Planking has become a somewhat controversial craze, but it shouldn't be seen as one.
It involves you lying face down with your legs together, arms straight by your side and toes pointed. It sounds simple and innocent enough, right? Wrong. The craze faced a lot of controversy recently as people tookplanking to a whole new level - a dangerous one.
A Brisbane man died after falling seven storeys while planking on a narrow balcony railing, a New South Wales man was in a coma after the car he was planking on top of stopped suddenly, sending him flying on to the road and in New Zealand students have been taking planking too far including a Tauranga Boys' College student photographed lying on a railway track.
It has also faced some controversy in Rotorua as a mum has raised her concerns about a planking competition run by Rotorua Intermediate, which the principal says is about promoting safe planking.
Good on Rotorua Intermediate for injecting an extra bit of fun into pupils' schooling.
As long as the kids know unsafe planking is not on and won't win them any prizes there shouldn't be any issue.
The Facebook generation is embracing it - there are even numerous planking Facebook pages set up to promote safe planking and even a Planking Rotorua page for those Rotorua people to show off their skills.
Personally, I think planking can be hilarious. There is no need to plank dangerously, simply put dangerous planks aren't funny they're just stupid. But when they're done in public places such as night club dancefloors or doing them randomly in serious surroundings or when people least expect it, that is funny!
If you're going to give planking a go, make sure you do it safely. Remember, dangerous planking is not amusing at all.
