Parents warned over dangerous 'eraser challenge' reportedly sweeping schools

Parents are being warned about the dangers of the eraser challenge, a new craze that is said to be sweeping schools.

The game, which bears some similarity to the concerning salt and ice challenge that the NSPCC issued a statement about earlier this year, sees students rubbing their skin with stationery rubbers, to create friction and inflict wounds on their bodies.

The challenge is also sometimes known as 'the ABC game', as children 'erase' their skin while working through the alphabet and coming up with a word for each letter.

Once they reach the letter 'z', the challenge stops and they compare the injuries, which are often shockingly severe.

Some children have posted pictures of the outcome of their participation in the eraser challenge, with many saying that they 'regretted' their actions because of the subsequent pain.

Worringly, one mum shared the outcome of her son's eraser challenge to her Instagram account, explaining that the damage caused by the game was likely to be permanent.

'In this edition of stupid things 6th graders talk each other into: The Eraser Challenge. The result: permanent scars,' she wrote.

'This made me very sad, but satisfied as the boy told me how badly his arm hurt many days later and how he would never try anything like that again. #6thgrade #kidstrystupidthings #eraserchallenge #ifeelsadforhim #missmillersworld'

The eraser challenge is not a new concept, with some adults recalling doing a similar thing in their own school days, but seems to have resurged in popularity over the past few years.

In 2015, WND reported that a teen ended up in hospital due to the challenge, after contracting an infection from the germs on the dirty eraser he rubbed against his arm.

Elisa Brown, a doctor and mother of a junior high student who commented to KRCR news about the challenge, explained: 'Best case scenario is you've just caused yourself an abrasion that is going to take some time to heal, may or may not scar, depending on how deep it is.'

'The worst case is that you have violated the integrity of your skin, which is how your body defends itself. From there, any number of things can get inside of you and cause an infection, which could be minor but could also be more serious.'