London Fire Brigade issues warning over the latest TikTok trend

Forgive me for sounding like a complete millennial here, but that TikTok has a lot to answer for eh? You probably saw the viral photo above of the teenage girl stuck in a baby swing in a playground in Ruislip, west London this week — I'm claustrophobic just thinking about it. The teen had to be rescued by a team of fire fighters, who dismantled the child's swing to set her free. Her reason for being in the swing in the first place? A TikTok trend... Give me strength.

In their quest for #TikTok fame #London teenagers have been forcing themselves into toddlers’ swings and getting stuck - ending in a call out to firefighters to rescue them. Please think twice so you don't divert our crews from more serious incidentshttps://t.co/Lr96LsgMT3 pic.twitter.com/ezRCMg1pLm

— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) May 11, 2021

If my tone here sounds less than sympathetic, it's probably because that's exactly how I feel. We were all kids once and got up to all sorts of messing, but wasting emergency services' time for a TikTok video just won't wash with me. And that's not even touching on the risk of personal injury and the destruction of public property. Yes, I realise I've gone full Mr. Heckles at this point. (A Friends reference — peak millennial.) As a result, they've had to issue a warning asking people not to partake in the trend. Yep, they had to ask people not to insert themselves into things that are clearly too small for them. I think I speak for us all when I say, can you just not?