A Mother’s Plea
The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died while copying a "horrific" social media trend is calling for children to be educated about the dangers of solvent abuse. Sonia Hopkin was left "heartbroken" after her daughter Tiegan Jarman was found lifeless in her bedroom in Thurmaston, Leicestershire, on March 6. She died while taking part in an online trend called "chroming," copying videos she had seen on social media.
The Incident
Ms. Hopkin, who lives in Leicester, said Tiegan was pronounced dead at the scene after being found unconscious at her father’s home. The 45-year-old believes her "outgoing and fun" daughter was taking part in a trend where people sniff or inhale toxic fumes, which she saw on social media. A petition has now been launched calling for compulsory teaching on the subject of solvent abuse to be introduced in schools.
“The Worst Nightmare”
Ms. Hopkin, a healthcare assistant, said she burst into tears when she learned what had happened to her daughter. "When you hear other stories in the newspapers, you always think it’s someone else’s family, never your own," she said. "It’s just the worst nightmare. I was heartbroken and I’ve been like that ever since." Ms. Hopkin now wants to draw attention to the “dangers of this terrible trend”.
Call to Action
In addition to calling for lessons to be learned about the misuse of solvents, the petition also calls for enforcement of regulations requiring manufacturers to display warnings on their packaging. Ms. Hopkin said: "We hope schools can be taught not only about the dangers of household chemicals, but also about the dangers of the internet." “We just want people to be aware so no one else has to go through this terrible tragedy.”
Social Media Responsibility
Ms. Hopkin also called on social media platforms to do more to prevent actions like chroming from becoming trends. “It’s amazing that these videos aren’t being removed,” she said. “I can’t understand why anyone would want to share rubbish like this. A video would be bad, but the fact that it’s trended is unbelievable. It shouldn’t be available on the internet.” A social media spokesperson said: “We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family.” “Content that promotes dangerous challenges is not allowed on our platform, and we proactively removed 99.8% of videos that violated our policies on this topic before they were reported to us.”
