Ottawa Valley OPP warns parents of teenagers playing dangerous and illegal games

ARNPRIOR, ONT. -

Ontario Provincial Police say teenagers in Renfrew County are performing dangerous and illegal acts as a form of a game or a challenge.

Police say kids between the ages of 14-19 are filming themselves and friends performing stunts and then sharing the videos in a competition for cash.

"Reports are that students from multiple schools in the area have been participating in an ongoing activity, they describe it as a car rally," says OPP Constable Tylor Copeland.

Copeland says participants pay money to enter the competition. One of the acts reported to police was the removal of a stop sign at an intersection, which could lead to a car crash.

"The organizers will basically rate or judge those videos and a monetary value will be placed to a fundraiser (for the winners)," explains Copeland. "I think there was some mention of using it towards prom."

Arnprior resident Cassidy Whitelock believes she had a first-hand run in with kids playing one of these games in Arnprior, Ont. She says she was driving past McNab Public School on Wednesday night when she noticed something in the middle of the road.

"Once I got close enough, and it was quite close to the point that I was already slowing down, it becomes clear that this is a young child, probably 10 to 14 age range," recalls the life-long McNab/Braeside resident. "And like I say, not moving, forcing me to slow down."

Whitelock, a 24-year-old nurse at CHEO, recalls at least two kids dressed in all black. She says she could hear them laughing as she drove away.

"There was one in the road, the main person in the road doing the taunting for sure, and then one person - I'm not sure if they were recording or just watching  off to the side," says Whitelock.

This is not the first incident reported to take place in the Arnprior and McNab/Braeside area either.

In an Arnprior Facebook group, one poster described an incident involving youth throwing rocks at passing vehicles and playing chicken with cars on skateboards.

Whitelock says her friend also experienced the exact same incident she did earlier in the day. That drove her to post her experience online as well.

"That's why I posted about it; hopefully mom or dad is on Facebook, sees it, and goes, 'Oh crap, my kid is outside'," Whitelock told CTV News Ottawa.

"It could result in someone getting seriously hurt or harmed," says Copeland, who adds parents need to be aware of what their children are doing online. "And obviously being involved with criminal charges."

"It could have been such an easy tragedy," says Whitelock, who adds being involved in such a tragedy would hit even closer to home being a children's nurse.

"And I don't think kids in that age range are thinking that far ahead."