Children set body ablaze as Tik Tok trend hit Jamaica
A viral social media challenge which involves children dousing sections of their body with alcohol or hand sanitiser before setting themselves on fire, has set off alarm bells in some local schools.
One educator in warning parents recently about the trend, urged them to better monitor their children’s use of social media.
“A number of schools have been complaining about it [and] that it is being done on their grounds,” he told parents of students at the St. Catherine based primary school where he works.
“Parents, we are asking you. Whether or not you think your child is involved in this; whether or not you think your child would be involved in such a thing, to have that conversation with your child,” the senior teacher urged in a whatsapp message to the parents.
He said students at his school were caught in the bathroom engaging in the challenge. The teacher, who is also a parent, said he is warning parents as he could not fathom getting news that his child had been injured in such a trend. He also shared a video of one young tik tok user engaging in the trend.
“Have this trend stop trending now,” he urged.
There has been no report of this trend from local officials, however, internationally, parents have been told of injuries sustained by children who have engaged in different versions of this social media challenge. Different variations of the trend has emerged over the years.
In 2018, a 12-year-old boy received 40 per cent burns to his body after rubbing alcohol on his body and then setting himself on fire. Fire officials told the media they found rubbing alcohol on the bathroom counter where the incident took place, as well as a lighter.
“As I understand, it’s where you put rubbing alcohol on your body and set it on fire. This is a very, very poor decision,” the fire marshall told 7News in describing the challenge.
Rubbing alcohol is very flammable and when lit of fire can reach up to 1,000 degrees. This is almost seven times the temperate at which human skin burns.
The official said it was not the first case of the challenge they have treated.
“If it gets down into your muscle tissue and damage your muscles, you’re looking at years and years of surgeries.” he said.
The challenge resurfaced in 2022 and during that year, there were several reports of children receiving serious burns which landed them in the ICU. People reported at the time that 12-year-old Nick Howell burned 35 percent of his body while doing a different version of the fire challenge. Howell saw a TikTok variation of the challenge that involved pouring accelerant on items and lighting them on fire. He decided to try it with rubbing alcohol on a concrete floor. Instead of just igniting the floor, the bottle caught on fire and it exploded.
Howell had to have over 50 surgeries and was in and out of the hospital for half a year. His mother, Estela Guillen, told People that the fire challenge-related incident “opened up” her eyes when it came to parenting.
“You think you’re vigilant, but that’s clearly not enough,” she said. “We have to make our children understand that there are really real-life consequences to these challenges,” she said.
Many of those injured during the fiery tik tok trend were eventually admitted to burn units in their respective countries. Currently, Jamaica does not have a dedicated, fully equipped burn centre in the public health sector, and so most patients with severe burns often have to seek treatment overseas.
