A Parent’s Guide to TikTok

The blackout challenge, also known as the choking challenge or pass-out challenge, encourages people to hold their breath until they lose consciousness due to the lack of oxygen. This particular challenge initially became popular more than a decade ago, and social media has brought about a resurgence in its popularity. During the challenge, children use readily accessible items like scarves, ropes, or blankets to cut off their oxygen supply to achieve a temporary high. If the oxygen deprivation continues for too long, it can result in brain damage or death. 

In the first several years of its existence, the blackout challenge caused the deaths of more than 80 children. This prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to release an official statement about the challenge and a list of signs that a child might be participating in it. Possible indications that a child is attempting the blackout challenge include: 

• Severe headaches 
• Disorientation 
• Bloodshot eyes 
• Marks or bruising on the neck

Some children who participate in the challenge livestream their experience, while others practice without anyone knowing. Although it’s not clear how many recent fatalities are directly tied to the blackout challenge, reports suggest that at least 15 children who were 12 or younger have died from the challenge in the past two years. 

TikTok maintains that they are not responsible for individuals who choose to participate in the challenge and that they take steps to discourage dangerous behavior. Nevertheless, several lawsuits are pending over harm to children who discovered the blackout challenge through the platform. 

Excessive drinking has long been a concern for parents of college-aged kids, but the borg TikTok trend has introduced new dangers on college and university campuses nationwide. The term borg stands for blackout rage gallon, a concoction consisting of alcohol, water, flavoring, and a hangover remedy such as Pedialyte. 

Borgs are not a new creation, but their popularity on TikTok has inspired students to binge-drink gallon jugs of the potent mixture. Drinking such large quantities of alcohol in a short period can lead to alcohol poisoning and injuries. 

The hazards of borgs are playing out at colleges across the United States. For example, in March 2023, the University of Massachusetts Amherst issued a press release responding to the presence of borgs on campus. The university reported that more than two dozen ambulance transports were necessary on a single night for students who were suffering from the effects of alcohol consumption while attending off-campus parties.

Benadryl, a common over-the-counter antihistamine and allergy medication, is part of a potentially fatal challenge that has been making the rounds on TikTok for several years. When participating in the challenge, a person takes between 12 and 14 pills at once, which is more than twice the recommended daily dose. 

Ingesting a large dose of Benadryl can cause hallucinations and a sensation of being high. Part of the challenge involves filming a person as they experience these side effects and posting the video on TikTok or other social media platforms.  

In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about the Benadryl challenge. In the statement, they explained that exceeding the recommended dosage of Benadryl can have life-threatening effects, such as: 

• Heart problems
• Seizures
• Coma 
• Death

The Benadryl challenge has proven fatal in several instances, including a 13-year-old boy in Ohio who died after a week-long hospitalization in April 2023. Many other children have needed emergency care and treatment after attempting the challenge.

Unlike many other TikTok challenges, the devious licks challenge doesn’t necessarily pose a risk of bodily harm. However, it does encourage disruptive and criminal behavior. In this challenge, students film themselves vandalizing or stealing property from schools and posting the experience on TikTok. 

The devious licks challenge began with a student who stole disposable face masks, but it has since escalated to much more destructive behavior. Students who take part in the challenge have targeted classrooms, administrative offices, and building exteriors, but they tend to focus their attention on bathrooms, where they can cause damage without teachers and administrators watching them. Schools have reported many types of damage, including: 

• Broken floor tiles
• Smashed laptops
• Dismantled sinks, toilets, and urinals
• Stolen supplies

In response to this growing trend, some schools have instituted new rules for bathrooms, such as limiting the number of students who can use the facilities simultaneously or requiring students to get permission before entering. Police in some states have also arrested and charged students as young as 15 for committing vandalism, theft, and criminal mischief in schools. These charges can significantly impact a student’s academic future and ability to succeed. 

Many risky TikTok challenges encourage children to participate in activities that are harmful to themselves, but the skull-breaker challenge involves inflicting pain on others. In this challenge, two people convince a third person to jump in the air. They then kick the third person’s legs out from under them, causing them to fall to the ground. In most cases, the third person is unaware of what’s happening, leaving them unable to catch themselves when they fall. 

The possible consequences of taking part in the skull-breaker challenge are alarming. A 13-year-old boy in New Jersey was taken to the hospital with a concussion after two other boys pranked him. In addition to the short-term pain and suffering that he experienced, his parents reported that he was also facing lasting effects, including headaches and lethargy, more than a month after the initial incident occurred. 

The repercussions for the teen boys at fault were also severe. They were both charged with aggravated assault and endangering an injured victim. By participating in the skull-breaker TikTok challenge, these young boys may have permanently altered their futures and the life of their classmate. 

One of the most horrifying and hazardous TikTok challenges is the fire challenge. This challenge began when TikTok creator and actor Jack Jerry filmed a video of himself spraying hairspray on a bathroom mirror and lighting it on fire. Viewers were amazed by the visual effect and commented with requests for other shapes, including stars, circles, or lightning bolts. 

Although Jack Jerry may not have intended for other TikTok users to imitate his behavior, his videos quickly went viral, and soon teens worldwide were attempting to light fires in their bathrooms. 

Lighting a fire in a confined space is dangerous for anyone, but it’s especially unsafe for a child or teenager with little experience controlling and putting out fires. Several young people have fallen victim to the fire challenge, including a 13-year-old girl who suffered severe burns on her neck and arms, requiring multiple skin grafts and a lengthy stay in the intensive care unit. 

A similar challenge known as the flamethrower challenge poses similar risks. Rather than lighting fires in bathrooms, people attempt to create makeshift flamethrowers using cans of spray paint. In April 2023, a 16-year-old boy in North Carolina was burned on almost 80 percent of his body when the challenge went wrong, and the can exploded. 

In addition to endangering themselves, people who participate in these fire-related challenges also pose a risk to other individuals. If a property were to catch fire or an innocent bystander happened to stand too close, the effects could be devastating.