The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died after taking part in a “horrible” social media trend has called for children to be taught about the dangers of solvent abuse.
Sonia Hopkin was left “heartbroken” following the death of her daughter, Tiegan Jarman, who was found unresponsive in her bedroom in Thurmaston, Leicestershire, on 6 March.
Mrs Hopkin said her daughter had died while participating in an online trend known as chroming, which involved copying videos she had seen on TikTok.
A petition has since been launched calling for mandatory lessons on solvent abuse to be introduced in schools.
Mrs Hopkin, 45, who lives in Leicester, said Tiegan had been pronounced dead at the scene after being found unconscious at her father’s home. She believes her “outgoing and funny” daughter had been following a trend in which people sniff or inhale toxic fumes.
‘The worst nightmare’
Speaking of her grief, Mrs Hopkin, a healthcare assistant at Leicester Royal Infirmary, said she had broken down in tears upon learning of her daughter’s death.
“When you hear other stories in the papers, you always think it’s someone else’s family, never your own,” she said.
“It’s just the worst nightmare. I was heartbroken and I’ve been like that ever since.”
Mrs Hopkin is now determined to raise awareness of the dangers of this “horrible trend”. In addition to calling for lessons on solvent abuse, the petition also urges enforcement of regulations requiring manufacturers to include warnings on product packaging.
She added: “We’re hoping it can be taught in schools, not just the dangers of household chemicals, but the dangers of the internet as well.
“We just want people to be aware so no-one else has to go through this horrible tragedy.”
Mrs Hopkin has also urged TikTok to take stronger action to prevent harmful activities such as chroming from spreading online.
“It’s amazing that these videos aren’t taken down,” she said. “I can’t understand why anyone would want to share that kind of rubbish.
“One video would be bad, but the fact it has become a trend is unbelievable. It shouldn’t be available on the internet.”
The British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association said products already carry several warning statements, but confirmed that a new message using “better language” to explain the risks would be introduced in 2026.
A spokesperson for TikTok said: “We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family.
“Content promoting dangerous challenges is not allowed on TikTok, and we proactively removed 99.8% of videos that violated our policies on this issue before they were reported to us.
“Searches for this particular challenge are blocked and we have found no evidence of it ever having been a trend on our platform.”
