Eraser Challenge Goes Viral Again, Injuring Kids And Worrying Doctors

To borrow a line from "Twin Peaks," "it is happening again."

Children around the world have recently revived the eraser challenge, a decades-old game with a new name but the same serious consequences. Following social media trends like the cinnamon challenge, Kylie Jenner lip challenge and the salt and ice challenge, parents and schools have reported kids have turned to the eraser challenge, a contest between people to see who can withstand the rubbing of an eraser on the back of their hands longer.

"Kids don't know this, but your skin isn't sterile," Seattle pediatrician Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson told "The Today Show." "It's crawling and teeming with bacteria, and when you open up your skin, that bacteria can crawl in and cause an infection."

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Swanson said that, in most cases, there was no cause for alarm. Most children will play and simply be left with scabs. But in extreme instances, the schoolyard game can be dangerous — especially if students share the erasers after they've broken skin with it.

"They’re 13, 14 years old and what’s cool takes over sometimes," Connecticut teacher Doris Murphy told WTNH in 2014, one of the last times the challenge went viral. "A couple of my girls had come to me because kids were ending up with pretty severe wounds on their arms."

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Researchers have declared the innocent-seeming eraser challenge self-destructive not only because of its ability to cause short-term injuries but also possible long-term effects like postinflammatory dyspigmentation, according to a 2013 report in "The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology." The experts recommended parents monitor their kids' internet use and watch for physical signs of self-abuse.

"There are no winners in the Eraser Challenge, and such behavior reaffirms just how powerful peer pressure can be in terms of impacting our children and adolescents in mostly negative ways," they wrote.