Say the words “Ice Bucket Challenge” to just about anyone, and they will know
what you are talking about: a video of a person dumping a bucket of ice water
over their head to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The challenge is getting increasingly popular throughout the world, and also
among students and staff at SCHS.

Recently, SCHS staff member Anthony Butler carried out the challenge in front of
students in the quad during lunch.

“I was nominated by one of my classmates from the class of 1998,” he said.
Skeptical at first, he decided to go through with it.

“The hardest part was the anticipation of not knowing when they were going to
dump the ice over my head, but other than that it was fine,” he said.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a social media trend that aims to spread awareness
of ALS, a disease that impacts a person’s nerve cells and makes it difficult to
control muscle movement. A person with ALS typically cannot speak and ends up
nearly completely paralyzed.

A person put up to the test has to pour a bucket of ice water over their head and
then nominate others to do the same. If a nominee chooses not to dump water
over their head, they have to donate money to the ALS Association. The purpose
is to raise awareness and money.

“I had to do the challenge because my friend nominated me. It’s for a good cause,
I guess, although I don’t know many people who actually donate money,” said
sophomore Katie Knowles.

But apparently, many people are donating. The ALS Association has managed to
raise over $13.3 million since July, according to the New York Times. This is
nearly $12 million more than was raised around this time last year.
However, even though the stunt is helping to raise money, it is stirring
controversy in California and at SCHS due to the state’s ongoing drought.
“It’s a good cause, but we can’t really be wasting water. We have limited
resources and we should be doing everything we can to save them, not waste
them,” said senior Chris Pence.

According to the Washington Post, over five million gallons of water have been
used for the challenge throughout the U.S.; this amounts to over 19,000 homes’
daily water usage. At the same time, some students question the motives of people who take up the
challenge.

“Some people are only doing the challenge to get more attention on social media
websites such as Facebook or Instagram, and that’s completely wrong,” said
senior Adelén Wilhelmsen.

Senior Angelina Vuong concurred.

“If people are just doing the challenge to get away from donating money to a
good cause, then it’s just a waste,” she said.