
Over a dozen Mexican children have been hospitalized after emulating a deadly internet trend known as the TikTok tranquilizer challenge.
In recent days, fifteen fifth and sixth graders in Guanajuanto, central Mexico, were hospitalized; pupils in other parts of the country also reported illness.
Trending Deadly TikTok Tranquilizer Challenge
The tranq challenge that went viral in Mexico often involves participants taking the sedative clonazepam, an anticonvulsant and antianxiety medication.
It follows a report of eight pupils in Mexico City falling ill from clonazepam misuse and three additional cases in Monterrey, a city in the north.
Students would utilize the medicine, a controlled benzodiazepine comparable to Xanax, to see who could stay awake the longest despite the drug’s sleepiness side effect.
Officials are urging parents to supervise their young children’s use of social media websites, as the trend originated on these platforms. It comes after the US Surgeon General urged parents to completely remove children under 16 from social sites.
On January 25, one week after the students fell ill in Mexico City, Mexican officials first warned of the threat.
It is assumed that all of the ill children are in fifth or sixth grade. This suggests that they are likely all between the ages of 10 and 12.
There is no information available regarding the present condition of these students.
Clonazepam, sold under the brand name Rivotril south of the border in Mexico, is available only with a valid prescription.
However, officials are concerned that the children may have purchased the pills over the counter and have warned retailers against selling the prohibited chemical illegally.
Clonazepam functions by slowing down the central nervous system, thereby facilitating relaxation. Its biggest common adverse effect is extreme drowsiness, but excessive use can cause irregular heartbeat, chest pain, low blood pressure, convulsions, and breathing difficulties.
As a person’s breathing becomes so sluggish that it causes brain damage, the most severe cases could result in a coma or death. Clonazepam, like other benzos, is highly addictive. After just a few weeks of use, dependence can develop.
It is still unknown how much medication the hospitalized children took. Clonazepam dosages are calculated by weight, therefore it is plausible that the little children overdosed if they took adult-sized doses.
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Lawmakers Call For Crackdown

Some of the world’s most influential politicians have called for a crackdown out of concern for these and other dangers posed by social media to young people.
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the United States surgeon general, told CNN over the weekend that children under 16 should not be permitted to use social media.
In addition to the potential of encouraging children to engage in risky activities such as the tranq challenge, research has also linked social media use to poor mental health.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University attributed the increase in adolescent mental health concerns in the 2000s to the arrival of social media in a report published in 2020.
In 2019, a second team from Johns Hopkins discovered that students who spend more than three hours per day on social media platforms are at increased risk for severe mental health issues.
In more than two dozen studies, researchers discovered a high correlation between time spent on social media and the chance of developing depression.