Debate ESSA Y KIT What write a you need to perfect essay You Danger From flaming basketballs to crazy trampoline tricks, kids are attempting dangerous stunts to get famous online. Is YouTube to blame? BY JUSTIN O’NEILl The flaming basketball stunt ended in tragedy. I n 2009, a 15-year-old he imagined. As he took the shot, boy decided to become his clothing burst into flames. He famous. His plan was was rushed to the hospital with to soak a basketball in second- and third-degree burns gasoline, set it on fire, and on his chest and legs. He will have sink a perfect three-pointer. He would film the entire stunt, post it on YouTube, and, he hoped, become an Internet celebrity. But things didn’t go the way 10 Scholastic Scope • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 scars for the rest of his life. Deadly Risks YouTube hosts millions of clips of people, many of them kids and young adults, attempting wild, dangerous, and downright stupid stunts. The videos are often inspired by shows like Fear but according to family therapist Factor, Stunt Junkies, and Wipeout, Clair Mellenthin, laughter is a of your brain that seeks pleasure and they feature pretty much defense mechanism—a way of and reward is well-developed. The any hazardous activity you can coping with disturbing situations. area of your brain that controls imagine: playing with fire, “surfing” “Even little babies laugh when they judgment, the prefrontal cortex, on top of moving cars, soaring off see people fall down,” she says. is not. This, combined with the flimsy homemade ramps on bikes Some of the earliest Greek hormones surging through your During adolescence, the area and skateboards, shooting people comedies featured characters being body and your natural desire point-blank with paintball guns. chased by wild animals, falling off for new experiences, can lead to stage, or smacking into walls. Now, serious risk-taking. In other words, these videos, YouTube encourages in the age of the Internet, anyone the voice in your head that tells young viewers to take deadly risks. with a camera and a YouTube you to do something exciting is Research by the Centers for Disease account can create this a lot louder than the one Control and Prevention shows kind of “entertainment.” that tells you why you that more than 180,000 Americans And YouTube provides die from accidental injuries each access to an audience This doesn’t mean year. That’s one person every three that numbers in the risk-taking kids minutes. More than 14,000 of those millions daily. Some experts say that by hosting killed are kids under the age of 19. Is YouTube to blame? Laughing at Violence shouldn’t. aren’t thinking. Many viewers— Often, they see particularly clearly how teenagers—are dangerous a Daredevils are nothing new. In the 1800s, “human cannonballs” were popular circus attractions. In the 1970s and ’80s, legendary daredevil Evel Knievel earned fame The voice in your head that tells you to do something exciting is a lot louder than the one that tells you why you shouldn’t. Fotolia (video screen); www.istockphoto.com (Basketballs, Feet, kids); SARAH WHITE (Composite VIDEO IMAGE) for his crazy motorcycle stunts. (He broke 433 bones over his inspired by what they see and eager certain activity is. They just do it lifetime.) Today, Johnny Knoxville to try it themselves. “YouTube anyway. “A lot of risk-taking is not has made a name for himself has taken the one-upmanship of impulsive,” says Valerie Reyna, a showcasing ridiculous stunts on playing in the neighborhood to a psychology professor at Cornell MTV and in movies. global level,” says Mellenthin. “The University in New York. Teens are peer pressure is greatly increased, simply more likely than adults to found it entertaining to watch because now we can see what decide that a high-risk activity is others try risky things—and also, others are doing around the world.” worth it for the thrill. The fact is, people have always sometimes, to watch them fail. Audiences love a good wipeout or blowup, as long as it’s not too It’s true that the odds of getting Brain Blame killed leaping from your bedroom There is another reason, beyond window into your pool may be serious. In fact, viewers often shriek peer pressure, that many young small, but there’s a problem with with laughter at stunts gone wrong. people are willing to risk their lives this logic that most kids don’t quite for the sake of a 30-second video: get. No matter how small Their brains are telling them to. the risk, the worst possible Laughter may seem like an odd reaction to seeing people get hurt, www.scholastic.com/scope • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012  11 thing can happen to you. As Reyna says, “it only takes once” to die. Not Worth It Reyna believes that kids can behave sensibly, even while their brains are still developing. Most Defenders of YouTube’s right dangerous, illegal activities that to display stunt videos argue that have an inherent risk of serious it isn’t YouTube’s responsibility to physical harm or death.” Indeed, censor its content. Parents, they say, YouTube staffers comb the site 24 should be the ones to ensure that hours a day, looking for videos that kids are behaving safely. violate their policies. It’s not as if YouTube doesn’t But is this enough? kids know that no matter how care, though. According to its exciting or hilarious something in Community Guidelines, YouTube YouTube should have stricter rules, a video might be, they shouldn’t “draw[s] the line at content here’s a piece of advice: Never light attempt it if it’s clearly dangerous. that’s intended to . . . encourage a basketball on fire. Whether or not you believe • What Do You Think? Should YouTube ban stunt videos? Use evidence from the article to support each side of this debate. Write the information on the lines below. Yes C’Mon, Youtube. This is serious! 1 Kids will inevitably try the NO Stupidity isn’t YOUTUBE’s FAULT. 1 stunts they see on YouTube. 2 2 3 3 iStockphoto.com (Pencil) Examine points on both sides—AS WELL AS your own beliefs and experiences. Decide what you think. State your answer in one sentence below. This can become the thesis statement for an argument essay on this topic. take this Activity further! WRITE AN essay using our Get this Template. activity Online 12 Scholastic Scope • SEPTEMBER 24, 2012