By Lizzie Pflumm –
The alarming trend of young kids making stunt videos has come to many schools in the country but it’s not a widespread practice at Penn Manor.
Making disturbing videos that could have easily caused harm to the select few Penn Manor participants is sometimes a popular thing to do when hanging out with friends.
The well-known MTV JackAss Movies, Wildboyz and the never ending videos on YouTube may have some reasoning behind where these teens are getting the ideas to perform acts of harm on themselves.
“I’ve made Jackass style videos, but not to intentionally hurt myself,” said junior Bradon Kruger who rides motocross at a friend’s house or at his own home.
Kruger said he doesn’t make other kinds of stunt videos, just motocross.
“No, (not other types) not really anything other than motocross, just videotaping jumps,” said Kruger.
Double click on the video below to play:
Motocross rider and Penn Manor alumni Dan Holton jumping during motocross practice.
But sometimes the stunts can go terribly wrong.
A 16-year-old girl was killed in 2005 when she and her friends tried to do the same stunt they had seen in “Jackass: The Movie.”
The teens tied a rope around a playground merry-go-round and attached the other end to a pickup truck and pulled it. The girl was thrown 60 feet to her death, according to a news report on the appeal.democrat.com.
So what is it that makes these students do these crazy things?
“I’ve just seen movies and TV shows, that’s where I get my inspiration,” said senior Trevor Troup.
“I get attention from my friends,” said Troup who made a video of himself jumping off a roof onto a trampoline landing in a pool.
“I don’t think I ever made a video,” said Junior Cody Straub who claims that his friends don’t make videos reenacting Jackass Movies when hanging out.”I’ve seen one of the movies but it didn’t make me want to make one”
“It’s just for something fun to do,” said Kruger.
Like the stunt movies, Youtube videos of tricks and accidents sometimes influence teens to make similar videos and even post them for others to see.
Many videos show bloody live enactments or graphic photos of people that have been harmed while performing these stunts.
“Some of my friends do it,” said a junior at Penn Manor who didn’t want his name used. “It can take away stress and help me relax. I haven’t seen any videos (of the type he makes) on Youtube though.”
Sophomore Zach Sinz, has videotaped such acts.
“I jumped my four-wheeler, and just ended up with a few scraps and bruises,” said Sinz who has a track at his house in Conestoga and records his jumps on video.