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WARNING: PLEASE BE ADVISED THERE MAY BE GRAPHIC IMAGES/VIDEO CONTENT BELOW. THIS IS FOR PARENT AWARENESS, PREVENTION AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

What is TikTok? TikTok is the world's most downloaded app, with 800 million using it globally - but most of them are children.

TIKTOK is a video-based social media app most popular with youth - but negative headlines have many asking what it is and what it does. Despite TikTok being one of the world's most downloaded phone app, many have branded it a "magnet for paedophiles", prompting a new investigation into the software and its uses. TikTok is a Chinese video and music-based social media app that allows users to create and share short videos with special effects. It was the world’s second most downloaded app in the third quarter of 2019, with an estimated 176 million downloads. Jokes, clips and footage dominate the platform, along with memes and videos in which youngsters, some scantily clad, lip-sync and dance to popular music. It is a video-only interface, which makes it less elaborate, less detailed and much easier to use than platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. The popular social network app is most popular among children under 16.

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SOME OF THE MOST DANGEROUS TIKTOK TRENDS AND CHALLENGES

The latest trend is the 'Benadryl Challenge' on TikTok - very dangerous and parents as well as children should be aware. Here's what parents need to know. This challenge is based on encouraging people, primarily teens, to engage in popping a lot of Benadryl pills in search of a "high." What it doesn't tell you, however, is that this very process of  ingesting such a large number of Benadryl pills  could lead to stroke, heart attack, brain damage and even death. The idea behind the TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' is to demonstrate that after taking 12 or more of these pills, the person taking them will be able to  experience a high  like no other, and one that has been compared to a level of hallucination. The results have been devastating. Reports indicated that the  Cook Children’s Health Care  doctors have revealed that three teenagers "were hospitalized in the Fort Worth, Texas hospital after overdosing on diphenhydramine (aka Benadryl)." Apparently, after receiving treatment for their scary symptoms and medical episodes, "all three told medical staff that they got the idea after watching videos on TikTok that said they could get high and hallucinate if they took a dozen or more Benadryl tablets." Health.com   reported, "Benadryl is an anticholinergic drug." It can cause seizures, coma, even death. This medication "blocks the cholinergic nervous system, which is responsible for saliva production and tear production, and facilitates bodily functions such as urination, heart rate, body temperature, brain function, and eye functioning.” 

Tripping/Skullbreaker Challenge

The popularity of the dangerous TikTok trend increases. It simply consists of one person jumping in the air and two others kicking their legs out from under them, causing them to fall backward. The challenge carries obvious risks of head and neck injury in particular. Numerous reports of injuries have surfaced in recent weeks, including a boy in Alabama who suffered wrist fractures requiring surgery, and another from Arizona, pictured above, suffering head injuries and cuts requiring stitches in just the last month.

Vacuum Challenge This bizarre TikTok trend has been online for a few years now. The vacuum challenge involves getting inside a large trash bag and using a vacuum cleaner to suck out all the air. The result is the bag being sucked skin-tight onto the person inside.  While this challenge might seem harmless as long as the airway is clear, at least one teen who tried it out was stuck in a trash for 2 hours before her parents found and freed her. Kylie Lips That’s Kylie as in Kylie Jenner, one of the most popular style icons of the moment. The idea behind this TikTok trend is to attain lush, full lips like Jenner’s. The method? Holding a shot glass or medicine bottle to your lips and sucking out the air, creating a vacuum. While the point of this challenge is to add volume to the lips, actual results have been disastrous for many who have tried.

