Potentially dangerous social media trends are getting kids, and potentially homeowners, into trouble this summer while kids are out of school.

Two trends in particular are going viral on social media, including the “UrbanEx,” or “urban exploration,” challenge and the “door-kicking challenge.”

“There’s a new trend every day. … You go to the FYP, the For You Page, you see what’s trending. And then pretty soon, you’ll see content created by children, which is in and of itself problematic. A lot of the children under the age of 13 … are legally not allowed to even be on social media,” Titania Jordan, CMO and chief parent officer at Bark Technologies, a parental control app, told Fox News Digital.

Social media challenges prompt users to create more “content that elicits a reaction,” she explained, “that has viral components, resurfaces and resurfaces again, thanks again to the algorithm.”

Last year, a 23-year-old man named Guillermo Leflore, known as “Urbex Tarzan” on TikTok, was arrested after officials said he trespassed on private property while exploring steam tunnels. It wasn’t his first time attempting a dangerous stunt for social media; he is accused of previously attempting to climb the Milwaukee Art Museum, as FOX 6 Milwaukee first reported.

Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, told Fox News Digital that social media trends resemble what used to be games of truth-or-dare “on steroids.”

“Especially in states that have stand-your-ground laws, very, very worrisome.”

— Ari Lightman

“You’re reaching tens of thousands of people. You’re not daring somebody face-to-face,” Lightman said. “Why are they doing that? Is it just to get likes, and those likes might turn into followers, and those followers might turn into advertisers, and those advertisers might turn into profits for some people? Is it even real, or is it AI generated?”

Defenders of the UrbanEx trend say it exposes historically significant structures that have been left to rot; many social media users have been calling on local city leaders to revive abandoned schools, houses, churches and event spaces.

Another trend called “UrbanEx” has made headlines recently for putting participating social media users behind bars. The “challenge” encourages users to explore abandoned buildings, from old schools to churches to retail and entertainment establishments. (iStock)

“Just the general lack of respect amongst children today, whether it’s for people’s property in the classroom or other people’s feelings, it’s a big problem. They’re lacking empathy and respect because they’re spending too much time in front of a screen and not enough understanding in real-life human emotion,” Jordan said. 

She advised parents to join a Facebook group called “Parenting in a Tech World” where the “latest trends are being shared there from parents whose children are experiencing it in real time.” She also advised parents to talk to their kids candidly and calmly about what they are seeing online, and Google the trends that are appearing on the social media pages. 

“Maybe your kid’s playing Roblox and you don’t think it’s safe. Google dangers of Roblox. Show your child how other children have been harmed by adults they have been lured by on that platform so they realize you’re not just being overprotective,” she said.

“All you can do is have candid calm conversations with them, and not just talking to them or talking at them, but asking them what they’ve seen. What did they think? What do they think the dangers are of hanging around an old building and recording it? Maybe they say they don’t know, and that can encourage a conversation right there.”