A 'dangerous challenge' is going around: responding without spreading it

Pause and check before you warn

When a rumour reaches the staff room, the first instinct is to warn everyone. Guidance for schools in the UK and Australia says the same thing: wait until you have the facts. Rumours of a dangerous new challenge often turn out to be baseless, and hoaxes work by playing on adults' protective instincts.

Before anyone acts, ask:

• Has anyone at our school actually seen this, or only heard about it?
• Has there been a real incident here, or is it a story from somewhere else?
• Is the information coming from a reliable source, such as police, your school board or service centre, or a public health body, rather than a forwarded message or a post?

Remember that even when something is "everywhere" online, it doesn't mean every child has seen it or heard of it.

Why naming the challenge can backfire

A warning feels responsible. But Welsh Government guidance for schools points out that sharing a warning can raise curiosity and drive more students, and their parents, to go looking for the harmful content. Naming the challenge to students and families risks spreading its reach further.

So, in any message from the school:

• don't name the challenge or use its nickname
• don't describe what it involves
• don't attach screenshots, videos or links
• don't forward a warning someone else wrote

A general message about online safety does the protective work without the risk. It also keeps working next month, when a different rumour arrives.

Who leads

One calm response beats ten separate ones. The guidance suggests the principal and the person responsible for student safety and well-being lead it, with the student-support team (counsellor, psychologist, social worker).

Agree on a few things together:

• what you know for sure, and what you don't
• whether there is any action needed beyond general education
• who speaks to students, who speaks to parents, and with what message
• that staff won't post or forward anything about it on their own

Let staff know who to go to if a student raises a concern, so they aren't improvising.

A message that works for any challenge

The most useful lesson isn't about one trend. It's a set of skills students can use whenever something online pressures them or worries them:

• You don't have to do something because others seem to be doing it. Saying no is hard, and it's still allowed.
• If something online upsets you or seems risky, you can stop, close it and tell an adult you trust.
• Use the report and block tools in apps and games.
• Things that look real online can be edited, staged or made up.

Make sure students know there is a time, a place and a person at school they can talk to about anything that worries them, online issues included.

Talking with a class without showing examples

You can teach about the risks of online challenges without showing any examples or giving explicit details. Keep the focus on choices and support, not on the content.

If a student brings up the challenge by name in class, stay calm and don't repeat it or ask them to describe it. You might say: "I've heard there are rumours going around. I'm not going to go into the details, because that's how these things spread. What I care about is that you know you can come to me." Then move to the general skills above.

Younger children especially may be frightened by stories. Reassure them that adults are paying attention and that they are safe.

Coordinating with parents

Parents will hear the rumour too, often with more alarm. A short, calm message from the school helps more than silence. It should not name or describe the challenge.

A message might say that the school is aware of online rumours, that it is following up, and that it is a good moment for families to talk about online pressure in general. Suggest that parents talk about the risks with their child without showing them examples, and give them a staff contact for specific worries.

Ask parents not to forward warnings in group chats. That is often how a local rumour becomes a local panic.

Following up with the few students involved

If you learn that specific students have taken part or been pressured to, handle it privately and individually, with the support team and their families. Focus on safety and on the pressure behind it, not on the challenge itself.

If a student has been hurt or is in danger, call 9-1-1. If an adult online is pressuring a student, keep a record of what the student tells you and report it. Afterward, check in with those students over the following days.