Culture

"Condom Snorting Challenge" Is the Latest Ridiculous Teen Craze on YouTube

Teens are finding new ways to shock.

Because eating Tide Pods and butt chugging just weren’t enough to satisfy those thrill-seeking teens, a dangerous trend is re-emerging among high schoolers and sending parents into a frenzy: condom snorting. (Doctors, of course, are issuing this sensible warning.)

Educators in the San Antonio area are now holding informative classes on the latest unnerving trend. The team of specialists is traveling to different school districts to teach parents how to discourage snorting condoms, even if it could result in internet fame. Normally, these educators offer insight on drug and alcohol use among teenagers, but now they must get savvy on habits that don’t involve illegal substances but are potentially just as dangerous. See Also: Nose Doctor Explains What Happens If You Do the ‘Condom Snorting Challenge’

“These days our teens are doing everything for likes, views and subscribers,” Stephen Enriquez, a state education specialist, told local Fox San Antonio. “As graphic as it is, we have to show parents because teens are going online looking for challenges and recreating them.”

The “Condom Snorting Challenge” is as nuanced as it sounds. A person takes an unwrapped condom and inhales it through one nostril. The challenge is complete after that person can remove the condom through their mouth. In 2013, Savannah Strong became one of the first YouTube stars to try it and go viral. Since then, several people have recorded themselves performing the challenge and proceeded to share the videos online.

Thanks to these teenagers’ unyielding desire for internet fame, the Condom Snorting Challenge continues to evolve. The latest condom-to-face challenge now involves filling a condom with water and dropping it on a person’s head. This can often result in the condom enveloping the person’s face, making it so that they are immersed in the water held within the condom. While some teenagers might identify this as YouTube gold, others note the extreme danger that comes with putting an airtight latex seal over the nose and mouth.

The mission, should a teenager choose to accept, is one of immediate and obvious danger. Whether inhaling the condom or wearing it like a space helmet, both condom challenges pose risks of choking, drowning, and possible death. There isn’t enough lube in the world to make snorting latex through a nasal cavity safe or even remotely pleasant.