The Game of 48 – Victoria Olakanye

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It has become very easy to gain attention on social media these days,all you have to do is to follow the trend. In most cases following the trend involves more of teenagers more than any age group which is understandable. The way teenagers reason is always about trying out new and weird things without considering the consequences of their actions.

Few months ago a particular challenge was trending on social media, Facebook to be precise although it was prevalent in the United Kingdom but it is something that should bother one’s mind and it also shows the level of decadence that social media can cause if used wrongly. It was called the ” 48 hours missing challenge”.
The challenge’s goal is to have players go missing for as long as they can without being found. Teens disappear out of the blue leaving no trace of where they went or how to find them. The longer they remain hidden, the more points they earn. If a worried parents posts on Facebook or contacts the police in finding their ”missing child” players rack up even more points.
This challenge did not just start this year,it has been on for some years now.In 2017,Detective Lee Tuttle a member of the missing persons unit of the Charlotte Mecklenburg police department told Fox News that about 2500-3000 persons are reported missing every year and many of them are teens.
It is very disturbing because it is something we take so seriously and for someone to take it as a prank or joke is very alarming. It is not just disturbing but also risky because teens have died attempting these kind of challenge and Facebook likes obsession palaver.
In Summer 2014, a 19 year old boy living in Britanny,France died after trying to complete a game that became popularized all over social media. The game was all about jumping into a body of water and the loser had to buy their challenger alcohol. Sadly for this 19 year old boy,he got drowned. These kids find it funny and see it as pulling pranks,they are unaware of the dangers involved or the fact that it may become reality. Many of them get hurt or even get killed by attempting to complete these challenge.
Some of the several bizzare social media challenge also involves: The Birdbox challenge, Ice bucket challenge, Boiled water challenge, Fire challenge, Tide pod challenge which involved biting a detergent packet and either spitting it out or ingesting the contents. According to CBN News this social media challenge has been initiated specifically to scare parents and cause unnecessary worry and stress with the police force.
The One Spy Blog says; There is a regular presence of immortal explicit material and misuse of of the social media platforms and the cyberspace.The young generation is continuously deviating from the path of righteousness such as children lurking towards crazy in human social media challenges and trends.

As a Christian community we need to be alert and be woke to all the pressures that social media is placing on these young generation. 2 Corinthians 2 vs 11 says:
” lest Satan should take advantage of us ,for we are not ignorant of his devices”.
We must most importantly pray for them and groom them in the way of the Lord.Christian parents must make it a point of duty to monitor their children and even get to know the kind of apps they operate on their phones. They must teach them not to give in to social media pressures. They must counsel them to Channel their energy into something much more productive like a Bible challenge or prayer challenge.
Although we know teenagers will always be teenagers but we can’t give up on them neither can we stop praying for them. We must bear it in mind that the adversary is running to and fro seeking who to devour.He is after these young ones and after their destiny, he has placed a lot of distraction before them and also ready to catch them young either to kill them or have them in his custody. This is why we must continue to pray and counsel these ones and together as a family we must fight these menance of expensive cyber games from entering our territory.

By Victoria Olakanye.