By: Aida Lashinsky, Reporter

In the past few months, online videos of people taking the ALS ice bucket challenge have skyrocketed. Many SHS students and staff have chosen to take the plunge, but in the midst of all this the question emerges of whether people actually support the cause or if they are just keeping up with the trend.

ALS is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease where  motor neurons in the brain begin to die, gradually paralyzing the person and ultimately leading to death. There is no cure.

The ice bucket challenge had already existed on a smaller scale for several different organizations. But the video challenge exploded when former college baseball player and now sufferer of ALS, Pete Frates, challenged his friends in July to donate to the ALS Association or dump ice water on their heads. Frates’ baseball friends began uploading their videos and the challenge quickly went viral.

Famous celebrities and politicians such as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Former President George W. Bush all uploaded videos. Many SHS students can now name at least 20 of their friends that have done it.

The challenge works like this: a person dumps a bucket of freezing ice water on their head and posts a video of it on a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter. They challenge three other friends to take the challenge or donate to the ALS Association, ending the video by saying “You have 24 hours, good luck.”

“It’s a good cause for raising money,” says freshman Candace Siler. “I think it’s good because people, I guess, are having fun while doing it.”

While some people support the challenge as a way to raise money, others think that most of the people taking it don’t know about the disease and are only keeping up the trend.

“Half the students that do all that are basically doing it for fun. It’s just a trend that everyone’s kind of going along with.I really don’t think they have any clue what ALS is,” says freshman Nathan Kane.

While there are those simply doing it for the fun of it, many people are donating. Since the challenge went viral, the ALS Association has raked in more than $41 million dollars in donations.

“I think it’s cool that they’re raising awareness but it’s also sort of wrong because you’d rather pour a bucket of ice on yourself than donate to a disease that needs money,” says sophomore Kianna McMillan. “Anyone can pour a bucket of ice on their head.”

As the viral ice bucket challenge dies down people hope that the influx of funds will contribute to better treatment and ultimately a cure for the 5,600 diagnosed with ALS in the U.S. each year.