With social media continuing to grow in popularity, more instances of dangerous – and sometimes deadly – outcomes are being reported as participants in online challenges become victims of an unexpected tragedy.
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One such incident took place Friday (June 18), and a family in mourning blames a popular social media challenge for the death of LaTerius Smith Jr.
In a story reported by WREG in Memphis, Tenn., LeTerius was discovered unresponsive in his room. Family says they found the 9-year-old with a belt around his neck and rushed him to a hospital. He didn’t survive.
“To see that baby laying in that casket, hasn’t even had an opportunity to grow up,” said LaTerius’ aunt Barbara Williams. “You know, his life has ended because of some people putting stupid things on various sites.”
The family believes LeTerius was attempting to play The Passout Challenge. Popular on TikTok, the game dares children to choke themselves until they lose consciousness.“It wasn’t until later on that we found out there was some type of video on TikTok, you know, letting kids know … How to strangle yourself, Williams told WREG. “But you got to get out of it, the challenge was to get out of it. But he’s 9 years old, so how was he going to get out of it?”
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The “Passout Challenge” Is Blamed In The Passing Of A 9-Year-Old Boy was originally published on wzakcleveland.com