Dangerous game on social media: dozens of children died from suffocation in the US

The “suffocation game” has potentially deadly consequences, as players have to temporarily suffocate themselves, limiting oxygen to the brain. It sounds scary, but rough estimates show that about 10% of teenagers in the US may have played such a game at least once, writes MedicalXpress.

Unfortunately, there are more: The Skullbreaker Challenge, Tide Pod Challenge, and Car Surfing are just a few of the deadly games popularized through social media, including Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X — formerly Twitter. Many of these games span more than one generation, and some are experiencing a resurgence.

The consequences of these so-called games can be deadly. For example, in the Skullbreaker Challenge, two people kick the legs out from under a third person, causing them to fall and potentially sustain long-term injuries. Swallowing a detergent pod can lead to choking and serious illness. Falling from a car surf can result in serious head injuries.

It’s difficult to determine the exact number of teen deaths from these activities. Data are lacking, partly because public health databases do not track these activities well — some deaths may be misclassified as suicide — and partly because most existing studies are out of date.

A 2008 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 82 children in the United States died over a 12-year period after playing chokeholds. About 87% of the participants were boys, most were single, and their average age was just over 13. Clearly, new, updated studies are needed to determine the severity of the problem.