Mom warns fellow parents about harmful ‘firetruck’ game kids are playing

For all the parents of teens, tweens, and even younger kids out there: It’s never, ever too early to start teaching your kids about consent and boundaries when it comes to their own bodies. Case in point: One mom’s TikTok video is going viral because she’s warning parents about the “firetruck game,” a disturbing new way kids in middle school are violating each other and just, ugh.

“PSA to parents of children in junior high: My 11-year-old daughter just informed me that the boys are playing a game called The Firetruck Game,” TikToker The Funny Nurse says in her video. “I will preface this by saying that I know that kids will be kids and kids will do some stupid sh*t. But we’ve got to do better teaching our boys to keep their hands off of other people and teaching our girls that it’s okay to have boundaries.”

She then describes the “game,” which isn’t actually a game at all. It’s just a way that boys are allegedly bypassing girls’ boundaries at school to touch them without their consent. In the game, a boy puts his hand on a girl’s thigh. His hand is the “fire truck” and he “drives” it up the girl’s leg. The girl can say “stop sign” at any point, but then the boy responds, “Firetrucks don’t stop at stop signs,” and keeps going, sometimes, “all the way to their crotch,” according to The Funny Nurse.

And while that’s the heteronormative version of the game, keep in mind that genders can be switched any which way. The point is that the game ignores consent and boundaries, and that’s not OK.

“So, just be aware if you hear about your kids playing the fire truck game, you have been informed,” The Funny Nurse says in her video.

In the comments, several viewers pointed out that this is just a new iteration of a game that’s been around for generations. You may have heard of The Nervous Game, another name it’s gone by. The bottom line, though? If the game involves touching someone in a way they don’t consent to, it’s assault.

Parents, talk to your kids (regardless of their gender) about consent, boundaries, and games like these. Start early and talk about it often. The way we make sure this doesn’t continue is by teaching new generations that consent is a right for everyone.