Parents weigh in on choking challenge in Mace’s Lane Middle School

CAMBRIDGE, Md. – “I’ve seen them everyday when I walk through the hallways, people always putting their hands on each other, and I try to stop them from doing it and they still keep going,” said Dontez Bryant, a student at Mace’s Lane Middle School.

Bryant a seventh grader at Mace’s Lane Middle School said he is concerned about the latest social media challenge.

“We had like two students who went to the hospital because of this challenge and one student had to fly out to Baltimore ’cause a girl had choked him out,” said Bryant.

The choking challenge is not just something kids talk about or that you find on Snapchat. School principal Jymil Thompson said it is happening here and on Tuesday he reached out to parents to let them know that several students had been seriously hurt because of it.

“We’ve had several incidents where students have been choked and ultimately choked to where they became unconscious and fallen on the floor,” said Thompson.

Some parents tell 47ABC students face bullying at the school far too often and that things like the choking challenge make them think twice before sending them off in the morning.

“You reach out to the different authorities to try to get an answer and then when you don’t get an answer that is acceptable or you don’t see any good results the same thing is happening over and over, you can hardly even sleep,” said Lawonda Major-Pratis, a parent at Mace’s Lane Middle School.

Another parent tells 47ABC that his son was allegedly choked by another student at the middle school and it was ultimately that incident that led to counseling.

“I don’t know,” said Thomas Ferguson Jr., a parent at the middle school.

“Mentally it’s messing around with him and as you can imagine going back to school, people are talking about you, but the principal said that everybody shook his hand and said they glad he’s back in school,” said Ferguson Jr.

The principal said even though he is doing his best to provide safety it is a challenge to keep students away from their cell phones.

“We make a real effort to ensure that students don’t have their cell phones, but I’ll be realistic and honest you can’t get everyone,” said Thompson.

The Cambridge Police Department released a statement on Wednesday letting parents and students know that anyone who participates in things like the choking challenge can face serious consequences.