5 Stupid Things High School Kids Do to Entertain Themselves

A list of dumb stunts performed by the youth of America.

When you go to high school in the ‘burbs, it’s difficult to find ways to keep yourself entertained in the long droughts of fun between lacrosse games and Dave Matthews concerts. So, things tend to get a little bit … strange. Which might explain why this little tidbit made local news recently.

The Hatboro-Horsham School District has notified parents about the increasing popularity of the “cinnamon challenge.” That school administrators are just catching on to this prank is shocking. (But in case you’re also behind the times: The challenge entails trying to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon.) I watched a buddy try and, if you’ve seen this girl come up short, you can tell it’s a bad idea. But, this is par for the course when compared to the wacky things teenagers do to keep themselves entertained. Here are five other “challenges” that can be categorized in the overlap of the Venn Diagram of “Disaster” and “Hilarity.”

Note: You don’t want to try these and you definitely don’t want to watch these videos while you’re eating.

The Gallon Challenge
It sounds simple enough. Drink a gallon of milk in 60 seconds. If you heave, you leave. As Joey Chestnut showed on 610 WIP, some are better suited for this event than others.

The Saltine Challenge
Eat six saltine crackers in 60 seconds without drinking. The best case scenario is you eat the crackers and you’re still hungry because you just burned a million calories chewing and only managed to eat six crackers. The worst case scenario is probably that you end up having to record a rap album with your jaw wired shut.

The Salt and Ice Challenge
Put salt on your arm, cover it with an ice cube and compress. It doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but it burns like a bitch. Eventually, the ice cube becomes stuck to your skin. Think: A Christmas Story.

The Warhead Challenge
The quantity for this challenge varies, but the premise is the same. Eat an exorbitant amount of sour candy while everyone around you laughs at the faces you make. It’s kind of in the same neighborhood as that myth that warned you not to eat too many Lemonheads because you’d put a hole in your tongue. That’s not something I ever felt comfortable taking a risk with.

The Bananas and Sprite Challenge
Easy enough: Down two bananas and a liter of Sprite. Apparently, the idea behind this challenge is that if you don’t burp properly, you wind up ralphing.