‘#Deadpose dangerous and insensitive’ says Crisis Team
The dangers posed by the #DeadPose is that it could ignore serious cases and think it is part of the challenge, says trauma counsellors.
THE Durban North/Umhlanga Crisis Team (DNUCT) has slammed the latest social media craze saying it was insensitive and dangerous. #DeadPose, the latest fad, is a challenge where people are snapped while pretending to be dead. Twitter has been flooded with images of people with nooses around their necks, being impaled on a fence, or lying in a fake pool of blood.
Carol van Tonder, a trauma counsellor, said the trend has shocked her, and described it as insensitive and offensive.
“Some of the pictures I’ve seen are graphic, I feel it’s disrespectful and insensitive to families who have lost loved ones to suicide. There is no consideration for what impact these kind of pictures have on teenagers. They may see it as a joke but fail to understand the seriousness behind these images. Some people may inadvertently be sharing pictures of actual dead people because you cannot verify if the picture is posed or not.
“The choking pictures are particularly concerning, for those posing with nooses around their neck, a slip or a mistake can lead to asphyxiation and eventually death in a matter of seconds. It’s incredibly difficult to untangle a noose once it tightens around a person’s neck. I think parents need to be aware of this craze as well and monitor their children’s behaviour on social media,¨ she said.
Lindsay Garside, also of DNUCT labelled the challenge despicable.
“Some of the pictures we’ve seen are horrendous. The dangers posed by the #DeadPose is that it could ignore serious cases and think it is part of the challenge. There is a huge risk factor. I urge children not to share or send pictures of this nature to their friends. It is deeply disrespectful and offensive,” she said.
