GREAT grandmother Linda Dowsett has praised the response of St Augustine’s Catholic College, after warning staff about a potentially lethal new craze called the Paracetamol challenge.

Mrs Dowsett, who lives in Hollis Way, Southwick, visited the school after seeing a story about the latest dangerous online trend, which encourages young people to take large quantities of the drug, at the end of May.

The 68-year-old was so concerned by the report, which highlighted that overdosing on the pills can cause fatal liver failure, that she asked the school whether there was anything it could do to warn pupils about the challenge.

She said she was hugely impressed by the school’s response, with headteacher Joe Alsop sending out a letter to parents to ensure they observe the safeguards around medications at home.

Mrs Dowsett, who has 18 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, said: “I was shocked when I saw the story in the paper about a girl who had taken an overdose, especially as I have grandchildren myself.

“I saw the story during half term, so the first morning the schools went back I went into reception and asked whether the school was aware of it. I then spoke to the pastoral teacher, who took copies of the article and said she would do everything she could.

“It was not long before I received a letter from the headteacher thanking me for my concern for the children and alerting them to the challenge. He then sent out a letter to parents to keep an eye on their medical cabinets.

“They also said they were going to address peer pressure. I thought they were absolutely fantastic and the response was exactly what I wanted as if you let parents know then they can keep an eye out.”

Mrs Dowsett added that she also visited John of Gaunt School and Clarendon Academy to highlight the dangerous craze, but neither took her concerns further as they did not want to alarm anyone.

In a letter to parents, Mr Alsop compared the Paracetamol challenge to other social media challenges like the Ice Bucket Challenge and Neknominate, which were both prevalent last year.

“The ‘Paracetamol challenge’ appears to be encouraging young people to dare each other to consume excessive amounts of Paracetamol tablets,” the letter reads. “This is highly dangerous and can result in liver and kidney failure and, of course, death.

“Whilst this seems to be restricted to a few isolated cases nationally, we would be grateful if you could please continue to monitor your child’s safety on the internet and observe the usual safeguards around medications in your home.

“We will be covering peer pressure and the dangers of engaging with social media dares in assembly.”