Every year there are new trends that sweep across the country. What seems to be a trend of social games is that people seem to like the ones where you get to hurt or humiliate your opponent. It also seems like these games can get a little out of hand at the same time.

Playing games that can be a little devious when you’re young can give you some conniving thoughts. A big problem that’s come up is that a few teenage students are being charged with a felony of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. While one of the most recent catchy trends of the year started to become popular in September of 2017. Be careful though. Get caught looking you might get hit in the arm. Ringing any bells yet? If you haven’t figured it out yet, one of the most well known trend games of the year is “The Circle Game.”

There are a few different variations of the game. Knowyourmeme.com says it best when they say “The Circle Game is a game of peripheral vision, trickery and motor skills.” The game is started when the offensive player makes a circle with their thumb and forefinger and places it anywhere below their waist. In order to win you need to get another person to look at your hand. If you happen to get caught looking at someone’s hand then you intern lose and are susceptible to a hit on the bicep/ arm with a closed fist by the offensive player. There’s more to the game that you’ll learn about later in this article in an interview I had with a dedicated player of the game. He’s been playing the game for years now while others are just hearing of it.

Most people have heard of the game and play the game. According to “trends.google.com”, their data shows that the game really started trend last year(2017) in September and is starting to peak at how well known it is throughout the world by December; in addition it’s still rising in popularity as 2018 goes on. Google Trends also has a diagram of all the countries that it’s prevalent. Most prevalent is in Australia, then the United States, Austria, Canada, Singapore. These are only five of the 50 regions.

When I saw the diagram for the first time I was very astonished by how widespread the game has gotten. It is said that the game started in Ohio by the name of Matt Nelson according the article “Searching for the Man Behind ‘The Circle Game’” from www.vice.com. Starting in Ohio, it has now made it to most of the world. Being the most prominent in the Australia, the U.S., and Canada: the game has also made it to parts of South America, Russia, Europe, India, a small part of South Africa, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonisia, even the Philippines, according to Google Trends.

There isn’t exactly enough evidence to completely give all the credit to the man Matt Nelson, who was interviewed by Vice about where he came up with The Circle Game. But it seems that no one really knows where it came from. Knowyourmeme.com’s article “The Circle Game”even says it itself. At the top of the article it states, “This submission is currently being researched & evaluated. You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.” They can’t publish something that’s a lie which would be libel, meaning “a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation.”~Google Dictionary

Finding the right person to ask a few questions about the game was no problem at all. The first person that came to mind is an avid player and promoter of the game. He’s been playing the Circle Game before it was even a thing. I reached out and got a hold of them; asking if he would be willing to talk to me about the game a little. He was more than happy to inform me of his knowledge of the game. His name is Gavin Henderson and he is not someone to take too lightly when it comes to playing the game.

Here’s the Q&A I had with him

• Where did you first encounter the Circle Game?

1. 1. 1. Freshman year first football practice of the season, summer sessions. Coach Gino.

• What were the rules when you first found out about the game?

1. 1. 1. The hand has to be below the waist to count. Second rule is that if you look at it and I catch you looking at it I get to punch you in the arm once. If you somehow get your finger through the hole before I close the hole on your finger or remove it. If you close on the finger, it cancels out and I still get to punch you in the arm. You can’t use objects to get someone to look at it. There can’t be a physical object behind it. You can still pull your hand out of your pocket and get someone like that.

• Have you heard of any other variation of the game?

1. 1. 1. Slaps

• Have you continuously played the Circle Game to this day?

1. 1. 1. The first time I saw it was the sixth grade but coach Gino really introduced it to me and he really got me to compete. Yo quote that! But I also brought it to family gatherings and family photos getting more victims into the game, I put them on. My mom does it now.

• Do you know where the Circle Game originated from?

1. 1. 1. Not a single clue

• What do you find so amusing about the game?

1. 1. 1. Getting to look at all the people get all mad and trolled. I love making people look stupid, because everyone that knows me should expect it yet they still look.

• Why do you think it has stuck around for so long?

1. 1. 1. Because everyone likes the satisfaction and feeling you get when you get someone to look.

• Do you think you’ll carry on the legacy of the Circle Game to new people and even your kids?

