The scare suffered by a 10-year-old boy in the CD Menorca facilities has set off all the alarms in the educational community of the Balearic Islands in view of the spread of the viral challenge known as mataleón. The minor had to be taken to the emergency room of the Mateu Orfila Hospital after another child, two years older, practiced this choking maneuver that left him on the verge of losing consciousness.
The episode has caused the rapid spread of a WhatsApp message among families in Maó warning of the extreme danger of this practice, which mimics a strangulation key used in martial arts and popularized in social networks.
A game not a game
Although this technique has been used for decades in sporting contexts, its use as a “game” has been “game among minors has skyrocketed in recent months as a result of the viral challenges circulating on TikTok. Educators and authorities warn that the situation has worsened both in the Balearic Islands and in the rest of the country due to the proliferation of videos that accumulate thousands of views and show how to execute a mataleón and even more aggressive variants such as the so-called Ilia Topuria. This exposure has normalized among many students a maneuver whose real risk is unknown to them.
Mataleon involves wrapping an arm around the victim’s neck from behind and putting pressure on the carotid arteries, which can cut off blood flow to the brain within seconds. Its effects caninclude dizziness, fainting, seizures and, in extreme cases, permanent neurological damage if the compression is maintained too long.
Minors, due to their lower cervical strength and lack of technique, are especially vulnerable, as the case of Maó shows: the affected child had to undergo medical tests to rule out internal injuries and days later was still suffering from pain in the neck and head.
Reinforcement in educational centers
Teachers and police tutors in Mallorca confirm that they have had to intervene in several schools and institutes to try to eradicate this practice among students. Until recently, the cases were isolated, but the viralization of the challenge has multiplied the episodes and forced to reinforce surveillance in playgrounds, corridors and extracurricular activities.
The agents warn that many minors imitate what they see on networks without measuring the consequences, convinced that it is a simple challenge. In some cases, they even record and disseminate the videos to show off on social networks after knocking their peers unconscious.
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