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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteMt Lawley Senior High School in Perth warned families in a newsletter about a TikTok-associated “passing out” challenge on 7 April 2022. The warning described deliberately causing a blackout as potentially leading to seizures, brain damage, coma, serious injury or death. It did not establish that students at Mt Lawley were injured, or that the challenge is circulating there now.
What the Mt Lawley warning said
PerthNow reported that the inner-city Perth public school used its newsletter to alert parents to a trend in which young people intentionally induced a brief loss of consciousness. The report attributed the warning and comments from the Western Australian Education Department to the school and department; the accessible coverage does not provide an independently authenticated copy of the newsletter.
The same report said another, unnamed Perth public-school principal had dealt with students attempting the behaviour and that paramedics had warned about injuries among Queensland students. Those references are contemporary context, not evidence of the scale of the problem at Mt Lawley Senior High School.
The newsletter also reportedly mentioned other TikTok-related behaviour, including a discriminatory “Guess Who?” image trend and damage to chairs using face-mask strings. Neither is the medical issue at the centre of this article.
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PerthNow’s 7 April 2022 report describes the warning. An alternate publication is available from The West Australian.
What the “passing out” or “blackout” challenge is
Healthdirect groups this behaviour with the “choking game” and “pass-out challenge”. Participants deliberately manipulate breathing or pressure on the body to produce dizziness or unconsciousness. This is not a harmless faint or a controlled party trick: losing consciousness means the brain is temporarily not receiving normal blood flow or oxygen.
Rank #2
Similar behaviour predates TikTok and can move between platforms under different names. No safe method, duration or pressure point exists, so this article does not describe instructions that could make the activity easier to copy. Healthdirect warns that a person may believe they can stop in time but become unable to do so, particularly when alone.
Why a deliberate blackout can become an emergency
- Falls and head injuries: Collapse can happen without warning, leaving no opportunity to protect the head or neck.
- Oxygen-related brain injury: A prolonged or severe interruption can damage the brain.
- Seizures and confusion: Oxygen deprivation or a fall may produce seizure-like movements or an altered mental state.
- Breathing or cardiac failure: The event can progress beyond a brief loss of consciousness.
- Death: Healthdirect explicitly identifies fatal harm as possible.
A person who wakes quickly can still have an injury or an underlying medical problem. An unexplained blackout should be medically assessed rather than automatically attributed to an online trend. Blackouts can also result from dehydration, low blood pressure, heart problems, seizure, stroke, low blood sugar or emotional distress. See Healthdirect’s choking guidance and its advice on blackouts.
How to raise the subject without advertising it
eSafety cautions that introducing a dangerous challenge can itself make a young person curious, especially if they have not heard of it. Do not show clips, demonstrate the behaviour, embed videos or use an image of someone apparently unconscious.
If your child already knows about it, keep the conversation calm and specific to safety:
- Ask, “Have you seen anything online that made you feel pressured to do something unsafe?”
- Ask what they would do if a friend suggested a dangerous stunt and which trusted adult they could tell.
- Discuss consent, peer pressure and the fact that a person cannot reliably control what happens after losing consciousness.
- Encourage them to leave the conversation, block the account, report the material and tell an adult.
- Keep consequences focused on getting help, not punishment, so disclosure remains possible.
Read eSafety’s guidance on dangerous online challenges and its overview of how challenges recur across platforms.
Signs that justify a gentle conversation
Healthdirect lists possible signs associated with choking games:
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- bruising or marks around the neck;
- clothing that unusually covers the neck;
- tiny red spots around the eyes or eyelids;
- headaches, irritability or confusion;
- spending unusual amounts of time alone; and
- ropes, cords, scarves or similar items in a bedroom.
None of these signs proves participation. They have many other explanations, so treat them as prompts for a private, non-accusatory conversation rather than grounds for surveillance or an accusation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to do if a child has passed out
If the person is still unconscious
- Call 000 immediately.
- Check whether the person is breathing normally.
- If they are not breathing normally, start CPR and follow the emergency operator’s instructions.
- Stay with them and treat injuries from a fall as a separate emergency concern.
Do not assume the danger has passed because the person opens their eyes. Healthdirect’s CPR guidance and fainting advice explain the DRSABCD response.
If the person has recovered
Arrange medical advice after any unexplained blackout. Seek urgent assessment for continuing confusion, severe headache, chest pain, palpitations, breathing difficulty, repeated fainting, seizure-like movements or an injury. Tell clinicians exactly what happened, including any suspected restriction of breathing or pressure on the neck.
What remains unknown about Mt Lawley
The 2022 report does not establish how many Mt Lawley students participated, whether anyone at the school suffered an injury, or whether the trend is active there in 2026. “TikTok-inspired” describes how the warning characterised the material; it does not mean TikTok created the underlying behaviour. There is also no verified evidence here of a new 2026 school warning.
Australia’s current platform rules are not a complete solution
Since 10 December 2025, major platforms including TikTok have been required to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from having accounts. That can reduce some direct access, but it cannot guarantee that children will not see reposted clips, receive material through other services or use workarounds. eSafety’s explanation of the rules is available at social media age restrictions and your family; its parental-controls guidance explains why settings need to be combined with supervision and conversation.
Quick Recap
What families and schools can do now
- Do not try, film or forward the behaviour.
- Report harmful posts through the platform and preserve evidence without redistributing it.
- Give students a confidential route to a trusted adult, wellbeing staff member or health professional.
- Respond to suspected participation with safety and medical care first, while addressing coercion, bullying or peer pressure.
- Call 000 for unconsciousness or abnormal breathing.
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