A Texas girl has died after accidentally strangling herself while taking part in the viral "blackout challenge," as her family is speaking out to warn other families of the dangerous trend sweeping social media.
JackLynn Blackwell, 9, was killed after she choked herself in the backyard of her family’s Stephenville home on Feb. 3, children and teens film themselves intentionally being choked to the point of blacking out or experiencing a euphoric "high," according to CBS.
"It was horrible to see my daughter in such a vulnerable state because of something so senseless."
In light of their daughter’s tragic death, JackLynn’s parents are slamming social media companies for allowing such dangerous videos to circulate on their platforms, CBS reported.
"It’s not a joke, it’s not a game, it’s life and death," Curtis Blackwell said, according to the outlet.
"Most of the kids are like 9 years old to 14 years old. A lot of kids her age, their brains aren't fully developed, and they are very easily influenced."
Approximately 80 children have died from the online trend, according to the CDC, CBS reported.
Several social media companies are reportedly blocking videos related to the deadly challenge or issuing warnings to viewers who search for related keywords.
However, the warnings are too late for JackLynn’s grieving parents, who are looking to hold social media companies accountable for the videos posted to their platforms.
"You could check on your kid, it could be kid-friendly videos, and then three minutes later it could be totally something dark because of the algorithms they start creating," Curtis Blackwell told CBS. "There's too many of these kids lost for these companies not to be held accountable in my eyes."