Doctors Warn Parents of Dangerous ‘Skull Breaker Challenge’ Gaining Popularity on TikTok

“He landed hard flat on his back and head, as he struggled to get up he lost consciousness, he fell forward landing on his face,” Hodson explained. “The school monitor ran to his side, all the while the 2 boys were snickering and laughing as his stiff unconscious body lay on the asphalt.”

Hodson says her son wound up with a head injury, stitches in his face, severe cuts in his mouth, and two front teeth that will need to be closely monitored.

She later updated to add that her son was not aware of what was about to happen—hence the “prank,” and the two boys who did this to him had been trusted friends of his for quite some time.

In Alabama, a mom named Teri Smith shared a similar story on Facebook after her son Parker was too a victim of the prank.

Parker suffered two broken bones in his wrist and had to undergo surgery to have pins and screws placed for stability.

“Parents teach your kids that this crap is dangerous,” Smith wrote.

“The ‘Skull Breaker Challenge’ is an emerging prank being propagated on social media that results in forceful trauma to the head and neck area,” said Dr. Nathan Richards, a physician who specializes in internal medicine and pediatrics at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“It can be associated with a variety of serious and even life-threatening injuries including, but not limited to, bruising, hematoma, skull fracture, neck strain, neck fracture, concussion and long-term complications of concussion, bleeding in or around the brain, loss of consciousness, paralysis and death,” he said.

“Although it can seem like a harmless prank to children and adolescents, they should be educated on the potentially serious consequences of doing the [challenge],” he added.

Parents, it’s important to talk to your kids not only about the dangers of these challenges, but also as a warning to not partake.

Kids need to know the signs of these pranks in order to not become victims of them.