Dangers of the Rice Purity Test
The rice purity test is a classic innocence survey created in the 1980s by students at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The test is a series of 100 statements that all relate to different vices that people do in life. Some examples include ‘smoked a cigarette’, ‘snuck out’ or ‘had a fake ID’.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, 2 TikTok users from Oregon, Grace Wetsel (aka @50_shades_of_grace) and Ella Menashe (aka @ellemn0) decided to update the Rice Purity Test to be more suitable for the modern era.
As the original version of the test was already popular, the new version quickly blew up with the original video reaching 3 million views in just one day. Soon, the test became so popular that the college-student creators made a new website for it. According to the website, the Rice Purity Test is an “opportunity for O-week [orientation week] groups to bond, and for students to track the maturation of their experiences throughout college.”
Due to its growing popularity, many TikTok users have felt peer pressure to do the test. Some even got shamed for having a high score. Shortly, the scores on the Rice Purity Test began to become a competition between college students, many of which brag about how low their scores were.
Because of that, many started to use the test as a bucket list. It had even reached the extent where the creators added a warning on their website stating that the Innocence Test is not a bucket list, nor do they endorse the behaviors listed below.
Although simply bragging about their scores and using it as a checklist seems fun and harmless, the target audience of this test is college students. It implies that an image of a respected college student is someone who has explored substances, is sexually active and has a criminal record. While there is nothing wrong with consensual sexual activity or responsible use of substances, no one should be pressured into doing anything they don’t want to.
In conclusion, even if the test was meant to be something fun to bond with others, students might feel peer pressured to do the test and even be shamed for their score. Moreover, the test might be used as a checklist which could endanger the health of the student.
By: Liew Yik Xuan
