Gender reveal parties have come a long way from releasing pink or blue balloons and frosting cupcakes. They’ve escalated to using smoke bombs and pyrotechnics to announce the “big reveal,” resulting in injuries, wildfires and death.

They need to stop.

On Sunday, a gender reveal party in Mexico featured a pilot releasing pink smoke from his plane. According to a video posted online, the plane’s left wing appeared to separate from the fuselage as it flew away from the group of people below.

The plane crashed, and according to reports, the pilot died after being taken to a hospital.

This wasn’t the only tragedy to stem from a gender reveal.

A Southern California couple set off a smoke bomb at their Sept. 5, 2020 gender reveal. It sparked the El Dorado wildfire that burned more than 22,000 acres. One firefighter was killed battling the flames and two others were injured, according to reports.

The Sawmill Fire of 2017 was caused by a father-to-be detonating a target packed with Tannerite in a desert near Green Valley, Arizona. That sparked a blaze that lasted more than a week, burned 46,991 acres and cost over $8 million to contain and extinguish.

Blowing things up is a theme at these parties. In 2021, a gender reveal in Kingston, New Hampshire used  80 pounds of explosives to announce the big news. The resulting explosion damaged nearby homes and was felt in northern Massachusetts.

Neighbor Sara Taglieri told a New York ABC affiliate “I’m not upset because I have chalk or confetti blowing my way. I mean, it was an explosion that rocked my house, my neighbor’s, my community and town. It was just absolutely over-the-top ridiculous.”

Over-the-top ridiculous is the name of the game in our Instagram age. A simple cake and streamers won’t get the views that say, a plume of pink smoke wafting over cheering guests will. A party celebrating a yet-to-be-born baby and explosives are a perfect match – if you view this as a chance to star in your own reality show, captured on gender reveal Insta reels.

Unfortunately, far too many people do, and the ante for the outrageous keeps getting upped. What were once simple family celebrations are now full-scale extravaganzas, camera-ready, and choreographed to wow followers.

Blogger Jenna Karvunidis is credited with being the “inventor” of the gender reveal party. Her 2008 party for her unborn daughter featured Karvunidis cutting into a cake with pink frosting on the inside. As ta-da moments go, it was nothing like the literally explosive festivities we have today.

And that’s one of the reasons Karvunidis is denouncing them. “Stop it. Stop having these stupid parties,” she wrote on Facebook as the El Dorado Wildfire raged. “For the love of God, stop burning things down to tell everyone about your kid’s penis. No one cares but you.”

Unfortunately, no one listened, and another life has been lost.

Hopefully, if anything good is to come out of Sunday’s tragedy, it is that expectant couples rethink the “hey look at us” aspect of celebrating their unborn child, and instead revel in the joy of their growing family.

A family member of one of the victims killed in a mass shooting that occurred early Saturday morning in Lynn is asking for the public’s help in finding the shooter, saying that police have no leads on who opened fire, a city councilor said.

Lynn City Councilor Coco Alinsug, who represents the area where the shooting occurred, said he visited Essex Street Monday morning to “pay homage” to a “young man, Jandriel Heredia, who lost his life in his own home this weekend.”

“While there, I soon realized that his uncle was also in the area and immediately we recognized each other,” Alinsug posted on Facebook. “I spoke with him, I comforted him — he has been crying since this happened.

“He also updated me and asked me to spread the news that they have no lead to the shooter. We need the public’s help.”

Alinsug said the public can submit an anonymous tip to the Lynn Police Department at 84741, “for any information you want to share with them.”

The same request is made via a sign posted at the scene of the shooting, 189 Essex St., where police and prosecutors said two people were killed and five others were injured Friday night. A memorial is also set up there, marking the loss.

Essex District Attorney Paul Tucker said investigators are working to determine what kind of car was used in the drive-by shooting, as well as the number of perpetrators. Authorities believe the suspects targeted people holding a party there.

The two men killed were identified by authorities as 25-year-old Abraham Diaz of Lynn and 21-year-old Jandriel Heredia of Revere.

No further update was provided on the condition of the five other victims on Monday.

GoFundMe pages have been created by family members of both fatal shooting victims.

Michael Satterwhite, a candidate for City Council, said on his Facebook page Monday that police detectives were knocking on doors in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, looking for surveillance footage from 2-3 a.m.

The incident took place at approximately 2:20 a.m. Saturday, police said.

“This shooting damages the trust and safety that we so often take for granted in our city,” Alinsug said.

New England actors with SAG-AFTRA returned to Boston in force for Labor Day — marching through Downtown Crossing with a full band and parade of labor allies.

“Our steps reverberate with the legacy of generations who fought for workers rights, reminding us that our struggle is a torch passed down through time,” said NEW England Local SAG-AFTRA President Andrea Lyman. “Let our presence here today be a testament: we are unyielding.”

Members of the striking union gathered Monday afternoon with other union allies and elected officials on the steps of Downtown Crossing, having marched through the streets from the Labor Day Breakfast.

Speakers echoed the union’s three major concerns: raising wages to match inflation, adjusting pay for residuals so actors get compensated fairly for streaming content and — with emphasis — establishing protections from AI uses of their likeness and threats to their jobs.

“This is very important — as you heard the congresswoman say, we are setting a precedent,” said SAG-AFTRA member Daniel Washington. “We are in an industry that when we have trouble, it’s truly televised. It is all over social media. Everybody sees it. And we are the first to put these gloves up against AI like this, right? That is super important.”

The union received avid support Monday from elected officials, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

“Last year, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, he took home a whopping $27 million,” Warren said. “Just think about that for a minute. $27 million for 52 weeks of work. Meanwhile, nearly 90% of SAG-AFTRA members are scraping by on less than $27,000 a year.”

The politicians noted the importance of this moment and strike in the future of labor fights as technology, massive wealth gaps and other considerations rise, with Markey noting a “transitional point” and Pressley asserting an “inflection point in our history and paradigm shift.”

Union members emphasized repeatedly the importance of not giving in or “getting tired” and sticking with the fight as long as it takes.

“This gives me goosebumps,” said Michelle Proude, SAG-AFTRA Vice President of Mid-Sized Locals, indicating the crowd. “Because the strength that we hold in union solidarity is bigger than anyone really realizes. And every single time we come to an event where we get this kind of support it gives us the strength to fight one more day.”

Boston firefighters knocked down a heavy fire in Dorchester Monday afternoon, as the rear porches of a multi-family home collapsed.

Nearly three dozen residents were displaced by the fire, and one firefighter suffered minor injuries.

The Boston Fire Department responded to the heavy blaze in the rear of 37 Holiday St., before 4 p.m. on Labor Day.

The fire reportedly extended to the building next door and in the rear, and a fourth alarm was ordered for the heavy fire.

“The rear porches of 37 Holiday St. have collapsed, all companies are working,” Boston Fire tweeted.

After 4 p.m., the fire department reported that the heavy fire had been knocked down on all three of the buildings.

Overall, 35 residents, three dogs and one cat were displaced after the fire.

“⁦@RedCrossMA, ⁦@Boston_CEC help find housing,” Boston Fire tweeted. “The cause is still under investigation.”