It started with a bucket of water but it turned into the usc speak your mind challenge. The point of the usc speak your mind challenge was to raise awareness for men’s mental health. This challenge has recently gone viral on instagram and tiktok. Around schools and jobs this is a fun challenge that people of all ages can do and it is for a good cause too. This challenge has been here in the past about 2019. This challenge went viral and it was for als, This time now that it has come back it is for men’s mental health.

“I didn’t know it was for men’s mental health,” 9th grader Dylan Berger said. “But I did know it was for mental health in general. That’s why I did it.”

Berger was called out by his good friend, Isabel. He didn’t care too much about getting wet because he said it was all for a good cause. “I’m into mental health stuff,” he said. “So I just did it.” Many people think it’s becoming a trend because it’s similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge back in 2014. That was to try to raise money for ALS. Others have been saying that they think it is catching on because of its strong social media presence and the wide variety of people who do it.

“This is kinda the same thing,” a student told me. “It spreads fast, and people are doing it everywhere.” Why do people do this challenge? i asked many people and some said they didn’t do it, the people that didn’t did it had their reasons but the people that did do it all said they had a really fun time doing it.

“I wasn’t gonna do it,” said Berger. “But my friends convinced me otherwise by asking me “Why not?” So I ended up doing it. And I’m glad that I did.”

Some of the people that are doing this challenge think that it is making a difference and it is, it’s raised over 400k so when people do this challenge just for fun they are still making a difference. 

“I think so,” Jazzy Alcantar. “Because of all the hashtags and how many people are viewing it.”

But not everyone is so sure.

When I asked one student if the challenge was making a difference to men’s mental health, they simply said, “No.”

That was it.

Even though some people are just doing it for clout it still is making a difference for men’s mental health.

“Most people probably don’t know what it’s for,” Berger said. “But if even a few people see it and learn, I think that’s good.”

It’s kind of cool that something as easy as dumping water can be making people talk. Although they don’t all know what it’s about in the first place, they find out afterwards.

“I think it’s a good cause,” another student Alcantar. “It’s good that it’s going around.”

But they also said it might get old after a while.

“I think after a certain point, it gets annoying,” Berger added.

A Lot of people are still doing it even if it is taking up the whole internet currently.

This challenge might seem dumb and as if it’s not doing alot for the community but it is making a difference whether people realize it or not.

It’s an effort to get men to talk about mental health which they dont do alot so this challenge helps them open up and talk about it with their peers or other people that are doing the challenge.

While it’s a trend it also may be a step in the right direction for men’s mental health and mental health as a whole.

“I didn’t really want to do it at first because I thought it would be freezing cold,” Alcantar said. “But I did and it wasn’t that bad so I’m glad I did it and it was overall a fun experience.”

That’s kind of the whole point of the challenge to speak your mind it just starts with a bucket of water.