A child has killed themselves after attempting a viral social media challenge that involves choking oneself.
There have been many remarkably stupid social media challenges in the past. I remember the Tide Pod eating epidemic, in which kids would bite into the laundry detergent capsules. Of course, they are toxic and can result in death. Despite most of the kids knowing this, they did it anyway.
This latest social media challenge that took the life of the 12-year-old boy involves asphyxiation. It is being referred to as the ‘Blackout Challenge.’ According to The Independent, the challenge had already been linked to the death of 20 children in 2022. It now claims another.
According to Yorkshire Live, “Officers attended the location and the boy was taken to hospital where it was later confirmed that he had died. Enquiries are ongoing on behalf of the West Yorkshire Coroner to establish exactly what happened.”
The child took his own life by attempting the fatal viral social media challenge.
GoFundMe For 12-Year-Old Boys’ Mistake
As always, a GoFundMe has been started for the parents of the dead boy. Losing a child is always heartbreaking for a family, but to know they died for something so foolish is especially difficult. The mind of a child is very easily persuaded to do stupid things, and social media can be a dangerous peer.
Research shows that the majority of kids who died from the viral social media challenge were under the age of 12. There have been several attempts to sue TikTok for its involvement in this particular challenge.
“The company unquestionably knew that the deadly blackout challenge was spreading through their app and that their algorithm was specifically feeding the blackout challenge to children, including those who had died,” a lawsuit reported by Bloomberg stated.
But none of the attempts to make TikTok take responsibility have succeeded. And so, years later, young kids are still dying due to the viral social media challenge. This 12-year-old boy is just the latest, and may not be the last.
It is imperative for parents to vet what their children have access to online. Of course, banning them from internet access entirely is impossible. But, there has to be a responsibility when letting them access the cesspit of the internet.