There have been many reports recently of children being admitted to the hospital after swallowing magnets. Jack Mason, nine years old, was admitted to the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow for intensive surgery. He had to have both his appendix removed and also parts of his small intestines and primarily removed.
In speaking with the BBC, Jack’s mother, Carolann McGeogh, said she was told her son’s severe problems.
“It was explained to me that the damage these magnets can cause could be so extreme that he might not pull through,” She stated. “Through floods of tears, I then had to sign my permission to the operation, acknowledging that ‘anything could happen,'”
“Jack is lucky to be alive,” she continued. “If his experience can prevent other kids from enduring the same, then I will do everything I can to do that.”
The magnet trend may be accelerating the number of children who have been admitted to hospitals for swallowing magnets in Britain. In the last three years, 65 children were admitted to the hospital.
Speaking with the BBC, TikTok spokeswoman said that company monitors videos that may cause harm to others. “We do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies behavior that might lead to injury,” According to the spokeswoman, “Our safety team uses a range of measures to keep our community safe, and we have been conducting additional proactive searches to detect the content of this nature.”
Even though children swallowed magnets long before TikTok users put them on their tongues, this doesn’t mean the TikTok trend hasn’t been harmful. The platform should prevent users from encouraging each other to do anything that could be dangerous.