Planking: the trendy game that’s gone global.

The rules of the game are simple.

Players lie face down, with their arms up against their sides, in random public places and have someone snap a picture.

Almost always, the picture is then posted to Facebook or Twitter.

While nearly everyone knows about this craze, or has at least heard of it, not many know about its origin.

Where did planking come from?

One guy, Canadian born Tom Green, best known for The Tom Green Show, claims to be the "Father of Planking," according to cnn.com.

Green performed a stunt, which he dubbed "Dead Guy," for his show back in 1994.

In the show, he lies face down on a sidewalk, like dead guy, to see if people would stop to help him.

They do.

It isn’t until someone suggested calling an ambulance that Green simply stood up and walked away.

Although the clip was never aired on his show, Green posted the video on his YouTube channel as proof that he invented the game now called planking.

The video is there for all to see, but Green still isn’t the only one who claims to be father to the fad.

According to guardian.co.uk, planking was created 14 years ago by childhood friends Gary Clarkson and Christian Langdon, then 15 and 12.

They called it the "Lying Down Game" back then and played it simply to pass time when they were bored.

For ten years, only friends from school and the neighborhood joined Clarkson and Langdon in playing the game.

It wasn’t until 2007, when the two established a Facebook page for the "Lying Down Game," that it started gaining attention.

As the trend began to grow, the pair obtained a copyright certificate for their invention--they believe that they are the official inventors of the game.

But that’s not all.

Those are only two of the claims in regards to the origination of planking.

Here’s the third theory: the game grew out of slavery.

Several Twitter users, including rapper Xzibit, feel the fad is racist.

Xzibit tweeted, "#Planking was a way to transport slaves on ships during the slave trade, its (sic) not funny.  Educate yourselves."

Marcus Rediker, a professor of Atlantic history at the University of Pittsburgh disagrees with this accusation, according to washingtonpost.com.

"‘To plank’ was not necessarily a verb used by slave ship merchants and captains," Rediker said.

Rediker also said that although slaves were forced into a "flat, stiff arrangement," he doesn’t think there is an intentional connection between the word’s past, in concerns to slavery, and today’s trend.

So, who invented planking?

While the answer to that question is still up in the air, students at Franklin Regional don’t seem to mind.

A wide variety of students enjoy the game, if just for something to do--just like the original pair, Clarkson and Langdon, who claimed to invent it.

For others, apparently, it is a way of life.

"Planking gives me something to live for," joked junior Michelle Montgomery. " It’s like I’m flying."

The majority of students seem to find planking "stupid."

"I think planking is stupid because there is no point to it," said junior Joe Izatt.

Regardless, the fad will continue to occur, at least until someone else comes out with different game.

Scratch that, they already did.

Who’s up for some coning?