredictable, and officials who give permission for even seemingly harmless challenges to be conducted on school premises are taking a huge gamble.
At the risk of coming across as fuddy duddies and old fogeys, we must advise against the practice.
Schools are revered and hallowed places of learning and teaching, not the setting for dance challenges.
Take the TikTok out of school.