The viral mannequin challenge proves today's teens are cooler than we ever were

If, like me, you don't hang out at high schools after graduation, you have to rely on the internet to stumble upon the latest teen trend. And oh boy, is the latest one an art form.

Teens around the nation are freezing in place, challenging their fellow teens to do the same, only better! How is freezing in place captivating, you ask? Take a look:

The spectacle is called the mannequin challenge (or #MannequinChallenge if you are tech-savvy). Mashable reported that the above video was the one that sparked the trend.

The challenge involves a group of youths freezing in place and recording it, creating a video of an encapsulation of youth life seemingly hit by the pause button. Activities include but are not limited to: checking their phone, looking in their bag, getting into a fist fight, grinding up on the dance floor, posing for a selfie, taking a phone call, dabbing, working out and going in for a hug.

I texted my teen correspondent, my cousin who is a senior in high school in Southern California, to see if she had heard of the mannequin challenge.

"Lmao no I haven't ever heard of that lol that's weird," she responded. I guess it's not everywhere. Yet.

The challenge is still picking up steam — at the time of writing this, a group of students challenged "Mr. Bustos" — arguably a cool as hell teacher — on Friday afternoon. 

Let's hope that the mannequin challenge, which is a work of god damn art, doesn't see itself live long enough to become the villain. I'm looking at you, ice bucket challenge.

"That is happening cause it's on Twitter, but it's one of those things that is funny for like two weeks and then no one cares," my cool, with-it cousin said in a text message. "Like the TZ dance."