More than 10 years after the original amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or sometimes more known as the Lou Gehrig’s Disease, ice bucket challenge, a new wave of the trend made its rounds across the nation.
The second wave of the challenge was labeled the #SpeakYourMIND ice bucket challenge, and started with University of South Carolina student Wade Jefferson after losing two friends to suicide. It became a movement in order to promote talks of mental health and destigmatizing talks relating to the negative sides of mental health.
Senior and Miss Palmer Hills Teen Iowa Isabella Brandi explained that through doing her research, she knew of the challenge being for mental health before participating in it.
As an active pageantry contestant , Brandi explained that the topic is “very important to her because [having] experiences with mental illness as well as relations with those who continue to battle with it.”
Furthermore, she explained that through the spread of trends such both waves of the ice bucket challenge not only educate people on the cause they are promoting, but encourage more open conversations on both physical and mental health issues.
Though this is how Brandi and others interpret these trends how they were intended, there is also a sense that the message may be lost when people tag one another and only dump water on their head instead of looking into the intention behind the act.
“[N]ot a lot of people knew or posted what the challenge was for and that’s what made it seem more like a trend than a movement. I’ve also seen a lot of backlash over social media that some of the people who have posted for the movement do not live by these values in their day to day lives which defeats the purpose of the movement,” expressed Brandi.
Despite this, it is impossible to ignore how big the movement became in only a matter of weeks.
“Through pageantry I advocate for people with learning disabilities, 3 in 5 kids with disabilities are more likely to be targets of bullying because of it. Continuing to be involved in movements like the USC ice bucket challenge can help others foster more accepting qualities especially towards those with differences and promote being kinder to others,” ended Brandi.
