Warnings mount over 'door kick' TikTok Challenge
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The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
Warning issued as new social media challenge gains traction
A dangerous social media trend, the 'door-kick challenge,' involves individuals aggressively kicking doors, often causing damage, and uploading videos online. Authorities and online safety experts are warning parents that this prank could lead to severe consequences, including serious injury, death, or felony charges for participants. Law enforcement officials, particularly in states with 'Castle doctrine' laws, caution that homeowners might mistake the prank for a home invasion and respond with deadly force. Incidents have been reported across several US states, with examples including significant property damage and two Florida teenagers facing felony burglary charges. Experts highlight that social media platforms incentivise dangerous content for 'clout,' normalising such pranks, and note that similar past trends have resulted in tragic fatalities.
The Independent
3 days ago
- The Independent
‘This trend has the potential to end in absolute tragedy': The new social media challenge that has authorities issuing stark warnings
A new social media trend is sweeping across the country - and officials are fearful it will end in tragedy. The 'door-kick challenge' takes the 'ding-dong-ditch' prank —ringing people's doorbells and running away before they answer—to new extremes. Pranksters choose a door at random in the middle of the night and kick it aggressively, sometimes until it comes off the hinges, and upload a video of it online. 'That's a good way to end up dead,' Florida's Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood bluntly put it. 'Especially in Florida. You've got to think you're about to become a victim of a home invasion robbery and, under the Castle doctrine, you're gonna shoot first and ask questions later.' Online safety advocacy groups also warn that kids could lose their lives over the social media trend or end up in jail. 'This trend has the potential to end in absolute tragedy,' Titania Jordan, chief parenting officer at Bark Technologies, a parental control app, told The Independent. 'We're not just talking about property damage — kids are putting themselves at serious risk. If homeowners are armed or on high alert, it's not hard to imagine how a prank like this could escalate into something irreversible.' 'What's at stake is more than just a viral moment gone wrong,' Jordan adds. 'It's a child's life, a family's future, and the potential for criminal charges that could follow them for years.' Authorities are warning parents about the dangerous 'door kick challenge' as recent incidents have cropped up in California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Texas and Michigan, to name a few. Marc Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety, said that social media has 'conditioned' American teens to re-enact dangerous challenges and pranks. 'Social media incentivizes users, especially teens, to post content that will generate likes, shares, and views, or 'clout' as some may call it,' Berkman told The Independent. 'Unfortunately, what generates that social media attention is often salacious content: violent, explicit or otherwise extreme. Our teens, spending upwards of five hours a day viewing this content, quickly become desensitized to it, and violence, cruel pranks, and challenges become normalized.' Police in Louisville, Kentucky, said that the prank was 'stupid and dangerous' following an incident in the city over the weekend. A woman caught masked teens kicking down her door at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Wave reports. 'Anyone participating in this type of behavior is certainly risking their own life,' said Louisville Metro Police Department spokesperson John Bradley. 'A resident could easily assume resorting to deadly force against the person is the next appropriate course of action to protect themselves from what they believe may be an intruder. This type of behavior is stupid and dangerous.' In Las Vegas earlier this month, homeowner Tyler Reggie and his pregnant girlfriend were asleep when pranksters kicked the door in at 3 a.m. on July 8. Reggie told FOX5 that he 'assumed the worst' when the banging started, but saw it was teenagers after reviewing his doorbell camera footage. They caused $5,000 worth of damage to his property, he said. In Florida, two teenagers are facing a charge of felony burglary after taking part in the challenge in the city of DeBary, Volusia County. The teens kicked a homeowner's door in so aggressively that it broke open. 'The so-called 'door kicking challenge' is a surefire way to get locked up with a felony… or even worse, shot and killed by a homeowner,' Sheriff Chitwood said in a social media post on July 7. The teens told deputies they were 'just being stupid.' One of them, a 13-year-old girl, was found hiding in her attic after deputies searched for her inside the house. 'And, let me tell you, mom was furious with her daughter after deputies told her what she had been up to,' Chitwood said. 'Parents, use this as a reminder to TALK with your kids that this challenge is not harmless and is the dumbest way to end up with a felony charge or dead.' Similar social media trends have met a tragic end in recent years. Teenage lacrosse star Michael Bosworth Jr was allegedly shot dead by a homeowner in May during an alleged break-in, but his friend told police it was a TikTok 'ding-dong-ditch' prank gone wrong. Tyler Chase Butler, 27, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the 18-year-old's death, who was fatally shot in the torso in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Butler is being held in Rappahannock Regional Jail until a preliminary hearing in September. His family said he 'acted out of a genuine fear for his safety and the safety of his mother.' In another devastating case in Riverside County, California, Anurag Chandra killed three teenage boys after they played a doorbell prank on him in 2020. The group of six teenagers pranked Chandra before running back to their vehicle. Chandra then got in his car and intentionally rammed the teenagers' vehicle off the road, killing three of them, authorities said. Parenting expert Jordan noted that similar pranks have been around for decades, but social media has elevated them. 'Pranks like ding dong ditch have always existed, but social media has given them a megaphone,' Jordan said. 'What used to be a local stunt can now go viral in seconds. Even if kids aren't sharing their own videos, just seeing others do it on repeat can make it feel normalized or even encouraged.' Kids may take part in the challenges due to peer pressure, the simple thrill of doing something they shouldn't, or more likely, for social validation, Jordan said. 'Even if they're not filming themselves in the act, just being part of a trend gives them a sense of belonging,' Jordan explained. ' It's easy to forget how impulsive kids can be when they're trying to impress their peers or prove they're not afraid to push boundaries.' Jordan recommends parents have regular conversations with their kids, not just about what they're posting but what they're watching online. 'Ask what trends are showing up in their feeds and how they feel about them,' she said. 'This kind of open dialogue is your best defense,' Jordan added. 'At the same time, it can be helpful to use tech tools that give parents a window into their child's digital world.'
