Melbourne teens take huge risks in amateur parkour stunts in CBD

Young daredevils leaping between buildings are racking up tens of thousands of social media views in a dangerous trend critics say can be “deadly”.

Young daredevils leaping between buildings in Melbourne’s CBD are shocking onlookers and racking up tens of thousands of views on social media.

It comes after a video surfaced last week of a man jumping from the edge of a car park to the rooftop of another building, separated by a gap believed to be about 10m wide.

Parkour is the practice of traversing obstacles in an urban or natural environment, which can include free running and strength training.

But critics say the trend, which is now sweeping social media, has “dangerous” and even “deadly” consequences that can lead to serious injuries and even death.

The Herald Sun has uncovered several recent videos showing two men jumping between buildings in Melbourne’s CBD and performing other dangerous stunts at various landmarks.

Footage also shows a man performing a somersault at the top of the Southbank Pedestrian Bridge and a man jumping from the top of Hamer Hall and then leaping from a balcony near Southgate.

Daredevils are performing risky stunts in Melbourne’s CBD.

The risks of parkour can be deadly.

The videos have attracted more than 60,000 views in some cases.

Leading psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said young teens who were not trained properly to perform parkour stunts could end up dead or with serious injuries.

“They could be looking for their 15 minutes of fame on social media, but the reality is they could end up dead or seriously injured if untrained or if something goes wrong,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.

“The difficulty with the teenage brain is that it’s wired for risk and there’s an awful lot of people who sustain very serious injuries as a result of trying to perform for TikTok and other social media platforms.”

Dr Carr-Gregg encouraged parents to have conversations with their children about the dangers of social media.

“If young people want to get involved in parkour they should get trained up and get professional instruction and then do it.

“Amateur parkour is extremely dangerous, I wouldn’t be doing it. Social media also needs to start taking responsibility.”

Australian Academy of Parkour, Exercise and Self Defence instructor JP Gauntlett said professional parkour instructors always emphasised “safety first”.

The young daredevils are shocking onlookers.

A teen leaps between buildings in Melbourne’s CBD.

“I’ve never met anyone who I would say teaches recklessly or encourages people to do reckless things,” Mr Gauntlett said.

“If it is perceived by the police, council and general public that this is a very dangerous thing, why hasn’t a ‘safe area’ been established for people to do it?

“I’ve been teaching parkour for about 13 years now indoors and outdoors … young people are very good at evaluating their own safety.”

Mr Gauntlett said parkour was not a “dangerous” sport.

“It would be incorrect to call it dangerous … we have about 20 staff at our gym and over the years we’ve lost more staff members because of injury because of sports like soccer and netball rather than taking part in parkour,” he said.

“Parkour is important for building community and for mental health. It also instils a sense of self-discipline in young people.”