Parents in Mexico have been urged to supervise their children’s use of social media after 15 school pupils were hospitalised after taking tranquilisers in an internet ‘challenge’.
More than a dozen fifth and sixth graders (all likely to be between the ages of ten and 12) participated in the TikTok stunt – called the ‘tranq challenge’ – in the north-central city of Guanajuato, where they took a sedative before challenging each other to see who could stay awake the longest.
It came just days after health authorities issued a national alert about the craze. It was the fourth school in Mexico to suffer such incidents in the last year, with several students reporting illnesses.
It also comes weeks after a report of eight pupils in Mexico City becoming ill from tranquiliser abuse, plus three further cases in Monterrey.
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Guanajuato mayor Alejandro Navarro said the students were treated at the school and urged parents to keep a close eye on their kids’ social media activities.
"As a rule, girls and boys shouldn't have social media accounts, it's bad to start with," wrote Navarro on Facebook.
“We have to take care of the girls and the boys, pamper them, love them and be very aware of what they do.
“The message is addressed to fathers and mothers and heads of families, not to girls and boys. In principle, they would not see this because they should not have social networks.”
Mexico’s health department first raised an alert about the dangers of the tranquiliser on January 25 and called on the public to report any store selling it without a prescription.
Authorities warned that taking such drugs without medical supervision could cause symptoms like drowsiness, nausea, difficulty with thought or memory, problems with coordination or more severe issues like breathing troubles and in the most extreme cases, taking the drug can lead to a coma or death.
Health officials warned about the social media stunt calling it dangerous and urging parents to warn their children of the risks associated with it.
There was no immediate information on the condition of the students or where they got the tranquilisers.
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