1. 1. 1. Oh absolutely bro, I will bring that everywhere I go. I don’t care how many times I have to explain it. I’m not gonna take credit for it but it did make it to barstool. (Barstool Sports is a satirical sports and men’s lifestyle blog founded by Dave Portnoy in Milton, Massachusetts. The site is headquartered in NoMad, New York City)

• Do you think the Circle Game will ever die out or be forgotten?

1. 1. 1. Probably if people don’t become uncultured swine.

• Is there anything else you’d like to say or tell us about the Circle Game?

1. 1. 1. If I beat you…I’ll probably beat you. But if your going to hit them, make sure they feel it. But I personally don’t hit people because I’m not that big of a jerk. I get people enough their stupidity and making them butt hurt is satisfactory enough.

• When you were still in school at Whittier, was this a big thing that went on in your school?

1. 1. Yeah I did it to everyone in school. I did it to students, faculty, administration. I even did it to the security guards. No one was safe. I even got an ISS one time for it.

Even though I got some good answers from him, it didn’t really answer all my questions I had and the creator of the game was still unknown. If Gavin didn’t know who came up with the game then who would? I took my search to the internet to see if anyone else could tell me. For the most part I found what I needed, but I’m still not fully convenience. Like I said earlier I found a piece from vice.com where they interviewed Matt Nelson. He may claim to have started the game but it doesn’t seem right. Considering at the beginning of their interview Matt admits that it’s only partly true. “VICE: Hi Matt. I read online somewhere that you invented the circle game.
Matt Nelson: Haha. Well, you know, that’s kinda true.
VICE: Can you tell me more about it?
Matt Nelson: It’s just some game we used to play in elementary school, and it just caught on. I don’t know how it all took off.” I’m not convinced in the slightest bit but that’s my opinion and that doesn’t matter. The Circle Game is just another folklore. Google dictionary defines it as “the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth.” Anyone could have taken credit for it, Matt Nelson happened to be smart enough to take the credit for the creation of this ingenious game. It was a game that him and his friends whole play while they were still in grade school. They started playing the game because they saw other people playing it. Like I said earlier, when young kids play these physically interactive games they can be prone to different kinds of violent or abusive thoughts and behavior.
Recently three teenage girls are being charged with the felonies: aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. During their lunch period at the Butler Intermediate High School in Butler, Pennsylvania, on December 13, a 14-year-old female student knowingly rubbed pineapple on her own hand. Then gave the 14-year-old female victim a high-five that sent her straight to the ER at Butler Memorial Hospital where she was then treated and released. Two other girls are being charged with criminal conspiracy and other offenses.

These games get way too out of hand with these young kids that just don’t know enough to realize how traumatic and deadly these ¨games¨ they conjure up can be.

When I asked the substitute nurse Nadine Marcheterre if she thought these social games were a problem she replied, “I would say so. If kids are willing to eat Tide pods and knowingly hurt others, I see it as a problem.” Being a substitute nurse she hasn’t seen anything too crazy she says; yet she has heard of some disturbing stories such as the girl being allergic to pineapple, people dying from the Tide pod challenge, the cinnamon challenge but thatś not exactly traumatic unless someone happened to be allergic to cinnamon.

When I met with Triton’s school nurse, Mary Goldsmith, I asked her the same questions. I asked if she’s had any serious problems with any of these games at school and surprisingly enough she said “No. Not that I’ve heard of. I think most of that stuff happens at home. Maybe at parties or when they’re with a group of kids but for the most part I don’t really see that kind of stuff at  school”

These games might not be as prevalent in schools as you’d expect but there are some cases you may hear about, such as the pineapple mishap that even the substitute nurse heard about.

Goldsmith say, “Anything that’s going to put yourself at risk can be a problem. Kids have a lack of the frontal lobe of their brain as they’re still developing at a young age. They’re just kids, they don’t know better. They don’t think about the outcome of the things they do. They just don’t know enough.”

Like I said earlier, kids do things because they think it’s going to be funny or that it will make others respect them more.
Goldsmith wanted to add one thing for the kids or even everyone to hear. “Kids, just think a little bit, think about the consequences. Ask yourself, is this in my best interest?”