The internet is becoming more and more dangerous for children, with various stupid social media stunts leaving children sick or even dead.
One such “challenge” caused more than 15 students in Mexico to get sick, forcing them to get medical care after they overdosed on anxiety medication as a part of an online challenge called the “tranquilizer challenge.”
The incident happened on Monday, January 30, in Guanajuato, a city in central Mexico, a few days after health authorities issued an advisory about the dangerous internet challenge sweeping through the country.
The youngsters, mostly in the fifth and sixth grade, took part in a challenge called “tranq challenge,” which dares users to take Klonopin or Clonazepam, subscription drugs for anxiety.
According to the challenge, the last person to fall asleep after taking the medication would be the winner.
This is a hard thing to do because one of the main side effects of the benzodiazepine class drug, which is highly addictive, is inducing drowsiness.
Mayor Alejandro Navarro said that the students received treatment at the school while some news outlets reported that the students were later hospitalized. Because the students are underage, information about their current condition is limited.
Following the incident, Mayor Navarro posted on social media and advised parents to be stricter about what their children are seeing on social media. Mayor Navarro said that underage children should not be allowed to have social media accounts because the internet can be a dangerous place.
It is unknown 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.
Health authorities in Mexico urged children not to risk their lives by participating in dangerous online stunts and asked the public to report anyone selling the drug illegally.
Dangerous internet challenges have been increasing. A 12-year-old girl in Argentina died last month after participating in a challenge on TikTok, where participants try to choke themselves until they pass out.
TikTok is also facing lawsuits in the United States after two girls in California died after hanging themselves. They had been watching videos on the “blackout challenge” on TikTok.