Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Bad Idea Tuesday

We just had a talk in the classroom about the disturbing and alarming trend among kids of eating laundry detergent pods.

I told them that I've had students show me video of themselves sucking on a lemon for thirty seconds or dumping ice water over their heads. I always say something like, "You idiot!" and then we have a good laugh, because we all know there is nothing inherently dangerous in either of those dares.

But this is different. This is toxic, scary, and deadly. Nurse Barb sent a page about this today, and it seriously frightened me. The joking side of me first thought that maybe we could just let natural selection run its course, but the teacher side of me is far more concerned.

Don't eat laundry detergent. 

Just last week, we did an exploration in science called "What Would Happen If You Drank a Glass of Acid?", which of course showed why it would be a horrible idea--acid was poured on a cheeseburger, an aluminum can, and other such things to show just how horrible it is. We actually used laundry detergent as one of the items in the exploration!

Luckily, the kids in Area 51 are pretty bright, but I'm really hoping they can convince their friends to eat those disgusting jelly beans from Harry Potter, sit in a bathtub full of ice water, or suck a lemon instead. (Although a lemon does have citric acid, so think that one over...)

I can't believe we're having to tell this to kids. 

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