IS PLANKING DEVIL WORSHIP?

If you’re active on the social media circuit (facebook, twitter, BB Messenger) you’re probably aware of the new fad called Planking. The game reportedly started in 1997 in England but became popular in 2009 when a group of doctors and nurses in England were fired for playing while on duty, other reports claim it originated in Australia.

Planking is a game where the participant lies face down in unusual locations, keeping the hands along the body and the feet outstretched. When this plank-like position is achieved, a photo is taken and then posted to the Internet. People have been photographed planking in difficult positions and exotic locations.

Planking is also known as the lying down game.

In the past week the fad has reached the US with celebrities like Lil Wayne, Chris Brown tweeting pictures of themselves playing the ridiculously stupid game, and trust it has also caught on in Naija, with celebs like Dr Sid, D’ Prince & Ebuka tweeting planking photos of themselves. To play the game you lie straight down, with your face down & arms at your side in public on a random object. The more unusual the better. You get someone to take your photo, upload to the facebook planking page or a social network site and wait for the comments.

On 13 May 2011, a 20-year-old man from Gladstone in central Queensland was charged for allegedly planking on a police vehicle. Popular planking locations include park benches and other public places. On 15 May 2011, Acton Beale, a 20-year-old man, plunged to his death after reportedly "planking" on a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia. Beale became the first known casualty of the planking fad.

Acton Beale's friends have accused Paul Carran, a New Zealander living in Sydney who claims to have invented planking in 2008, of bearing responsibility for Beale's death by promoting planking.

Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, warned plankers that the "focus has to be on keeping yourself safe first". The Queensland Opposition and the state's police have called for people to stop participating in the fad.

On 29 May 2011, Max Key, son of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, uploaded a photograph to Facebook of himself planking on a lounge suite, his father standing behind him. After the photograph was reproduced on the front page of the New Zealand Herald two days later, the Prime Minister's office initially declined comment, but later that day, confirming that the photograph was indeed genuine, Mr. Key remarked that he doesn't see anything wrong with planking when done safely, and that it was he who had actually introduced Max to planking in the first place, having seen a video of the phenomenon on YouTube.

There has been rumours of deferent definition of planking, sumone once said that “Planking in Latin means worshipping the devil in a parallel position”

Hmmm….trust someone to always bring a devil worshipping angle to something that is meant to be fun.