How stupid can it be to put cinnamon in your mouth without water just to say that you did the 'Cinnamon Challenge'? This fad hasn't gone away and I think some of our youths are just falling for all sorts of stupidity by following everything they see online. Rant over.
Sorry, I don't get the point. What is exactly this cinnamon challenge? I ate cinnamon grated on sweets or puddings hundreds of times and I'm still alive. The only challenge was burning the extra calories after.
I think many people think of cinnamon as a sweetener and not a spice so they are surprised when they try a large amount of it and didn't expect it to be so harsh. They they do as we are fearing, and inhale due to the shock. Of course, that only makes it worse by getting it in your lungs, which causes burning, and can damage them. Overall, it is ignorance that makes them think it will be relatively easy.
Well, from what I get from your explanations, there should be no big difference between doing this challenge using cinnamon or pure cocoa powder (the bitter and dry one). Something silly, but I can understand that teenagers might find it interesting: just by saying that is dangerous and should not be done we make it become appealing for them.
At that age, doing something considered not normal or that requires courage and daring is one of the favorite ways to emerge between the group of friends and become "Popular", which is of great importance to them. That's why teenagers tend to challenge the authorities and do silly things for apparently no reason. They have a good reason, indeed, for doing it: their social world is different from ours. If we want to send a message to them, it has to be done using their channels and not ours: they will never hear what is coming from the "Adults" but they might want to listen to media or people that are considered part of their world, like a popular teen magazine or some celebrities.