Skip to main content

Just say ‘No’ to the social media-driven condom-snorting challenge

Brightly colored condoms
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Stuffing an opened condom up your nose and pulling it out of your mouth may not be the current teen trend it was recently blown up to be. Regardless of its current prevalence, however, the condom-snorting challenge is and was an exceptionally bad idea.

Media coverage resurgence of the faded 2013 trend apparently kicked off from a San Antonio, Texas KMPH Fox news story about a workshop for parents of teenagers. State education specialist Stephen Enriquez gave a presentation about drugs and dangerous trends to which teenagers fall prey.

Recommended Videos

“There are all kinds of drugs and kids are clever, so it’s just really what are our kids doing? So, that’s what we try to share,” Enriquez told KMPH.

The state presentation wasn’t limited to the condom-snorting challenge. Other trends to watch for included “Juuling” and Snapchat sexting. Parents also heard about monitoring apps to keep track of their teenagers’ cell phone usage.

Like many current teen trends, the condom-snorting challenge was all about getting attention in the form of social media “love.” Just as businesses use social media account attention for “social proof” marketing, teenagers often use social sites for approval.

Enriquez told KMPH kids seek ways to impress their peers online. “Because these days our teens are doing everything for likes, views, and subscribers,” Enriquez added. “As graphic as it is, we have to show parents because teens are going online looking for challenges and re-creating them.”

So, while it wasn’t the only trend served up at the San Antonio risky behavior workshop, the dangerous condom trick attracted the most attention. Media reaction to the misbegotten but in fact no-longer-trending condom-snorting challenge came quickly, with some outlets calling it the “latest teen trend.” Other reports pointed out that most YouTube condom-snorting challenge videos date back to 2013.

The risks of condom snorting are real. In an article in Forbes, contributor Bruce Lee wrote, “The condom could easily get stuck in your nose or your throat, blocking your breathing or causing you to choke.” Lee also cited two cases in which women suffered significant medical complications after accidentally swallowing condoms while performing oral sex. One woman developed pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung. A lodged condom fragment in the second woman’s appendix resulted in appendicitis.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more