Tide Pod challenge: Don't eat laundry detergent

Recently, Aurora schools have had to tell their students not to eat Tide Pods. Harmon Middle School had to call an assembly to discuss the matter and now if you are caught with a Tide Pod it will be treated as a drug offense.

Eating Tide Pods has become an internet sensation that’s influencing teens to attempt to eat a whole Tide Pod. Teens are posting videos of them putting Tide Pods on pizzas, making “ravioli” and eating them whole. The phenomenon started as a challenge, much like the cinnamon challenge, where teens would have to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon without coughing or drinking water.

What’s different about this circumstance is unlike cinnamon, Tide Pods are poison and were not made to eat. Eating a Tide Pod can result in drooling, vomit, shortness of breath or even death. While there is a big chunk of teens participating in this bizarre activity, there is also a portion of us who know better, but how do students feel about the whole situation and about how it reflects on our generation?

In Senior, Shania Davis’s opinion, “It’s a dangerous trend and our generation needs to start using logic and make things that really matter trend.”

Eating tide pods can be an extremely dangerous act. In 2017 there were 10,570 cases for detergent exposure that were reported to poison center.

Along with Davis, senior, Ethan Walker agrees with the fact that it’s extremely dangerous. He also speaks out about how Tide is handling the issue. “It’s ridiculous that people act so without thought that they literally eat something that the company has come out and said is poisonous but that being said I think Tide has done a great job of marketing the fact that they are poisonous to try and solve the problem.”

On January 12, 2018 Tide tweeted on their company account saying, “What should Tide PODs be used for? DOING LAUNDRY. Nothing else.”

Tide has labels on their products that warn people about the dangers of ingesting Tide Pods which does not hold them accountable. Even with the labels that clearly state that it’s poison, teens continue to take on the challenge.

Senior, Brandon Hall, also shares his opinion about how It reflects on the rest of us millennials.

“I feel like it’s just stupid and makes our generation look bad. Adults only see the small portion of kids eating Tide Pods and It groups us together with them.”

For the students who are not taking part in laundry detergent eating, still deal with the fact that it makes teenagers look bad as a whole.

To go alone with other students, sophomore, Sevi Sharrotta voices his opinion and says, “I think that everyone who does it is stupid and they’re risking their lives just for attention.”

When talking to Christina Miley, one of the school’s guidance counselors, she was not aware of the situation, but after informing her of what is going on she commented by saying, “I would say that parents need to have conversations with their kids because kids don’t realize how dangerous it is.”

All in all, while there is a small portion of kids who are eating Tide Pods, majority of students agree with each other and think that it’s a bizarre and unsafe activity. It may be funny at the time and remain funny to some people, but in reality, students are eating poison which could lead to catastrophic results.