Though no one knows exactly how or why the Tide Pod Challenge started, over the past few weeks it has taken over the Internet. Kids and teens alike are being dared to take this Challenge, in which they are supposed to eat the detergent pods.

What started as a simple meme, where people could be seen on Twitter calling the Tide Pods "forbidden fruit," has turned into an Internet challenge that is posing major health risks that could even turn deadly to anyone who tries it.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, in 2018 alone there have been about 37 reports of teenagers being exposed to the pods, over half of these instances being intentional.

The fact of the matter is that whoever started this Challenge did not take into account the massive number of gullible, impressionable children on the internet who will literally do anything for likes or views. These kids may not fully comprehend the dangers of ingesting the Tide Pods, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and loss of consciousness have all been reported.

What may have started as a joke, has turned into a very real, very dangerous, very stupid Internet challenge. This is a very serious issue and we need to make sure that no more people try and ingest these detergent pods.