--- title: "Eraser Challenge:" Dangers That Parents Need to Know About description: One version of the dare involves children reciting the alphabet while rubbing the skin on their arm with an eraser. canonical: https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-20T14:01:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:08.007Z article:section: Health og:title: What Parents Need to Know About the ‘Eraser Challenge’ og:description: The phenomenon is reaching a wider audience of vulnerable kids og:url: https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad52dcf611e50aed/6988bf058e0601eeef4699bb/eraser-challenge-dangers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5477 og:image:height: 3081 og:image:alt: Directly Above Shot Of Pencils In Container On Table og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Parents Need to Know About the ‘Eraser Challenge’ twitter:description: The phenomenon is reaching a wider audience of vulnerable kids twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad52dcf611e50aed/6988bf058e0601eeef4699bb/eraser-challenge-dangers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Parents Need to Know About the ‘Eraser Challenge’ > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: How to Avoid Spoiling Your Kids MONEY [Watch (HLS stream): How to Avoid Spoiling Your Kids MONEY](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oh7ekV65.m3u8) (1:20)  _Published 2017-03-07. You can start teaching your kids good money practices early in life, thus not raising them as spoiled._ by [Amanda MacMilan / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Amanda MacMilan / Real Simple Mar 20, 2017 2:01 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Amanda MacMilan / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Amanda MacMilan / Real Simple Mar 20, 2017 2:01 PM UTC A viral Facebook post is calling attention to a dangerous game being played at schools around the country. The social media account of East Iredell Middle School in Statesville, North Carolina recently published a photo of a [burn on a child’s arm](https://www.facebook.com/EastIredellMiddleSchool/posts/651272148399326:0)—the result of the “eraser challenge,” the caption states. “Kids are rubbing an eraser across their skin while having to do or say something,” the post continues. “It’s causing serious burns and we’ve seen several cases of this at EIMS.” School-age children burning themselves with erasers may be nothing new; several commenters on the post recall engaging in similar antics when they were younger. But thanks to the challenge’s spread on social media, as [_Today reported_](http://www.today.com/health/eraser-challenge-what-parents-need-know-about-craze-t109100), it’s getting new attention and reaching a wider audience of vulnerable kids. According to _Today_, one version of the dare involves children reciting the alphabet while rubbing the skin on their arm with an eraser. The goal is to not drop out first—even if the rubbing motion leads to burns and open wounds. “Social media is filled with videos of kids and teens filming themselves doing the challenge and wincing in pain,” the morning show reported. Why, exactly, would kids want to harm themselves in this way? It seems like a combination of showing off and peer pressure, says Joelle Simpson, M.D., an emergency medicine and trauma physician at Children’s National Health System. Dr. Simpson hasn’t treated any patients with eraser burns herself, but she has heard about the phenomenon. **_RELATED_**_:_ [_How to Deal With a Boomerang Kid_](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/adult-children-living-at-home/?xid=time-rs) “Peer pressure is no longer contained within the school yard, but it’s expanding into the virtual world of social media,” says Dr. Simpson. “Kids are always trying to up the ante when it comes to challenges like this, so it’s important for parents to be aware of what their children are engaging in.” And while eraser burns may sound goofy, they’re nothing to laugh at. Like any other burn—from fire or another form of friction—they can be painful and lead to permanent scarring. They can also be dangerous. “The skin is one of the largest components of the immune system; it’s our largest organ,” says Dr. Simpson. “And when you practice this challenge, it can compromise that barrier and leave you susceptible to catching an infection.” The risk is especially high for children who already have weakened immune systems because of other health conditions, she adds. **_RELATED:_**[_Sorry Parents, Middle School is Officially the Worst_](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/middle-school-worst-age-study/?xid=time-rs) And serious issues have been reported: In 2015, KHSL-TV reported that a high-school student in California contracted [toxic shock syndrome](http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/teen-hospitalized-after-eraser-challenge-game/) from a strep infection after doing the challenge. If a parent does notice these types of burns on their children’s arms, Dr. Simpson recommends washing the area with soap and water, applying an antibiotic ointment like Neosporin, and following up with a doctor if it doesn’t start to heal in a few days. Of course, this sort of injury isn’t necessarily something a child will go to their parents about willingly. “It’s always on the parent to be vigilant and engage in talking to a child about any unusual scars or marks they might notice,” says Dr. Simpson. “Parents shouldn’t ignore things like this; being upfront and having an open conversation about what happened, and why this happened, can help families avoid similar problems in the future.” _This_ [_article_](https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/parents-need-to-know-eraser-challenge/?xid=time-rs) _originally appeared on_ [_RealSimple.com_](http://www.realsimple.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/"},"headline":"What Parents Need to Know About the ‘Eraser Challenge’","datePublished":"2017-03-20T14:01:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:45:08.007Z","description":"The phenomenon is reaching a wider audience of vulnerable kids","url":"https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/","keywords":["Parenting","Living"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad52dcf611e50aed/6988bf058e0601eeef4699bb/eraser-challenge-dangers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda MacMilan / Real Simple"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltad52dcf611e50aed/6988bf058e0601eeef4699bb/eraser-challenge-dangers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Directly Above Shot Of Pencils In Container On Table","caption":"Directly Above Shot Of Pencils In Container On Table","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/parenting/","name":"Parenting"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/","name":"What Parents Need to Know About the ‘Eraser Challenge’"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How to Avoid Spoiling Your Kids MONEY","description":"You can start teaching your kids good money practices early in life, thus not raising them as spoiled.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oh7ekV65/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-07T18:14:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oh7ekV65.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/","duration":"PT1M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4706526/eraser-challenge-dangers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```