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  • 2018-01-29 (xsd:date)
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  • No Lackin Challenge (en)
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  • In late January 2018, multiple news outlets and blogs reported that a fad called the No Lackin Challenge had led to the accidental shooting of a 17-year-old boy in Memphis, although early local reports of the incident hadn't referenced a connection to the supposed challenge fad: The No Lackin Challenge fad reportedly involves participants' drawing guns on one another, with the term lackin being a purported Chicago-area colloquialism defined as being caught without a firearm. No Lackin therefore means one is ready for any situation or confrontation. Memphis television station WMC reported that the 17-year-old Memphis youngster had been shot in the head at a cafe while he and a friend were playing with a handgun [that] went off by accident. Another Memphis station, WREG, similarly reported that the gun went off accidentally while kids were playing with it and showing it off: Subsequently, USA Today referenced the No Lackin Challenge in their reporting of the shooting: As the incident became associated with the No Lackin Challenge, interest in the story spread to national and international sources. But increased interest in an activity following news reports about it doesn't doesn't necessarily demonstrate that the activity is a fad gaining in popularity, or that it had previously been popular. A Google search on the term No Lackin Challenge restricted to material published prior to reports of the 25 January 2018 shooting produced sparse results, consisting primarily of misdated links pertaining to the incident in Memphis along with three YouTube videos dated 27 September 2017, 7 October 2017, and 14 December 2017 (although these clips often depicted individuals armed with what were clearly toy weapons). Although two of the three videos had tens of thousands of views, the No Lackin Challenge did not appear to be widespread or popular at that time. If there were indeed a social media trend by that name, very few people apparently searched for it online as the No Lackin Challenge. Google Trends data showed a small spike in searches on that term around the time the September 2017 video was published and then a massive uptick after the Memphis shooting hit the news: It was nearly a full year later that a second instance of injuries (fatal in this case) supposedly resulting from the No Lackin Challenge was reported: In both cases it's difficult to determine whether the teenagers involved were truly engaging in a challenge activity distinct from simply unsafely playing with loaded guns that accidentally discharged. (en)
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