JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Boy, 9, dies attempting TikTok challenge

by

Sharlene Rampersad
1645 days ago
20210127
The street where Emmanuel Poteon lived in Maloney.

The street where Emmanuel Poteon lived in Maloney.

SHIRLEY BAHADUR

Po­lice are in­ves­ti­gat­ing the death of a nine-year-old child who at­tempt­ed a “chal­lenge” on so­cial me­dia site Tik­Tok, on­ly to be found dead hours lat­er by his rel­a­tives.

Em­manuel Po­teon was dis­cov­ered by his grand­moth­er at their Mal­oney Gar­dens home on Mon­day evening two hours af­ter she no­ticed he was miss­ing.

Ac­cord­ing to po­lice, around 2 pm on Mon­day, Em­manuel’s grand­moth­er raised an alarm about his where­abouts.

Search­es of the street where he lived and the house were done but it would take the fam­i­ly three hours to find him in a bath­room in the home’s guest bed­room.

Guardian Me­dia vis­it­ed the home yes­ter­day but rel­a­tives de­clined to speak, say­ing they are too dis­traught by the loss.

One of Em­manuel’s neigh­bours, Roy Oliv­er, said the child’s death shat­tered the com­mu­ni­ty.

“Every­body shocked, I saw him up to Sun­day, evening, he went by the neigh­bour for two man­go, he pass back and ask “How you go­ing?” I say I al­right…that thing mash-up around here yes, if you see the lit­tle boy how nice,” Oliv­er said.

Em­manuel was a Stan­dard Three pupil of the Ca­roni Hin­du School.

In an in­ter­view with Guardian Me­dia yes­ter­day, Act­ing Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al of the Sanatan Dhar­ma Ma­ha Sab­ha, Vi­jay Ma­haraj said chil­dren are un­der pres­sure and he has seen its ef­fects first hand. He said schools need to be re­opened.

“He (Em­manuel) was one of our chil­dren. Chil­dren are be­com­ing para­noid at home, they are un­der a tremen­dous amount of pres­sure,” Ma­haraj said.

He said au­thor­i­ties need to pay clos­er at­ten­tion to the men­tal health of chil­dren.

Mean­while, the Chil­dren’s Au­thor­i­ty is­sued a re­lease yes­ter­day, call­ing for par­ents and guardians to pay clos­er at­ten­tion to the pop­u­lar trends on so­cial me­dia that can be harm­ful to their chil­dren.

The au­thor­i­ty said par­ents should al­so hold reg­u­lar con­ver­sa­tions with their chil­dren on the im­por­tance of not tak­ing part or im­i­tat­ing so­cial me­dia trends or chal­lenges be­cause of the dan­gers they might be in.

In an in­ter­view with Guardia Me­dia yes­ter­day, Cy­ber Se­cu­ri­ty Evan­ge­list, Dar­ren Dho­ray said so­cial me­dia chal­lenges have been around for sev­er­al years.

He urged par­ents to be mind­ful of the age re­stric­tions on so­cial me­dia plat­forms—say­ing those were put in place to pro­tect young, naive users.


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Leslie Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Leslie Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Leslie Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Leslie Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Jesus Explosion 23: Visiting priest feeds RC faithful

22 hours ago
Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Courtesy Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Courtesy Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League

Israel Khan honoured by community cricket league

22 hours ago
SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa steps up Caricom collaboration after summit

Yesterday
Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

ANISTO ALVES

Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

ANISTO ALVES

Argentina wants to export world-famous beef to T&T

Yesterday