Please don’t let six idiots change the world. The Hand Sanitizer frenzy has earned this week’s Whiner of the Week Award.
You may have heard the story that recently six teenagers have tried to get drunk off hand sanitizer. We know this because they ended up in the hospital. While hand sanitizer contains alcohol, it’s not a smart beverage.
So these kids are obviously idiots but lots of kids do stupid things.
The story was covered by the news and now it’s gone viral. A Google search of “hand santizers kids drunk” produces more than 1,140,000 results.
Should the actions of six dumb kids receive this much press? I sound like an old guy when I say this but does covering the story do nothing more than provide a how-to manual for kids looking for a sneaky way to get drunk (and poisoned)?
Now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon as it’s the latest, Your Kids Are In Danger Story. As a former journalist, I appreciate how it’s solid gold as far as a story you can tease.
But is it really an epidemic in the way the story is being covered? Do I need to know how to talk to my kids about ingesting household items?
I see that police are urging stores to move their hand sanitizer section so that its less accessible. Do we really need this? I’m still upset that I have to show ID to get cold medicine and, yes, I know that meth ingredients are contained inside.
Very soon, there will be another group of kids who will do something stupid. While I’m sorry that they’re risking their lives to try to get high, this shouldn’t be a case where we allow the pebbles to start an avalanche of panic.
