The Hawaii Department of Education has warned principals of the popular and dangerous Cinnamon Challenge fad sweeping the nation, in which people — often kids — will dare each other to swallow a whole teaspoon full of cinnamon.

My sister almost suffocated and went into shock after taking the challenge.

Principal Ruth Silberstein of Palolo Elementary School says the DOE is great at keeping principals informed of dangerous developments both state and nationwide, from weather and national security issues to social trends like the Cinnamon Challenge.

“It’s like all the other faddish things that hit, because of the wide range of media kids are exposed to today,” Silberstein told me. “Anything that excites them that they can pick up easily, and the more dangerous, they think, the better.”

There hasn’t been a mandate from on high, so each school principal gets to assess the situation and decide how to deal with it (some, we hear, are confiscating any cinnamon they happen to find in the possession of students).