Social media challenges pose dangers to even the most well-adjusted kids, experts say

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A recent FDA warning about the latest social media challenge to go viral has brought renewed focus on the dangerous trend that endangers impressionable children and teens.

The need for affirmation on social media heightened by peer pressure can lead to dangerous consequences, as stunts like eating a Tide detergent pod, holding their breath until they pass out or ingesting chicken cooked in NyQuil have injured young people and even led to fatalities.

“That’s where the danger lies, in immature children combined against very powerful algorithms and the desire to be liked and accepted,” said Titania Jordan, chief parent officer of Bark Technologies, an app that gives parents control over their kids’ internet activities.

The latest trend is the so-called NyQuil chicken challenge, which has people filming themselves cooking chicken soaked in the over-the-counter cold and flu medication and then eating it. The bizarre stunt appears to have originated on the website 4Chan in 2017 and made its rounds earlier this year. The FDA last week issued a warning to kids not to try this at home.

While there have been no reported injuries or deaths for the NyQuil chicken challenge as of yet, the same cannot be said of past stunts. The most deadly may have been the “blackout challenge,” which emerged in 2008 and became trendy again earlier this year. Also referred to as the “choking challenge” or the “pass-out challenge,” it encourages users to hold or otherwise cut off their breath until they pass out due to a lack of oxygen. It was linked to more than 80 deaths back when it first emerged, per the CDC, and more have died since it resurfaced last year on TikTok.

TikTok is being sued for wrongful death after three girls, from Texas, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, died trying to re-create the choking challenge.

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The platform says it investigates any report about “dangerous or harmful challenges circulating online.”

The psychosocial components of what compels an impressionable youth to try such practices has parents and others stymied, Jordan said.

“TikTok is a huge part of teen and tween culture and includes everything from fashion and sports to music and memes,” she said. “And unfortunately the challenges that are harmful to human life can take off just as virally as some of the more fun or benign challenges.”

A teen “might want to hop on the train of going viral,” she explained.

It’s peer pressure on steroids, in essence.

“Whether it’s Tide pods or a morning-after pill or Benadryl, it’s really less about a specific pharmaceutical or ingredient and more about — there’s going to be peer pressure to push the envelope,” Jordan said. “There has always been peer pressure. Now there’s the added element of views, and virality and engagement — shares, comments.”

Few parents realize that their children could be susceptible, she said.

“You just don’t ever think it’ll be your child until they do make a mistake, they do make a bad choice,” she said.

“Social media rewards outrageous behavior, and the more outrageous, the bigger the bragging rights,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said on its website. “It’s a quick-moving, impulsive environment, and the fear of losing out is real for teens. That environment plays into a teen’s underdeveloped ability to think through their actions and possible consequences.”

Besides being “silly and unappetizing,” the faux chicken dish could be dangerous and even lethal, the FDA said. NyQuil’s makers, too, discouraged the use of their product with poultry or any other food.

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The FDA recently warned against all potentially dangerous social media challenges, especially those involving medicines. The agency cited earlier challenges, including the Benedryl challenge that involves participants filming themselves consuming large doses of the over-the-counter antihistamine medication diphenhydramine and the effects of the resulting hallucinations.

Dr. Nkeiruka Orajiaka, a pediatrician and child safety and injury prevention advocate, is familiar with the fallout from these social media-driven challenges. “I have seen people with injuries from prior challenges, like the milk crates, the Benadryl challenge,” she said, alluding to people filming themselves climbing gingerly up a pyramid of the plastic containers, and usually falling.

“We have a lot of fall injuries, broken bones,” she said, which is especially bad for teens and pre-teens “because around that age their bones are still growing, their bones are still fragile.”

Parents can step in to prevent such incidents, experts said.

“I think a lot of parents don’t want to talk about those challenges,” Orajiaka said. “It’s about finding a way to have these conversations before they actually happen.”

“It’s a very, very interesting time to be a parent and a child. Scary,” Jordan said.

The NyQuil chicken challenge involves dumping the cold and flu medication over chicken and cooking it, purportedly as a protein-infused cold remedy. The Food and Drug Administration recently warned against it.(Billy Blume / TNS)

Five dangerous social media challenges

Cold medicine, milk crates and even laundry detergent: These may seem like everyday household products to most of us but they have featured in viral social media challenges in the last few years.

Here are some of the most dangerous stunts:

Blackout challenge

Probably the most dangerous of all, the “blackout challenge” entails cutting off one’s air supply either by holding the breath or tying something around your neck. The dangerous trend has been around since at least 2008, but it started making the rounds on TikTok again in 2021. The challenge has been linked to more than 80 deaths back when it first emerged, said the CDC.

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Benadryl challenge

The “Benadryl challenge” on TikTok encourages people to film themselves taking large doses of the antihistamine containing diphenhydramine, which will induce hallucinations. At least one death, of a 15-year-old girl in Oklahoma, has been blamed on the challenge.

Tide Pod challenge

Videos circulated in 2018 on social media showing kids biting into brightly colored liquid laundry detergent packets, or cooking the soap-filled capsules in frying pans, then chewing on them before spitting the soap out. Experts say the game, dubbed the “Tide pod challenge,” is dangerous. Some people have been shown foaming at the mouth and coughing violently after doing the stunt.

NyQuil chicken challenge

This challenge involves dumping NyQuil cold and flu medication over chicken and cooking it, purportedly as a protein-infused cold remedy. The Food and Drug Administration warned against it last week. “The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is,” the FDA said. “But it could also be very unsafe. Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways.”

Milk crate challenge

People have filmed themselves gingerly climbing rickety pyramids made of plastic milk crates, then sending the internet into hilarity when they fall down. Trouble is, people break bones, fall on their faces and get severe head injuries.

Theresa Braine, New York Daily News

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