Why are our kids risking their lives FOR CLICKS?

With more and more dangerous TikTok trends circulating online, we ask...

- WORDS: ASHLEIGH PAGE

We all did stupid, and occasionally dangerous, things when we were young. Getting caught copying our best friend's maths homework, lying about our whereabouts so we could drink underage at parties, cycling down steep hills without a helmet... But what happens when impulsive and naive young people have constant access to other impulsive and naive young people via the internet and social media? Many are filming themselves doing dangerous stunts, then posting the videos on the internet and encouraging others to do the same - from touching plug prongs with pennies to see sparks, to pouring beer on themselves before heading out into the sun to get a tan, and even abusing cough medicine. But what makes our kids want to jump on these dangerous trends and take part? Woman investigates...

FATAL CHILDISH FUN

At a sleepover with his friends, Tommie-lee Gracie Billington, 11, suddenly became unresponsive. Terrified, his friends raised the alarm and he was rushed to nearby Royal Lancaster Infirmary. Paramedics and doctors worked hard to save him, but tragically he was pronounced dead on 2 March 2024. He'd suffered a cardiac arrest. Instead of picking him up from a sleepover, his mum, Sherri-Ann, was identifying his body at a hospital. But Tommie-lee was an otherwise healthy tween boy. What had caused this?