TikTok is where thing should be fun and engaging. But with youngsters populating most of its user base, things can sometimes go out of hand.
Young users can do just about anything when they're told, and this is why challenges on TikTok can sometimes go from fun and hilarious, to dangerous and fatal.
And the 'Blackout Challenge' is one of parents' worst nightmare.
This challenge can definitely harm users, and even lead to death.
The challenge has been around since at least 2008, according to People. Back then, the challenge spread by word of mouth, but the existence of social media has made it even more dangerous.
When it went viral on TikTok, the world starts to see how dangerous this challenge really is.
This 'Blackout Challenge' has other names, sometimes referred to as the "choking challenge" or the "pass-out challenge."
Some referred to it as the "the fainting game."
Just like what the names suggest, the challenge encourages users to hold their breath until they pass out due to the lack of oxygen.
When the brain is lacking oxygen, the person will experience the feeling of drowning or choking, or having a cardiac arrest. For most people, it’s safe to hold their breath for a minute or two. But If the brain is depraved from oxygen for more than three minutes, irreversible brain damage can happen. And if deprived from oxygen for more than five minutes, death is certain.
However, breathing is done automatically, and people cannot hold their breath for too long before their body's response system will automatically force the lungs to inhale.
This is triggered when the body detects an intolerable decrease in oxygen levels, and a detecting carbon dioxide accumulating in the body.
And this is where the Blackout Challenge is dangerous.
In order to prevent the body to involuntarily inhale, the challenge involves choking the neck using the hands or using items.
Doing this will make the trachea, also known as the windpipe, much narrower, preventing the challenger to breath.
In the U.S. alone, at least 20 people have died attempting this challenge.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a list of signs that might indicate someone is trying this Blackout Challenge, including:
- Bloodshot eyes.
- Marks on his or her neck.
- Severe headaches.
- Feeling disoriented after spending time alone.
"Because most parents in the study had not heard of the choking game, we hope to raise awareness of the choking game among parents, health care providers, and educators, so they can recognize warning signs of the activity," said Robin L. Toblin, Ph.D., M.P.H., according to the CDC. "This is especially important because children themselves may not appreciate the dangers of this activity."
A TikTok spokesperson said that "this disturbing 'challenge,' which people seem to learn about from sources other than TikTok, long predates our platform and has never been a TikTok trend."
"We remain vigilant in our commitment to user safety and would immediately remove related content if found. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family for their tragic loss," the person added.
People doing challenges can sometimes earn millions and millions of views.
This, sometimes, translate to social media superstardom, a status that many users wish to experience. Those people tend to be happy from the massive attention they get, and to do that, many are willing to do just about anything.
It's this trend of becoming TikTok famous that is killing millennials and Gen Zs.