Teen Boy's Fatal Fall At Florida Theme Park Becomes An Insensitive TikTok 'Trend'
People really need to know when to stop
The death of 14-year-old, Tyre Sampson who fell from a ride at the ICON Park in Orlando, Florida has turned into a cruel TikTok "trend" that is being criticized online.
Sampson was taking the “Free Fall” ride at the theme park and tragically fell to his death in an incident that is still under investigation.
“Free Fall” is a ride where the riders are slowly taken to the top of a tower and dropped down with speed, eventually slowing down when it reaches the ground.
Sampson's death was caught on video and shared across social media. It was heavily criticized for being shared around as watching someone’s death on a screen seemed insensitive. There were also many attempts to remove it as it was a sensitive matter.
Now once again, social media has taken on another trend about the tragic accident of the teen boy.
Tyre Sampson's fatal fall has turned into an insensitive TikTok ‘Trend’.
Many TikTok users have been posting videos of themselves going on a similar ride at a theme park while referencing the incident.
The video starts with a view of the ride along with the caption “Aren’t you gonna stop going on rides after what happened to that boy?”.
A second caption then appears, “I’m livin’ for the thrill of it.” The second caption is added to match the song playing in the video, "Formula" by Labrinth which is featured on the show, "Euphoria."
While the trend is becoming popular on social media, it is also receiving much criticism with people calling it insensitive.
A TikTok user wrote in a video, “A little boy died because of someone’s gross negligence and y’all making a trend out of it.”
Another TikTok user shared a video with a caption, “This 'trend' is literally so disgusting I could vomit…You didn’t even have the decency to say his name. He’s just “that boy” to you.”
Many TikTok users are defending themselves for participating in the trend.
As many internet users are criticizing TikTok users for posting these videos, some TikTokers have deleted their videos. However, some feel that they haven’t done anything wrong.
One TikToker commented on their video, “I’m not taking the video down for the cheek of you all, some of the things [you're] all telling me are vile, maybe sort yourselves out.”
There are also many people going along with the trend by commenting on others' videos. One user commented, “I wouldn’t stop going on rides either. People die in car accidents [every day] and we don’t stop driving. It's tragic but accidents happen.”
While it is becoming an increasingly popular trend due to the fatal fall of Sampson, similar videos have been circulating for some time.
The trend started before the death of the teen boy with people posting about doing something reckless.
There was a trend on TikTok that started before Sampson died. People would record themselves doing some kind of reckless activity like sneaking out of the house, trespassing, vaping, etc.
The video played the same song, 'Formula' with a similar caption, “Aren't you scared you'll get caught?". The video is then followed by the same caption, “I'm livin’ for the thrill of it.”
However, after Sampson died, the trend turned to people posting videos of going on similar rides at theme parks.
Sanika Nalgirkar, M.F.A. is a writer who covers entertainment & news, lifestyle, and pop culture topics.