Incredibly Dangerous Things Everyone Assumes Are Safe
Reddit user Deviant55-11 asked: 'What’s really dangerous but everyone treats it like it’s safe?'
Mikael Seegen on Unsplash
There are things on Earth that are clearly dangerous: flash floods, wildfires, tornados, hurricanes, Australia...
But there are also things that people think are completely safe that can be deadly.
Sometimes it's because of the appearance of the dangerous thing. Humans tend to trust cute and cuddly looking fauna and beautiful flora.
Looks can be deceiving though.
Reddit user Deviant55-11 asked:
"What’s really dangerous but everyone treats it like it’s safe?"
Stress
"Way too many people have physical issues/injuries due to stress."
"One of my mates, who I went to the gym with, thought he had a lower back injury. Went to several doctors to get it checked, medication, massages, kinesiotherapy, etc..."
"Not one of them mentioned stress."
"He went on a 2 week holiday with his girlfriend this summer, did f'k all and no worries other than making it in time for their dinner reservations. And he's completely fine now."
~ Psychological_Bar855
The Great Outdoors
"I get a lot of tourists in my area trying to casually summit the local 14,000ft mountain in sandals."
"Some weeks in the summer are absolutely nuts for SAR (search and rescue) and the emergency room staff."
"It’s frankly disturbing how common this kind of interaction is."
"But a lot of people don’t have the exposure to nature to really understand that the elements can and will endanger you at the drop of a hat."
~ pas-mal-
"Was snowshoeing down a mountain near dusk fully equipped and with emergency gear."
"A family of four with teens was walking up in light jackets and jeans. No hats. There was one backpack present that looked pretty empty. No one had water bottles."
"My snowshoe partner and I both looked at each other wide eyed."
~ TwoIdleHands
Home Sweet Home
"Household every day cleaning chemicals."
~ nocap9494
"Especially if you mix them to make a 'better, stronger' cleaner."
~ GoldwingGranny
"I've worked years in janitorial, and my tip is never mix bleach with ANYTHING, including urine since it has ammonia and will create a toxic gas."
"Honestly never mix anything without doing research first, we all have phones, look it up dammit!"
~ that0neGuy65
Bacteria
"Infections. Every person reacts differently to them. Don't assume you are the average."
~ ntfashionable2loveme
"Sepsis is no joke."
~ Limp-Bullfrog-3483
"Met a woman and her husband in 2018 at a show, nice people. Few months later she messaged our group chat and her husband had died of sepsis."
"He’d been sick but refused to go to the hospital because of expenses. In the end, he lost his life trying to save money."
"He was only in his early 30’s too."
~ Jessiefrance89
Compressed Air
"I was once putting air in a car tire while on a road trip with a friend. After filling the last tire I handed him the tube and started screwing on the cap."
"For some dumb reason, he thought it would be funny to stick the air tube in my ear and turn it on."
"I couldn’t hear out of that ear for like 20 minutes and it hurt so f'king much. I probably should have gone to the hospital but the pain went away almost instantly and my hearing came back so I just didn’t go."
~ PeacefulPleasure7
Tires
"When I was in school for underwater welding, there were air compressors and tanks all over the place."
"One day we heard a huge explosion and my immediate assumption was that one of the tanks blew up (I served as an infantryman in the Army and did a tour in Afghanistan, I heard more than my fair share of explosions), my buddy and I ran outside to see if anyone needed help, and it turns out someone overfilled the tire on a wheelbarrow and it blew up."
"I was amazed at the volume."
~ Dwayne_Gertzky
"Yeah, tires are terrifying things."
"People don't realize that PSI means how much pressure is in it PER SQUARE INCH. So something that's 20in.sq. in surface area at 100psi is holding back 2000 lbs of f'k you."
"I mean, there's enough energy in there that they are like a small bomb."
~ viperfan7
"Mythbusters did this one and the force was enough to decapitate the ballistics dummy."
~ jacksclevername
"I was on an L.A. freeway when a semi-truck tire blew. It sounded like a bomb and it made my Dodge Durango rock to the side."
"I didn't go on two wheels but for a second I thought it might. It was two lanes over and about 25 feet ahead."
~ ColossusOfChoads
Trampolines
"Bruised my ribs from jumping on a trampoline as a kid and getting launched off of it by a weight imbalance from 2 friends who were also jumping on it with me."
