“Comma Game”, a dangerous practice spreading across playgrounds | Health and well-being

A phenomenon that worries parents and teachers. Since the 2022-2023 school year, especially since the school year started last September, the “Comma Game” has become popular again on the playgrounds. The challenge is not new, but it has become popular again among young schoolchildren in recent weeks, thanks to the buzz of some videos on TikTok. The problem? This challenge is not without risk to children’s health.

What exactly is that? The “comma game” involves giving someone a surprise sharp blow to the back of the neck in two steps in opposite directions. The ideal? Spin the person in a comma or break his neck. In some videos posted on TikTok, teenagers perform this technique on someone for fun, surprising them. On others, it’s about friends “training” each other.

This popular challenge in sports fields is of particular concern to health professionals in France. According to them, the fact that the game relies on the element of surprise worsens the potential consequences for the victim. “It’s absolutely stupid to get injured like this,” emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo Dr. Gerald Kierske reports.

“The neck is a strategic and vulnerable part of the human body, where we find the muscles, the vertebrae that allow movement of the head, and all the nerves that come from the brain. By acting surprised on your friend’s neck, you risk causing cervical injuries such as ‘whiplash’ and cervical sprains or fractures. “There is, especially the odontoid (2nd cervical vertebra),” he explains.

This Thursday, September 28, a young woman was hit in the neck and admitted to the War Department. Students and parents were alerted to the situation by message, Le Parisien reported. “The high school learned that a student was hospitalized following the ‘comma game’. This challenge, particularly traumatic at the cervical level, is in vogue at the high school and nearby colleges. Given the seriousness of the medical consequences, sanctions against those who engage in this unacceptable activity will be severe,” the school said. Administration informed.More or less serious cases have been reported among our neighbors in recent weeks.Therefore parents, teachers, educators and administration are requested to be extra vigilant.

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