The Egg Crack Challenge Does Deserve Shaming—Sorry Not Sorry
There's a new social media trend, and it's not funny.
Fact checked by Sarah Scott
Social media has a bad rap, and it’s mostly deserved. Sometimes, there’s a good egg, like moms committed to raising their sons to be good humans. Others? Not so much.
A new trend circulating on TikTok is the latter. It involves cracking an egg on a child’s head.
Wait, what?
Yes, seriously. Videos with this type of content come with a warning label from TikTok that “participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.” Yet, they’re still posted on good old TikTok.
I won’t link to the content, though it’s, unfortunately, a cinch to find. Who, what, when, where, why, and most importantly, how did we get here?
Here’s what to know about the egg-cracking challenge.
What is the TikTok Egg Crack Challenge?
It’s honestly heartbreaking to watch at times. The videos, tagged with #eggcrackchallenge currently have 65 million views and show parents setting up a camera and recording themselves cracking an egg on an unsuspecting child’s head. Some of the children are so small that they are still in high chairs. Many of them cry, which isn’t funny, and some laugh—but still? Why experiment to see which is your child?
Sarah, the woman behind the parenting account @mom.uncharted, has been inundated with questions about the trend and posted a video with her thoughts. She also notes that kids had two primary reactions: Ones of confusion, half-laughing, and mostly indifference and full-on tears. But that’s not her big takeaway. Here’s what is.
“When I see these videos, I think like, ‘Are we that bored as parents and desperate for content?’” Sarah asks.
Sarah references the dopamine hit people get when they rack up likes and views on social media and asks if this is why, “In 2023, cracking eggs on our children’s heads in hopes that they have an entertaining reaction that we can post online to entertain strangers…what are we doing? Why are we doing this?”
Why Are We Doing This?
It’s really not clear. Sarah might be onto something about the dopamine hit or just general parental boredom. Some may think it’s funny—perhaps they know their kid well enough to know the child will be in on the joke, too. I’m just speculating, but there’s also likely a heaping helping of FOMO involved—other parents are doing it. The videos are trending. People want to get in on the trend.
One mom, who posts under @thymeandtenderness, offers a different take. She cracks an egg on her own head. Her son laughs. She did not crack an egg on his head and ended her video saying, “And that’s how you do the egg-cracking [challenge].”
Fellow TikTokers applauded her approach.
“The only acceptable version of this trend,” writes one commenter.
”I was so scared in the beginning and thought, ‘[Please don’t], and then I just laughed with you,” commented another. “Amazing—good job.”
Just…Don’t
If you want to be utterly mean to your child, go ahead. Crack an egg on their head.
There’s a big push to stop “mom shaming,” and I’m all about it. I think most mommy wars—like breastfeeding vs. formula or working moms vs. stay-at-home moms—are wildly overblown, mostly non-existent, and pushed by companies and people who benefit from these arguments, but that’s another hot take.
However, the "you do you" culture has a dark side, too, and this egg-cracking challenge is on it. I’m just going to go ahead and shame parents here. Making your child cry for your own amusement is not good parenting. Full stop. Then, you want to add strangers and millions of views on the Internet? Come on.
The mother who cracked an egg on her own head? That was sweet, funny, and cute. Moreover, if your child is old enough to consent or asks you to do it, that’s a different conversation.
Other than that, the egg is on your face if you’re partaking without a child’s consent. It’s not funny or cool, no matter what your followers think. It’s mean, embarrassing (for you), and worse, it’s laying a foundation for your child to hurt others for their own entertainment.
That said, judging from most of the comments on the TikTok videos, most people agree, which gives me hope. Most parents really want to do the right thing, even if it means having three TikTok followers. So, hooray for the majority of us.
Related: Study Shows Social Media Can Add Stress to Parenting—Find a Community That Supports You
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