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Daily Record
Mum left toddler home alone to die while she went on holiday
Kristel Candelario's baby Jailyn tragically died in her playpen after screaming for days. A mum who was jailed for life after leaving her baby home alone while she went on holiday has spoken out from her prison cell. Kristel Candelario left 16-month-old Jailyn by herself at her home in Cleveland, Ohio, for 10 days in June 2023. She was left in her playpen with only a few bottles of milk. When she returned from her trip to Michigan and Puerto Rico, she found the tot unresponsive and called emergency services. Jailyn was "extremely dehydrated" and covered in faeces and urine inside the dirty playpen. She was tragically pronounced dead after police attended, with investigators branding the case as the most harrowing they had dealt with during their careers, the Mirror reports. Candelario admitted she had "committed a diabolical act" and ultimately pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated murder and another of child endangerment. She was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of release. She has since told her side of the story, revealing she had suffered from mental health issues in the months leading up to her daughter's death. Speaking from the Cleveland prison where she is serving her sentence, she told NBC News she had been admitted to hospital in January and February 2023 due to her mental health. She told the outlet: "For that reason, I was in the hospital without being able to walk for exactly almost two weeks. And in the month of March, I mean, my [now] ex-boyfriend and I wanted to take a vacation." She claimed to have told him she would leave Jailyn being looked after by her mother. She added that her mental state was behind her sudden decision to travel: "Actually, I left for the trip as a result of an impulse that I had, that I took, grabbed my four things, and ran out of the house like when someone is being chased. 'It's not that at that moment I thought that, 'Ah, I was going to Puerto Rico ... I was going to be super comfortable.' No, I never thought that. I simply wanted to get away from a life of stress, depression, and anxiety. I didn't want to continue living, because I had had a lot of problems in my life.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. When her then-boyfriend asked about her daughter, she told him she was fine, recalling: "When he mentioned [the girl] to me, it was like when someone reminds you of someone who's not with you at that moment." She considered asking a neighbour to check on her but never did, which she now sees as a "mistake". Her parents believed she was still at home with her, while they took their own trip with her older daughter, aged seven at the time. Recalling the moment she found Jailyn unresponsive, Candelario said: 'That's when my world fell apart. Not because maybe I was thinking about going to prison. That's the least important thing, because one is an adult and one can accept one's mistakes. [I was in] despair. I felt she could be saved; things didn't have to happen that way because my daughter was doing well, I always took care of her.' CNN reported during her sentencing that the court was told how the tot's screams were picked up by a neighbour's doorbell camera. Forensic pathologist Elizabeth Mooney explained: 'The pain and suffering she endured lasted not only hours, not days, but possibly even a week. "This feeling of abandonment for days on end, coupled with the pain of starvation and extreme thirst, is a type of suffering I don't think any of us could ever fully fathom.' Passing sentence, Judge Brendan Sheehan told Candelario: 'The bond between a mother and a child is one of the most purest and most sacred bonds. It's a relationship built on love, trust, and unwavering protection. … You committed the ultimate act of betrayal. 'That little baby persevered, waiting for someone to save her. And you could have done that with a simple phone call. Instead, I see photos of you on a beach while your child was eating her own faeces in an attempt to survive.' He added: 'Just as you didn't let Jailyn out of her confinement until she died, so too you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom. The only difference is that prison will at least feed you.' If you're strugglin g and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@ or visit their site to find your local branch.
