Somewhat recently, a meme about “forbidden snacks” began circulating the internet. This is based on different household items that children are prone to eating. One of the most famous items on these lists is Tide Pods. So, naturally, teens across the country began eating tide pods. According to the director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, “a child is reported to a poison control center about every 45 minutes in this country.” As a matter of fact, while I was typing this article, I was sent a video of a friend eating a tide pod (don’t worry, he didn’t have to call poison control). He stated, “Please do not eat a tide pod even if a friend dares you, it may look tasty, it may smell delicious… but no, be smart” -Hayden Hollimon.

There have been many similar challenges such as this one that begin trending that have caused injuries to susceptible teenagers with too much time on their hands. One example that comes to mind is the “salt and ice challenge” from a few years ago. This consisted of pouring salt onto your skin and then placing an ice cube directly on top of the salted area. This resulted in many burn blisters of varying degree of concern. Another would be the cinnamon challenge. While this was not as inherently dangerous as the Tide Pod trend, it did make many people sick. For whatever reason, teens seem to love taking dangerous dares from the internet. We have to stop letting ourselves fall prey to these trends. A few extra likes on a post are not worth the serious risks of these types of challenges.

High school is stressful enough as it is. Don’t waste your time and your energy on reckless tasks just because the internet is flooded with videos of other people doing it. As the semester is still starting out, I recommend getting ahead where you can. Study for that quiz you have coming up, or read a few chapters of the book you know you’ll have to write a report on in a couple of weeks. There is no time like the present, so don’t waste it. Have fun, but be smart about it. There’s no use in ending up in the ER one night because you decided to eat laundry detergent. Instead, take a night to relax and rejuvenate. Your body and mind will thank you.