{"id":372675,"date":"2026-04-10T08:43:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372675\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T08:43:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:43:12","slug":"authorities-warn-parents-about-dangerous-social-media-benadryl-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372675\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities warn parents about dangerous social media Benadryl challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities are warning parents about a dangerous social media trend known as the Benadryl challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Lt. Kevin Lokey with the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) said they are aware of cases in which teens reportedly took more than the recommended dosage of the allergy medication in an effort to get high and stay awake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen a couple. Fortunately, none of them were fatal, but they did require medical attention and hospitalization,\u201d Lokey said.<\/p>\n<p>IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scrippsnews.com\/science-and-tech\/social-media\/teens-are-trying-the-chromebook-challenge-heres-why-its-dangerous\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Teens are trying the \u2018Chromebook challenge.&#8217; Here\u2019s why it&#8217;s dangerou<\/a>s<\/p>\n<p>The challenge involves taking excessive amounts of Benadryl, which can lead to serious health complications and, in some cases, death.<\/p>\n<p>Lokey said the trend highlights the importance of parents staying involved in their children\u2019s online activity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis underscores the need for parents to be involved and know what their kids are doing online,\u201d Lokey said. \u201cYesterday it was the Tide Pod Challenge, today it\u2019s the Benadryl challenge. Tomorrow it\u2019s going to be something else. So we really need parents to be aware of what their kids are doing online.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>FROM THE ARCHIVES | <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scrippsnews.com\/science-and-tech\/social-media\/the-psychology-behind-why-kids-try-viral-internet-challenges\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The psychology behind why kids try viral internet challenges<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lokey leads the VBPD Youth Services Unit and said programs such as the department\u2019s parent advisory committee are designed to help families stay informed about issues affecting young people in the community. The committee meets monthly and gives parents and teens an opportunity to share feedback directly with officers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe welcome teens and parents to come out on a monthly basis, meet with us and give us some input from the community,\u201d Lokey said.<\/p>\n<p>This story was originally published by John Hood with the <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wtkr.com\/news\/in-the-community\/virginia-beach\/virginia-beach-police-warn-parents-about-dangerous-benadryl-challenge\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Scripps News Group in Norfolk, Virginia.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities are warning parents about a dangerous social media trend known as the Benadryl challenge. Lt. Kevin Lokey&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,524,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-372675","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}