Small children are quickly lost on the beach. In Brazil there is a very special tactic to draw attention to it.
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Call for help: If someone claps on the beach, it’s not a good sign
In Brazil, clapping on the beach has nothing to do with celebrations – but with a lost child. A viral Tikok video explains the aid campaign, which is little known in this country.
If you are on the beach in Brazil and start clapping people, it doesn’t have a solemn reason – on the contrary. In many South American countries such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, clapping is a sign that a child has been lost on the beach. Together, attempts are made to unite the child with the parents.
Tikok video inspires people
The aid campaign is unknown to many outside of South America. So also the Tikok user Ester Marie, who recently went on vacation in Brazil and was confronted with it. Her video with the remark “It is a cultural shock when you realize that clapping on the beach is that a child was lost” went viral with 7.5 million clicks.
Among this is the comments: “This is what it looks like when you live in a society that the children do not hate to exist,” says someone. “I liked this sense of community on the beaches of Brazil!” Is another comment. «This is so heartwarming. Everyone helps the family to search for and find their child. I think it’s great, »enthuses another person.
This is how the idea works with clapping
But how can clapping help to draw attention to a lost child? The idea behind it is simple: if a child is found alone on the beach, either lost or crying, usually someone raises it or brings it to a central place.
If you find a lost child on the beach in South America, at best, take it up or raise it up and start clapping.
Image/Westend61Then the person begins to clap and as many people as possible nearby join in to draw more attention. So the sound of the clap spreads out all over the beach until it reaches the parents and they can locate the child. Only when the child is back with his parents or the legal guardian does clapping stop.
Does that really work?
“For those who doubt how this should help: the sound of clapping spreads on the beach better than if people call that they have found a lost child,” writes a person under the TikK video. If many people do that together, the rhythmic sound could be enough and attract parents’ attention.
According to a lifeguard, the gossip campaign almost always works.
Imagination/ImagebrokerThis is also confirmed by someone on Reddit: «When I was a lifeguard in Uruguay, I asked the people on the beach to do exactly that when we found a child. This works in 90 percent of the cases ».
Whether with clapping or another method: Have you ever seen that a child was lost on the beach and helped people to search?
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