The USC Ice Bucket Challenge has returned to rapidly spread across social media once again. Each and every day for the past week, my instagram has been bombarded with people being drenched in water and nominated others to take part in the same? But what does this all mean? Let’s “drench” ourselves in this new topic (pun intended)
Started in 2014, the USC Ice Bucket Challenge was created by a couple of University of South Carolina students to raise both money and awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). The trend allowed them to raise millions for research dedicated to that issue, and the trend spread extremely fast and worldwide on instagram and other social media platforms.
However recently, a new reason motivated the reinstatement of the challenge – mental health. The topic of mental health has become more and more popular in today’s generation (and even stigmatized to some extent and has majorly affected the teenage population. This motivated the students part of the “MIND” club (Mental Illness Needs Discussion) to launch a campaign called #SpeakYourMIND on instagram just last month. The campaign aims to normalize conversations around mental health and suicide, after the founder of the MIND club lost two of his friends to suicide.
Much like the original Ice Bucket Challenge, #SpeakYourMIND involves participants filming themselves pouring buckets of ice water over their heads, then nominating others to do the same. But this time, the emphasis lies in sharing personal stories or supportive messages around mental health, tagging friends, and/or donating to Active Minds.
The campaign’s momentum has exceeded all expectations. Initially the USC students hoped to gain donations of up to $500, however they watched as the donations quickly soared past the $100,000 mark! The campaign has somehow spread all the way from the campus of USC to high school students in Calgary, which is amazing considering their goal of increasing awareness on the topic.
So now you have an explanation for why you keep seeing people/your friends dump water on their heads, and who knows, if you’re nominated – get ready to do the same!!
Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/ice-bucket-challenge-mental-health-rcna201978
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