Tide Pod Challenge: How Can We Effectively Protect Teens?

[Raven Corps]

Sadly, there's really only so much you can do to protect people from doing stupid, dangerous shit. A lot of it probably comes down to parenting, to raise their kids to use some common goddamn sense and not do stupid shit for pointless approval. You can change the appearance of the pods to make them look less appealing, you can slap warning labels on them, you can get awareness campaigns going... but all of that is still going to be pointless so long as you've got teens and kids willing to do stupid shit for the likes/due to peer pressure.

I mean, maybe get Youtube and other video hosting services to demonetize/unlist/remove such videos, thus removing the ability for them to earn that approval, but I've little confidence in Youtube's content enforcement abilities given how often it gets abused to take down perfectly legit videos.

Let natural selection take its course.

[Kenmoria]

Sadly, there's really only so much you can do to protect people from doing stupid, dangerous shit. A lot of it probably comes down to parenting, to raise their kids to use some common goddamn sense and not do stupid shit for pointless approval. You can change the appearance of the pods to make them look less appealing, you can slap warning labels on them, you can get awareness campaigns going... but all of that is still going to be pointless so long as you've got teens and kids willing to do stupid shit for the likes/due to peer pressure.

I mean, maybe get Youtube and other video hosting services to demonetize/unlist/remove such videos, thus removing the ability for them to earn that approval, but I've little confidence in Youtube's content enforcement abilities given how often it gets abused to take down perfectly legit videos.

Let natural selection take its course.

Harsh, but going to happen even if we try to avoid it. The nature of evolution is that the weak and stupid will die off, even if society bent over backwards to protect them. It is not a moral outcome, just an inevitable one.

[Cedoria]

Let em die...

No seriously, If people are dumb enough to ingest that crap, and their parents are too dumb to stop them. Nothing more you can do.

ESPECIALLY teenagers. It's not like they're three or four and don't know that some stuff can hurt you if you eat it.

Sometimes people need to be left to make their own errors, so they learn from them.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes and all that.

[Cedoria]

There comes a point where you can't protect someone from their own stupidity.

That being said, I think clear, standardized labeling of potential hazards may help. You could have graphics on the front of the package which warn you that a product is hazardous if it gets on your skin/eyes, or if it is ingested. Detailed "wall of text" warnings would remain on the back.

For really small children, childproof packaging can help to reduce accidents.

For teenagers, do we really need a graphic label to show them everything?

OK sure, I know eating soap is bad for me, and I wasn't particularly clever at age fifteen, but I still didn't need a graphic to tell me that eating soap is no good.

I agree about the small kids bit though, although that's less of a problem as they're probably more inclined to listen if told 'No' by parents or if physically restrained at one point when needed.

Teenagers are whiny, sullen little bastards though, so that won't work on them (having only stopped being one fairly recently, I know).

[Cedoria]

By banning these kinds of degenerate filth from the internet.

Hopefully good parenting could stop the idiotic actions of these children without resorting to banning the videos entirely.

You may have more confidence than I do in the good sense and abilities of parents...

That is, the ones who even remember they HAVE kids on a daily basis.

Although I agree that would be the ideal solution without the need for censorship.

[Cedoria]

Aside from teaching teens to read and not to follow the crowd, what are we supposed to do? Ban laundry detergent? They'll just find some other dumb challenge -- the icewater challenge, the cinnamon challenge, anyone remember idiots killing themselves planking?

I don't know, teach them they aren't immortal, the sun doesn't shine out of their asses, and some things mom and dad can't fix?

Those last few sound excellent...

[Wallenburg]

Let em die...

No seriously, If people are dumb enough to ingest that crap, and their parents are too dumb to stop them. Nothing more you can do.

Hospitals don't exist? Only an absolute monster would advocate the death of children for being dumb children.

ESPECIALLY teenagers. It's not like they're three or four and don't know that some stuff can hurt you if you eat it.

Sometimes people need to be left to make their own errors, so they learn from them.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes and all that.

Tell stupid jokes, get reported to moderation.

[Farnhamia]

Let em die...

No seriously, If people are dumb enough to ingest that crap, and their parents are too dumb to stop them. Nothing more you can do.

ESPECIALLY teenagers. It's not like they're three or four and don't know that some stuff can hurt you if you eat it.

Sometimes people need to be left to make their own errors, so they learn from them.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes and all that.

*** Warned for trolling (advocating death). ***

I say we let them eat them and let Darwinism take care of the rest

Unofficial warning for trolling (advocating death).

[Hamidiye]

Let em die...

No seriously, If people are dumb enough to ingest that crap, and their parents are too dumb to stop them. Nothing more you can do.

ESPECIALLY teenagers. It's not like they're three or four and don't know that some stuff can hurt you if you eat it.

Sometimes people need to be left to make their own errors, so they learn from them.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes and all that.

*** Warned for trolling (advocating death). ***

I say we let them eat them and let Darwinism take care of the rest

Unofficial warning for trolling (advocating death).

Having the wrong opinion equals trolling? What is this, tumblr?

[Vassenor]

*** Warned for trolling (advocating death). ***

Unofficial warning for trolling (advocating death).

