In Berlin school

Girl choked unconscious during TikTok challenge

(Bild: Simone - stock.adobe.com)

Another dangerous incident has occurred during a TikTok challenge: Children from the 5th and 6th grade of an elementary school in Berlin allegedly choked a classmate until she collapsed. The suspects tried to cover up the incident - an adult who happened to be passing by finally raised the alarm.

The students took part in the so-called blackout challenge: This involves choking someone until they are unconscious and posting a recording of it on the video platform. Children at a school in Berlin-Kreuzberg also wanted to try out this dangerous trend.

"One girl's attempt went completely wrong and she collapsed. [...] Instead of helping her by getting help from the other children, the children dragged her to a secluded spot and tried to pour water into the unconscious girl," warned the principal in an email to the parents, according to the Berlin newspaper "BZ".

No lasting physical damage
When a classmate tried to get help, she was stopped with threats. Fortunately, a father happened to notice the incident and informed the teacher and the emergency services. "The fact that the girl did not suffer any permanent physical damage without help [...] (as things stand now) is nothing short of a miracle," said the principal.

The pupils who choked the girl are suspended from school. The principal argues that this step was taken to protect the other children. A charge of assault and failure to render assistance is also being considered. The perpetrators have not yet reached the age of criminal responsibility.

TikTok denies guilt
The principal appealed to parents: "Re-enacting 'challenges' is not a game and, in the worst case, means injury, if not worse, for those involved." Children should be encouraged to say "no" to such trends.

The TikTok platform is not aware of any culpability: "This worrying 'challenge', which people have apparently learned about from sources other than TikTok, has been around long before the existence of our platform and was never a TikTok trend," a spokeswoman is quoted as saying by "BZ". Such content is immediately deleted from the platform and search terms for dangerous trends are blocked.