The viral "Benadryl Challenge" on TikTok involves people recording themselves taking an excess amount of the allergy medicine and attempting to stay awake through drowsiness to receive a high. When 15-year-old Leah Presson participated, it caused a seizure and left her brain dead.
Health officials have warned about the dangers of ingesting excessive amounts of the medication since 2020, when the FDA issued an alert after reports of hospitalizations and deaths linked to the trend. Yet experts say the challenge continues to resurface because Benadryl is easy to obtain and social media can expose new users to old trends.
Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of Enough is Enough, says dangerous internet challenges like this are nothing new. For years now, social media platforms such as TikTok have curated algorithms to promote challenges like this, leading to more children being exposed to danger.
Pointing out that the frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision making, does not fully develop until the age of 25, Hughes does not think kids recognize the danger of participating in these challenges.
"Kids are not supposed to be on these platforms if they're under the age of 13," she insists.
Meanwhile, the social media companies do not have age verification in place to keep kids off these platforms.
States like Utah, Arkansas, Ohio, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida have taken steps to regulate social media for underage users, but Hughes says federal regulations need to be put in place.
"Congress has been very slow because there's a huge Big Tech lobby, and these companies are making billions of dollars off of underage kids," she laments.
As these tech bills slowly make their ways through Congress, Hughes says InternetSaftey101.org offers resources to help parents understand this digital age and make wise choices about how to protect their children.
