TikTok 'Flamethrower' challenge puts teen in hospital with burns to over 70% of his body

RALEIGH, N.C. - The latest TikTok challenge nearly killed a 16-year-old high school athlete.

The trend involves a lighter and a can of spray paint.

The North Carolina teen was with his friends when they dared him to make a video featuring the so-called "Flamethrower" challenge.

"They all heard a big boom and then Mason came running out and started taking off his shirt," said Holli Dark, Mason’s morther.

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The challenge that has teens lighting spray paint on fire put Mason Dark in the hospital with burns to over 70 percent of his body. He is not expected to get out of the burn unit for another six months.

FOX 32 Chicago spoke with a social media expert about what signs parents should look for to see if their child might attempt a deadly trend.

"It's very hard to know if your child is going to make a bad choice. Because good kids make bad choices," said Titania Jordan, Bark Technologies Chief Parenting Officer.

"That said, because they have unprecedented access on these things, you as a parent need to be using the built in parental controls that come with; whether it’s an iPhone or an Android and use monitoring technology so that if they have dropped a digital crumb of a hint that they're going to be doing something dangerous, at least you'll get an alert and can take action."

Jordan works with an app called "Bark" that can be downloaded on a phone to monitor a child's social media communications, and then alert parents to any red flags.