Parents were today facing a furious backlash over a new TikTok challenge that sees them cracking eggs on their children’s heads.
Footage shows toddlers left confused, in pain or bursting into tears after the ‘egg crack challenge’ – which some have compared to child abuse.
Other critics accused the parents of exploiting their children in order to gain social media followers.
In some cases, the children appear to be older and are seen laughing after the egg is cracked on their head.
Among those to criticise the trend was Sarah Adams, who campaigns against parental ‘oversharing’ online.
She said: I’ve been tagged in a few of these videos and I’ve seen it go two ways.
‘One, the kid gets the egg on the head and they’re kind of confused, thrown off, thinks it’s a little funny.
‘Then they move on. Or, they get the egg cracked on the head and they’re really upset about it and they freak out,’ Sarah explained.
‘But when I see those videos I think, are we that bored as parents and desperate for content?’
Ms Adams continued by questioning the motivations of the parents involved, asking: ‘[Are we] needing to post on the internet so bad because it is so consuming to be a part of our world?
‘And the dopamine hit, and the likes and views, that we now in 2023 are cracking eggs on our children’s heads in hopes that they have an entertaining reaction that we can post publicly online to entertain strangers?’
It comes a week after ‘TikTok yobs’ were seen rampaging around Oxford Street as part of an ‘appalling’ new craze encouraging youngsters to rob shops.
The Met Police were forced to divert officers on London’s biggest shopping street and put a dispersal order in place to combat the threat of law-breaking.
Large numbers of officers then had to flock to retail areas in Southend and Bexleyheath in the following days to prevent copycat attacks.