Social media has paved the way for the future. With its ever-growing presence, social media has helped promote many great initiatives. However, sometimes this specific platform, in the form of absurd trends, can also mislead society toward a saddening outcome. Such an outcome recently is called subway surfing.
Subway surfing is a practice in which young surfers jump onto the roofs of moving subway cars. The videos of youngsters performing these maneuvers have taken social media platforms, especially Tik Tok, by storm.
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Unveiling the reality of subway surfing
After losing his friends in a subway surfing accident, Michael decided to quit the trend. The 19-year-old lost his friend Jevon Fraser after he fell on top of a 7 train while subway surfing. Michael had developed a bond with the 14-year-old after hopping on trains with him and cruising through the fast-paced subway cars. He also lost his other 15-year-old friend to a surfing accident. Ka’Von Wooden’s death exposed the surfer to the reality of these dangerous maneuvers. In an interview with Curbed, the 19-year-old stated, “I told everybody before Jev died; I don’t want to find out who’s next.”
The youngster began subway surfing in 2021 to deal with family issues, and he had also been diagnosed with anxiety, ADHD, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He needed to go out, so he started hanging around with the subway surfers. After experiencing the rush of danger from breaking into abandoned buildings, evading the police, and jumping on trains, these activities began to “bring him joy.”
Nonetheless, after losing his beloved friends, Michael has understood the dangers that come with this absurd trend. After the death of Ka’Von, many of his other friends also stopped subway surfing. However, many subway surfers still climb over the trains and shoot videos for their FYP. A 16-year-old surfer named Losu, while talking about doing such activity, revealed it to the media, saying, “I just feel free doing it.” The 16-year-old has even faced injuries, including snapping his ankle while climbing over subway cars, but the trendsetter alleges to “know what he is doing.“
To stop this trend from growing, the MTA even issued a memo to the train crew. The authorities have asked the crew to be more careful and look out for surfers climbing up on the trains. After facing so many concerns regarding the social media trend, Mayor Adams has also taken a few steps.
Authorities taking a step against the trend
To stop this trend from growing, Mayor Adams has requested that these videos be removed from popular social media platforms. In these situations, subway surfers have started to make their accounts private and showcase their videos exclusively to their followers. The mayor has also posted about interviewing the mother of a young boy named Zackery, who lost his life on February 20 while subway surfing. In the caption, the mayor addressed the public to take extra precautions, saying, “They are stories of young lives that ended far too soon. And we have to protect them.”
Four young people lost their lives to this trend in 2023, never having reached adulthood. Authorities continue to focus on implementing additional actions to counter such movements and prevent their propagation on social media.
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