Pass Out Challenge This simple but dangerous challenge is disturbingly easy for young people to do. Pass out challenge videos show TikTok users swinging their heads from side to side 18 times, apparently causing them to pass out. The internet is full of videos that seem to show the trick working, with users collapsing moments after completing the head shakes. Of course, any situation that involves rapidly whipping your head around and results in falling unconscious carries the risk of brain and head injuries. Flash Eye Challenge One TikTok user’s viral video spawned a trend that is endangering eyes everywhere. In the video, a brown-eyed girl shows viewers how they can use filters and their phone’s flash to make their eyes appear to be different colors. The trick involves staring into the camera flash without blinking for several seconds. According to optometrists, doing so can create temporary blindness or even permanent blind spots in vision. In fact, hundreds of comments on the original video are complaints of dysfunctional vision from people who have tried it.

Hot Water Challenge Some of these challenges are so brutal and cruel, they essentially amount to assault. The hot water challenge involves, simply, pouring boiling hot water onto someone, invariably causing injury. One boy in Indiana told local news that, when his friend poured boiling water on him, “my skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and on my face.” Fire Challenge TikTok trends don’t get much simpler — or more dangerous — than this. The fire challenge is easy to participate in: simply cover yourself in flammable liquid and light it on fire. It may seem to defy all common sense, but then, teenage recklessness knows no bounds. The fire challenge carries significant risk of, obviously, first- or second-degree burns — assuming the flames are extinguished quickly.

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Throw in the Air/Concussion Challenge Potential head trauma continues to be a hit on TikTok. This dangerous trend dares users to throw objects in the air above them and see how long they can resist dodging out of the way. The danger here is when kids use large items like wheelchairs, bikes, and ladders, placing them at a clear risk of injury. Clips of large items like these being thrown can be found all over the TikTok platform. Food Coloring Challenge Another TikTok trend was inspired by a series of videos from user @coltyy. For ten days, he drank nothing but water with blue food coloring in a bid to turn his urine blue. By day 10, the results exceeded his expectations: “Number one, my pee has turned blue. Number two, my poop has turned blue too. Number three, I’m turning blue. My skins blue guys and my hair is even turning blue. It’s getting wild,” he told viewers. Health professionals advise against such copious ingestion of food coloring. “Some studies show a link between dyes and increased ADHD and hyperactivity in children.” Research links high doses of food dye to tumor growth in animal subjects.

Penny Challenge (Fire Hazard) The app allows users to share short videos from their phones, which can be seen and shared by millions. ... The  challenge involves sliding a  penny  behind a partially plugged-in phone charger. The coin will strike the metal prongs, causing sparks, electrical system damage, and in some cases fire .

Cha-Cha Slide Challenge Encourages drivers to swerve along the road in time with music. With videos garnering more than 2.8 million views, TikTok recently took down videos of users filming the challenge. However, videos are now spreading on YouTube.

This is only a partial listing of the TikTok Challenges. As a parent it is vital for you to continuously be aware and become educated on the many changing TikTok challenges which are extremely dangerous and possibly lethal.

Study: TikTok, targeting young people with a growing hotbed of extreme anti-Semitism, and Holocaust denial.

Researchers say that extremists exploit TikTok’s popularity among younger users. A recently published study reveals that social networking application TikTok – one of today’s fastest-growing – is a hotbed of extreme anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Gabriel Weimann, a professor of communication at the University of Haifa and senior researcher at the Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT), and Natalie Masri, a research assistant and graduate student at ICT, led the research on the paper entitled, “Spreading Hate on TikTok.” “We need to create awareness about the dangers of TikTok, but that isn’t easy because most people think it’s just a clean app for kids,” Weimann told the Jerusalem Post. “So the first step is to create global awareness. TikTok is not that clean.”

TIKTOK App: Safety Guide for Parents and Educators

If you know or suspect your child or teen may be misusing substances, have addictive behavior or may be having mental health issues, please reach out to:  Saving Lives Five Towns Drug & Alcohol Coalition We are here to ensure you have the information and support you need. To Join Our Community Coalition please contact: Susan Blauner, Director Substance Abuse Prevention, Awareness and Education 516.569.6733 "bringing about community awareness to address youth mental health and addiction issues and to reduce youth drug and alcohol misuse through education, media advocacy, increased enforcement and changes in policies." 

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