The deadly social media challenges putting our children at risk: From getting drunk on toxic hand sanitizer to overdosing on allergy meds to cause ‘hallucinations’

The death of a teenage boy who overdosed on an allergy drug as part of an online game has shone a light on the dangers of social media challenges.

Thirteen-year-old Jacob Stevens, from Columbus, Ohio, swallowed more than a dozen Benadryl pills as his friends filmed to see what would happen. 

His body then began to seize up within minutes. Within hours his organs began to shut down and his brain became nonresponsive. Stevens died after six days on a ventilator.

Stevens is the third known victim of the ‘Benadryl Challenge’, a deadly viral TikTok game that supposedly induces hallucinations. In 2020, a 15-year-old girl from Oklahoma also died from overdosing on the pills.

Social media challenges began as fun initiatives to raise awareness for chronic conditions, such as the Ice Bucket Challenge, has now morphed into sinister and dangerous trends. 

13-year-old Jacob Stevens took 12 to 14 Benadryl pills, causing him to die from an overdose

One of the most dangerous, the Blackout Challenge, involves teens purposely restricting their breathing by choking themselves with a belt, rope, or similar item. It resulted in more than 80 deaths when it first emerged and caused another 15 last year. 

And the Skull Breaker challenge, in which two participants purposely try to make a third person fall and hit their head on the ground, has caused several deaths and resulted in criminal charges for those partaking. 

Others that have resulted deaths or injuries involve drinking hand sanitizer to ‘get drunk’ and taking sleeping pills and seeing who can stay awake longest.

Blackout Challenge

Arriani Arroyo, 9, died from participating in the Blackout Challenge, which has seen a recent resurgence on TikTok

Also referred to as the ‘choking game’ or the ‘pass-out challenge,’ this social media trend involves the participant purposely restricting their breathing with a belt, rope, or similar item.  

The challenge predates TikTok and goes back to 2008, during which 82 deaths were confirmed, according to the CDC.

However, it has seen a recent resurgence.

A late 2022 Bloomberg Businessweek report linked at least 15 deaths in children under 12 and under to the challenge in the last 18 months. Five more children between ages 13 and 14 died as well. 

Victims were as young as eight years old. 

Two more deaths have been confirmed in 2023: 12-year-old Tristan Casson of Ohio and 12-year-old Milagros Soto of Argentina.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a list of signs that might indicate someone is trying the blackout challenge, including bloodshot eyes, marks on the neck, severe headaches, and feeling disoriented after spending time alone.  

Kia Challenge 

Ahjanae Harper, a 14-year-old victim of the Kia Challenge, had recently given birth to a baby girl before losing her life

The four teens were killed after a car they allegedly stole using the ‘Kia Boyz’ TikTok hack that allows kids to hotwire a car easily crashed in Buffalo

A TikTok trend that emerged in 2021 led to a spike in stolen Kia and Hyundai car models in the United States.

Dubbed the ‘Kia Challenge,’ users are shown how to steal certain Kia and Hyundai models by removing a plastic cowl under the steering column and using a USB cable. 

This has led to injury and death from kids, particularly those not old enough to drive, losing control of the vehicles. 

WIVB in Buffalo, New York, reported that four local teens, ages 14-19, were killed in October in after crashing a vehicle they stole as part of the challenge. Two other passengers were, including the 16-year-old driver, survived.  

The victims included a 14-year-old Ahjanae Harper, who had recently given birth to a baby girl before the accident. 

Skull Breaker Challenge

This stunt challenge, which first emerged in 2020, has led to an increase in serious injuries and death in the US and the UK. 

While the videos initially appear innocuous, they take a dangerous turn. 

The challenge involves three people standing side by side. They all say they are going to jump into the air, however, the two on the end don’t jump. Instead, they kick the middle person’s legs from under them, causing that person to fall. 

The name ‘skull breaker’ is a reference to the victims’ heads hitting the ground as they fall.

The challenge started in Spain when two students filmed themselves carrying out the prank on an unsuspecting third participant.  

Kids falls to the ground after receiving kicks during the ‘skull breaker challenge’

Two students in New Jersey faced criminal charges in 2020 for seriously injuring a classmate with the challenge, including third-degree aggravated assault and third-degree endangering an injured victim, the Washington Post reported. 

The challenge has been linked to two deaths in 2021 in Brazil.

In a newsroom warning, TikTok said, ‘We do not allow content that encourages or replicates dangerous challenges that might lead to injury.

‘In fact, it’s a violation of our community guidelines and we will continue to remove this type of content from our platform.

In the hand sanitizer challenge, users drink the cleaning supply in an effort to get drunk

‘Nobody wants their friends or family to get hurt filming a video or trying a stunt.

‘It’s not funny – and since we remove that sort of content, it certainly won’t make you TikTok famous.’

Hand Sanitizer Challenge

The search ‘drinking hand sanitizer challenge’ has more than 64 million views on TikTok. It was also linked to four deaths and six seizures in 2020, the CDC reported. 

The CDC reported four deaths and six seizures in 2020. 

The agency reported that 15 adults in Arizona and New Mexico were hospitalized for methanol poisoning after consuming alcohol-based sanitizers between May and June 2020. 

Sixty-two calls were made to poison control centers during that time for cases of methanol poisoning from alcohol-based sanitizers. 

Victims were between the ages of 21 to 65. 

Benadryl Challenge

The ‘Benadryl Challenge’ involves taking high amounts of the over-the-counter allergy medicine to see how long you can stay awake, as well as to induce hallucinations. 

The challenge has led to overdose deaths, including that of 13-year-old Jacob Stevens this month.   

A case study performed on a 14-year-old victim stated that the victim has no indications of medical or psychiatric conditions that would have led to suicidal thoughts. 

‘The manner of death was an accident,’ the report stated.  

After reports of hospitalizations and deaths in 2020, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against taking higher than the recommended dose of over-the-counter allergy medications, such as Benadryl. 

‘Taking higher than recommended doses of the common over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medicine diphenhydramine (Benadryl) can lead to serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or even death,’ the agency said. 

Benadryl, a Johnson & Johnson medication, issued a statement calling the trend ‘dangerous’ and calling it for it to be ‘stopped immediately.’