A Texas couple is warning about a social media trend they say cost their 9-year-old daughter her life. Curtis and Wendi Blackwell of Stephenville said their only child, JackLynn, died last month after trying the so-called "blackout challenge," in which people restrict their own breathing—often with cords or belts—to experience a brief high. Curtis Blackwell said he found his daughter in the family's backyard with a cord around her neck and performed CPR until first responders arrived, CBS News reports, but she did not survive. "I'll never forget that day," he said.
The Blackwells say JackLynn, who loved karaoke and online challenges, had previously shown her grandmother a video of someone doing a similar stunt and was told never to attempt it. "She was on YouTube a lot, which, of course, a lot of kids are," her father said. Federal health officials have linked the blackout challenge to at least 80 deaths, most involving children and young teens, according to the CDC. "It's not a game, it's life and death," he said, adding that kids are easily influenced by what they see online. Some platforms now display warnings or restrict searches for the blackout challenge, but the family says dangerous content is still easy for children to encounter.
Curtis Blackwell argues major tech companies should face stronger accountability for how recommendation algorithms can push young users toward harmful material: "You could check on your kid, it could be kid-friendly videos, and then three minutes later it could be totally something dark." The family doesn't want other parents to think it couldn't happen to their child, he said, per the Dublin Citizen. Blackwell said one of his daughter's friends said she "didn't even know little kids could die."
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