Every day kids are viewing dangerous and stupid social media stunts on the internet. So-called “challenges” on TikTok are leaving children sick and even dead.
More than 15 students at a Mexican school had to get medical treatment after they overdosed on anxiety medication while participating in an online challenge called the “tranquilizer challenge.”
It happened on Monday, January 30, in Guanajuato, a city in central Mexico. Just a few days prior, health authorities issued a warning to parents about the dangerous internet challenge sweeping through the country.
The kids were mostly fifth and sixth graders, and were doing the stunt, called “tranq challenge,” in the school. The challenge dares users to take the anxiety subscription drugs Klonopin or Clonazepam, and try to stay awake.
According to the challenge, the last person to fall asleep after taking the medication is the winner.
The Mayor of Guanajuato, Alejandro Navarro, said that the students received treatment at the school and reportedly some were hospitalized.
Following the incident, Mayor Navarro again warned parents to be stricter about what their kids are doing on the internet.
It was not reported where the students got the drugs.
This is the fourth school in Mexico to be adversely affected by the tranquilizer challenge. Two weeks ago, about eight middle school students in Mexico City became sick after overdosing on Clonazepam.
A 12-year-old girl in Argentina died last month after participating in a challenge on TikTok, where kids try to choke themselves until they pass out.
TikTok is facing lawsuits in the United States after two girls in California died after they hung themselves while watching videos about the “blackout challenge” on TikTok.