In the past few weeks, social media pages have been flooded with videos of people dumping ice water on their heads. In 2014, three men living with ALS created the “Ice Bucket Challenge.” Now, 11 years later, Students at the University of South Carolina in the Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club rebranded the challenge, but for a different cause. NBC News reports, “Wade Jefferson, a USC junior who founded the MIND club after losing two friends to suicide, said the campaign aims to normalize conversations around mental health and make them more accessible.” The challenge is for one person to nominate at least two others to record a video of themselves pouring a bucket of ice water on themselves. If someone nominates you, you reciprocate.
Senior Inji Hamdoun, who was nominated three times for the challenge, said, “It’s a little bit performative because a lot of people don’t care about mental health that much. The challenge doesn’t help necessarily, but it’s not hurting anyone, so I have no problem with it.”
Awareness has spread quickly, and “[t]he campaign surpassed $100,000 in donations on Friday” (NBC News). However, there is the potential for the seriousness of spreading suicide awareness to be reduced as people make fun of the challenge. Freshman and challenge participant Vincent Girumescu said, “I’d say that when you’re thinking about something such as suicide awareness, you need to understand that the ice bucket challenge is something that is simply fun and a trend, which devalues the actual concept. On social media, we see meme culture about this, devaluing the actual purpose of the challenge. Overall, spreading awareness about suicide is good, but I think maybe making it more serious would be good.”