It's taking showing off in the schoolyard to a whole new level, and is prompting calls for parents to stop their kids from encouraging it.

Underage, out-of-control teenage daredevils are risking their lives for five minutes of fame: scaling buildings, performing outrageous acrobatics, and riding on trains - you name it, and they're doing it.

The craze started with the MTV hit Jackass, and now with the internet, teenage wannabes are following suit, with each new video outdoing the last.

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Seventeen-year-old Tasmanian daredevil Nick Tague is the latest prankster fast tracking fame using YouTube.

“There is a big adrenalin rush when you're about to do a really big stunt up there. But then when it's over and done with it's a really good feeling,” he said.

With the help of his mates, he's set himself on fire and jumped off a bridge, climbed up a three story building, landing in a tree, and that's just to name a few. However he assures us before every stunt they practice, and undergo safety precautions.

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“Some of it takes a lot of skill, and it takes a lot of practice to learn how to get everything dialled, and to know what you're about to do. You usually start off small, then get bigger, and you learn lots of stuff along the way,” Nick said.

Nick’s mum Alison Tague doesn't support her son's crazy antics. She was horrified when she first saw the videos.

“I think the internet has changed our children considerably, and it has made parenting more worrying - not only because they can put this footage on the internet, and they think they can outdo each other. Bu then another teenager will go and do something more dangerous,” Alison said.

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Child psychiatrist Amanda Gordon urges kids need an outlet, but YouYube shouldn't be it.

“There is no doubt teenagers need to be noticed, and they want to be accepted by their peers. Sometimes they don't feel like they have much to offer, so if they can do something really clever, then maybe other people will accept them,” Gordon said.

She says it's up to the parents to provide the filter between them and the internet.

“I think it is really important that parents do harness the energy and the adrenalin that young people have, and help them see that they can do something stupendous - something really important with that energy, instead of things that could potentially be destructive or self-destructive,” she said.

“For people who have grown up with YouTube, what they see is they can publish to a global audience, and they can share things - share their ideas, share their creativity, and share their personal adventures, with the whole world.

“I think the ease of YouTube means people can put all sorts of things on it, and it is hard to police. There has always been attention seeking throughout the generations, and that clearly has its own issues,” Gordon concluded.

Over three billion YouTube videos are viewed every day on the site, with the click of a mouse. Anyone, of any age, can post a clip within minutes.

Seamus Byrne from CNet says the internet has opened doors for aspiring film makers, but there should be restrictions stopping dangerous videos from making their way onto the World Wide Web.

This reporter is on Twitter at @maddykennard

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Contact details

• Psychologist Amanda Gordon - www.armchairpsychology.com.au