Salt and ice challenge is dangerous

Parents, talk to teens, encourage common sense

Children and teens don’t always make the smartest decisions.

Therefore, parents have a responsibility to guide them around potential perils and pitfalls, and to instill in them a healthy dose of common sense.

The latest dangerous fad that requires some common sense is the salt and ice challenge.

According to multiple media reports, teens are accidentally giving themselves second-degree burns by rubbing salt and ice on their skin.

The goal, apparently, is to see which child can withstand the pain the longest. However, salt lowers the temperature of the ice, which can in turn lead to frostbite-like injuries and blistered skin.

The participants don’t realize the damage they’ve caused until the numbness from the ice recedes.

But teens being teens, they record videos of the “challenge” and share them on social media, which in turn leads to other teens giving it a try.

It’s just an incredibly dumb thing to do, and according to the Huffington Post, kids are winding up in the emergency room as a result.

Teens especially like to push boundaries and limits, including their own.

The Huffington Post notes that the mixture of salt, water, ice and body heat causes a chemical reaction which can lower the temperature of the ice down to -18 degrees Fahrenheit. A burn that destroys the thickness of the skin at that temperature can occur in just two or three minutes.

A doctor interviewed by the Huffington Post said that such burns can require surgery and skin grafts – serious business.

The ice and salt challenge is not only a dumb one, it’s also dangerous.

So parents, have a conversation with your children and your teens, and help them understand why this is a bad idea. And hopefully, should they find themselves tempted to try it, a little common sense will kick in, and help them simply say no.