Viral Challenges and Online Dares: What Parents Should Know

Your child shows you a video: a teenager eating a spoonful of cinnamon, or holding their breath until they pass out. "Everyone is doing it," your child says.

That is how a viral challenge reaches your home. Most online dares are harmless fun, like a dance or a silly photo trend. But a small number are dangerous, and some have seriously hurt or even killed children. When kids understand how challenges work and feel safe talking to you, they are much less likely to take a risky dare.

What Is a Viral Challenge?

A viral challenge is a dare or activity that spreads quickly online. One person films themselves doing it, posts it on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, or Snapchat, and dares others to copy it. A challenge can reach millions of kids in a single day.

Many challenges are positive. Kids dance, cook a new recipe, or raise money for a good cause. But some ask kids to do unsafe things: eat something they should not eat, hold their breath, take too much medicine, or climb somewhere high. A risky dare often looks just like a safe one in a short video. The person filming smiles and gets thousands of likes. What the video does not show is the trip to the emergency room afterward.

Challenges spread fast because kids are online so much. Pew Research Center found that nearly half of US teens say they are online almost constantly, and 95% have access to a smartphone.

Why Kids Join In

It is easy to wonder why a smart kid would copy a dangerous dare. The answer is mostly about how young brains and friendships work.

First, belonging matters more than almost anything to a child or teen. If friends are doing a challenge, saying no can feel like being left out. Peer pressure is often quiet: a laugh, an eye roll, or a comment like "don't be scared." Group chats make this worse, because a dare can arrive in front of the whole friend group at once. Our guide to teen group chats explains how that pressure builds.

Second, young brains are wired to focus on rewards, not risks. A teen's brain notices likes and attention right away, but the part that weighs long-term danger is still developing. That is why a dare that earns applause can feel worth the risk to a 12-year-old even when an adult can see the danger.

Third, algorithms push challenge videos hard. Feeds show each person more of what keeps them watching, so once a child watches one challenge video, the app shows more of them. The Surgeon General's advisory on social media and youth mental health notes that teens spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on social media.

The Dares That Can Hurt

Some challenges are famous for the wrong reasons. Knowing their names helps you spot them when your child mentions one.

The "blackout challenge" dares kids to choke themselves until they pass out. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 82 probable choking-game deaths among young people aged 6 to 19 in the United States between 1995 and 2007, and found that 93% of the parents of those children had never heard of the game until their child died. More recently, the blackout challenge has been linked to the deaths of around 20 children in 18 months, and six families are suing TikTok over it, according to Fast Company.

The "Benadryl challenge" dares teens to take large amounts of the allergy medicine diphenhydramine to hallucinate. The US Food and Drug Administration warned in 2020 that high doses can cause serious heart problems, seizures, coma, or death, after news reports of teenagers ending up in emergency rooms or dying.

Other risky dares have included eating laundry detergent pods and climbing onto high places for a photo. The American Psychological Association's health advisory on social media use in adolescence reminds parents that teens are still learning to manage their emotions and impulses online, which is why adult guidance matters.

A Quick Check: Safe Fun or Risky Dare?

Not every challenge is a problem. Use this table with your child when a new dare pops up in their feed.

A simple rule covers most cases: if a challenge asks your child to put something in their body, stop breathing, climb high, or hide it from adults, it is not worth doing, no matter how many likes it gets.

What Parents Can Do

You do not need to watch every video your child sees. You need a few habits that make risky dares less likely to win.

Talk about challenges before one shows up. Ask your child what trends they have seen this week, and watch a few together. When you react with curiosity instead of panic, your child is more likely to tell you about the next one.

Teach the pause. Give your child a short checklist: does it involve my body, could someone get hurt, would I hide it from an adult? If any answer is yes, the answer to the dare is no.

Set up the phone together. Use the parental controls on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram to limit who can message your child and what appears in their feed. Keep phones out of bedrooms at night. A shared family media plan from the American Academy of Pediatrics can help you agree on the rules as a family.

Know what is trending. A quick weekly check of what is popular on your child's apps helps you spot a dangerous dare early.

Report dangerous videos. Every major app lets you report a video that encourages self-harm or dangerous behavior. It takes a minute, and it can stop the video from reaching other kids.

If your child already tried something risky, stay calm and focus on safety first. A child who gets a lecture after a scare will hide the next one. A child who gets help will ask for it again.

Keep the conversation open about everything online, not just challenges. Our guide to deepfakes and teens covers how to help kids question what they see online.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all viral challenges dangerous?

No. Most are harmless fun, like dance trends or cooking challenges. The danger comes from a small number of dares that involve the body, heights, medicines, or hiding the activity from adults.

At what age should I start talking about online dares?

Start early, around age 8 or 9, when many kids first watch short videos. Keep it simple: "If a video tells you to do something to your body or hide it from me, come and tell me first."

What should I do if my child already tried a dangerous challenge?

Stay calm and check their health first. If they swallowed something, took medicine, or were choked, call your doctor or poison control right away. In the United States, poison control is 1-800-222-1222. Once your child is safe, talk about what happened without shouting.

Should I ban TikTok and YouTube completely?

A total ban often backfires, because kids watch the same videos at a friend's house. It is usually better to use parental controls, set time limits, keep phones out of bedrooms, and talk regularly about what your child sees.

How can I tell if a challenge my child mentions is dangerous?

Search the challenge name plus "danger" and check trusted sources like the CDC, the FDA, or major news outlets. If it includes eating or drinking something unusual, holding breath, taking medicine, climbing, or hiding it from adults, treat it as risky.

The Bottom Line

Viral challenges are not going away. New ones appear every week. Every challenge is a chance to practice the same skill: pause, think, and decide for yourself.

Talk early, stay curious, and keep the conversation going. A child who knows they can tell you about a dare without getting in trouble will tell you before they try it. That one conversation can be the difference between a funny video and a trip to the hospital.