Having the wrong opinion equals trolling? What is this, tumblr?

When that opinion involves calling for the death of people, it does.

[Vistulange]

You can't fix stupid. Children aren't stupid. Children are curious, so: Keep those damned detergents out of the reach and especially sight of children.

As for teenagers...

...educate them, for goodness' sake, on why they shouldn't be ingesting random crap. Including detergents. I mean, if parents and guardians in general are incapable as to raise a child with an awareness that they most certainly should not be ingesting detergents, I'm not sure there's anything real that can even be done.

[Hamidiye]

Having the wrong opinion equals trolling? What is this, tumblr?

When that opinion involves calling for the death of people, it does.

Your signature says it all.

[Vassenor]

When that opinion involves calling for the death of people, it does.

Your signature says it all.

I do not follow your logic.

[The Black Forrest]

You can't fix stupid. Children aren't stupid. Children are curious, so: Keep those damned detergents out of the reach and especially sight of children.

As for teenagers...

...educate them, for goodness' sake, on why they shouldn't be ingesting random crap. Including detergents. I mean, if parents and guardians in general are incapable as to raise a child with an awareness that they most certainly should not be ingesting detergents, I'm not sure there's anything real that can even be done.

You don't have children.

[Aillyria]

When that opinion involves calling for the death of people, it does.

Your signature says it all.

I don't understand the trolling charge either, how can you protect someone from themselves? These teens should, unless they lived under a rock, know that the pods are not edible and probably lethal. There are warnings already on the containers, you can't save people from their own stupidity, it is honesty their own fault if they die.

[The Black Forrest]

Your signature says it all.

I don't understand the trolling charge either, how can you protect someone from themselves? These teens should, unless they lived under a rock, know that the pods are not edible and probably lethal. There are warnings already on the containers, you can't save people from their own stupidity, it is honesty their own fault if they die.

Irrelevant. Site has it's rules. An attitude of "fuck em if they are that stupid" only creates fights. Trolls tend to like that.

[Hydesland]

Me just now.

[Aillyria]

I don't understand the trolling charge either, how can you protect someone from themselves? These teens should, unless they lived under a rock, know that the pods are not edible and probably lethal. There are warnings already on the containers, you can't save people from their own stupidity, it is honesty their own fault if they die.

Irrelevant. Site has it's rules. An attitude of "fuck em if they are that stupid" only creates fights. Trolls tend to like that.

Eh. It's what it is, offensive opinion is the true opinion in these cases.

[Farnhamia]

Irrelevant. Site has it's rules. An attitude of "fuck em if they are that stupid" only creates fights. Trolls tend to like that.

Eh. It's what it is, offensive opinion is the true opinion in these cases.

Your definition of "true" needs some work. There are ways to express a (possibly) offensive opinion that lessen its offensiveness, though I fail to see how one might do that in this case. Advocating the death of people can really only be taken as trying to get a rise out of others who do not share the opinion that stupid people (or liberals or conservatives or men or women, etc) deserve to die. Now, "it is ... their own fault if they die" doesn't fall under that rule because you didn't say they should die. As always, individual cases are judged individually and what I rule may differ from what other Moderators rule but on the whole, we agree: calling for the death of people is trolling.

[Farnhamia]

Hmmm ... didn't mean to lock it for that long. If the thread gets back to the topic and avoids trolling and such ...

[Pax Nerdvana]

Every time I see something like this, a little piece of my faith in humanity dies. There probably isn't a whole lot we can do, unfortunately. YouTube should take down these videos.

[Vistulange]

You can't fix stupid. Children aren't stupid. Children are curious, so: Keep those damned detergents out of the reach and especially sight of children.

As for teenagers...

...educate them, for goodness' sake, on why they shouldn't be ingesting random crap. Including detergents. I mean, if parents and guardians in general are incapable as to raise a child with an awareness that they most certainly should not be ingesting detergents, I'm not sure there's anything real that can even be done.

You don't have children.

No, no I don't. Just went with logic, as opposed to experience.

Figured that children logically couldn't want to taste/touch/whatever what they didn't see in the first place.

As for teenagers? Honestly, isn't a part of parenting teaching your children - by the time they are teenagers - what they should not be putting into their mouths?

[Valrifell]

Every time I see something like this, a little piece of my faith in humanity dies. There probably isn't a whole lot we can do, unfortunately. YouTube should take down these videos.

I recently heard from a completely unverified and unofficial source that they are.

Also, Tide discontinued the Pods, so, I guess that's a solution.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Every time I see something like this, a little piece of my faith in humanity dies. There probably isn't a whole lot we can do, unfortunately. YouTube should take down these videos.

I recently heard from a completely unverified and unofficial source that they are.

Also, Tide discontinued the Pods, so, I guess that's a solution.

When did you hear about that? I hope YouTube does take down those videos.

[Fartsniffage]

Every time I see something like this, a little piece of my faith in humanity dies. There probably isn't a whole lot we can do, unfortunately. YouTube should take down these videos.

I recently heard from a completely unverified and unofficial source that they are.

Also, Tide discontinued the Pods, so, I guess that's a solution.

They're not.

https://www.snopes.com/tide-discontinuing-pods/