THE Guam Department of Education and Guam DODEA are taking action to inform and educate themselves, parents, teachers, faculty, and especially students, about the danger of a fad known as the “Cinnamon Challenge” that has hit many island schools.

Principal Dexter Fullo at Benavente Middle School sent a mass email to faculty and staff after several teachers informed him that schools were reporting how students were playing the “Cinnamon Challenge.”

“Kids take a spoonful of powder cinnamon and attempt to swallow it,” Fullo said. After doing his research and asking his kids, who told him, “yeah dad, a lot of kids are doing it,” Fullo became very concerned.

At his school, several students tried doing it, but fortunately, “we caught it before it happened,” he said.

“These are not problem kids. A lot of them are actually kids who are doing fairly well in their classes,” he added.

Fullo said there were many reported incidences of this happening in his school.

“We have not totally been able to prevent it, but as soon as we found out about it, the teachers have been proactive. A mass email was sent out to talk about it, so teachers could become familiar with it,” he added.

If cinnamon is found on students, it is confiscated and the students are required to see a counselor.

Fullo will be sending out a letter to all parents to make them aware of the problem and talk to their children. Furthermore, searches will be conducted and if cinnamon is found, they will be confiscated.

Growing fad

Cinnamon is highly absorbent and when people try to swallow it, they end up gasping for air, having coughing spells and in some cases, vomiting. Doctors say attempting to swallow the cinnamon is especially dangerous for students with asthma.

The Cinnamon Challenge has been a growing fad for several years. It has gone viral on YouTube and has over 25,000 videos. At least 10 can be viewed of kids, teenagers and even adults swallowing the beloved spice of bakers.

Jose Middle School Principal Erica Cruz said “we don’t have that at our school. We sent out a mass email warning teachers about it. But we haven’t had any incidences.”

Assistant Principal Josephine Parel-Fonbuena at Maria Ulloa Elementary told Variety they had one incident last week that involved three 5th grade students.

“One of the girls watched it on YouTube and wanted to try it. There was chanting saying, ‘do it, do it, do it,’ and a school aide heard it. They saw a cinnamon bottle and a spoon ... luckily, the school aide was able to intervene before they swallowed the cinnamon. They stopped it on time,” she said.

Charles Hoff, DODEA Pacific public affairs officer, told Variety that over the last several days, at one of the Guam DODEA schools, some students actually challenged one of the school administrators, saying “you should take the Cinnamon Challenge.”

“The administrator had never heard of it before and her radar was up. They confiscated the cinnamon and they had a talk with the student. That’s how we became aware of it,” Hoff said.

Another incident happened this week in which the student had actually taken the cinnamon and school management intervened right away, Hoff said.

The fad, Hoff added, is widespread and there are communities across the U.S. where this is occurring. Hoff said it’s not just a school issue, but more of a community issue.