"That literally knocked the air out of me when I hit the ground and I thought I was gonna die because I couldn't breathe."
"I still have stiffness in that side of my ribcage, I can't bend over all the way sideways on that side like I can on the other. I haven't been on a trampoline since."
~ a_loveable_bunny
"My 9 year old son was in a trampoline playing 'ring around the rosy' with his older brother and a friend. The safety zipper was left open. When they all let go, my son flew backwards out of the open zipper and landed on his head."
"He was rushed to the ER and began seizing as my wife carried him in (we had a newborn so I was stuck home until a neighbor could get over and watch him)."
"While we’re in the trauma room, as the doctor is examining the open wound on his head, he finds this bloody fibrous almond sized thing in his head."
"Turns out the palm trees above the tramp dropped fruit, and after the birds/rodents get to it, the pit is left behind. His head impacted directly on the palm nut, cracking his skull and causing a brain bleed."
"He had emergency brain surgery to stop the bleed, and ended up with a small plate in his head."
"We were very lucky—injury was to his occipital lobe, and they only had to zap about a pea-sized piece of his brain. Worst case his peripheral vision may have been slightly impacted."
"Little man made a full recovery."
~ MickeysAndNightTrain
Hair
"Long hair around pulleys and belts."
"There’s a YouTube channel where two young ladies are working around a sawmill with long hair, and I can’t count how many times people have begged them in the comments to tuck their hair up."
"They don’t."
~ VSM1951AG
"In 11th grade I had hair down to my butt & was weirdly pretty good at working the horizontal lathe at my school. Tons of rotating parts, it’s used to cut & shave down pieces of metal."
"I had my hair in a pony tail instead of a bun & I thought someone was pulling my hair & then my head slammed down to the machine & within like three seconds my hand broke cuz I put my hand in to save my hair."
"My classmate pulled the plug on the machine & saved my life!"
~ sopooohia
Wildlife
"I was in Thailand when a 30 year old got bitten by a monkey. Her complaint? No one had warned her not to pet the monkeys. Honest to God."
~ happyele
"Monkeys are some of the most terrifying animals, because they are like humans without the layer of civility and twice as strong."
"They seem to be intentionally mean sometimes, like they understand they are causing pain and it excites them."
"Sure a cougar or a bear will run you down and kill you if you trespass in their territory/mess with their kids or they are extremely hungry, but a monkey will leap from a tree and rip your face off like a left for dead Jockey just to make their friends laugh."
~ mooimafish33
"Seems like every year in the US someone decides to pet a Bison or a bear while in a national park... doesn't usually end well for them."
~ Kooky_Ad_5139
"I can see wanting to pet a bison or bear before the trip and haven't seen either in real life."
"But to look at a 2400lb bison and think to yourself 'let's go mess with that' is just stupid."
~ iwannagohome49
"Was at Yellowstone a while back and hiked a short, hilly mile-long loop trail. On the way back down, a herd of bison ambled across the trail, cutting us off from the parking lot below."
"The herd was fairly strung out and was in no hurry, so we moved well away and watched them pass. In the parking lot we could see a ranger watching us."
"When the herd had passed, we finished the trail and met the ranger. He said that he was watching us to make sure we didn’t do anything ill-advised, like approach the herd."
"I asked 'Are people really that stupid that they’d just walk up to a bison?' He just sighed and said 'You have no idea'."
~ Von_Moistus
There are hidden dangers all around us.
Be alert, be informed and be smart.
It can save your life.
Much as we may try to avoid them, it's hard not to find ourselves in situations we would rather not be in.
In some cases, we have no other choice but to persevere and let the moment pass, however uncomfortable or irritating the situation is.
Other times, we know that the only thing to do is leave, right then and there, without looking back.
Even if it means leaving mid-conversation with someone, we know in our gut that there is truly nothing to do but leave immediately.
As our health and safety could be at risk.
"What was your biggest ‘we need to leave... Now!’ moment?"
Unwelcome Visitors
"Was 15/16 at a house party with my good friend, another girl."
"There were some gatecrashers who turned up, which weren’t unusual at London house parties, but these guys were older, and there was just a vibe."
"I looked at my friend and said to her 'I’m gonna call my mum and dad to come get me do you want a lift?'"
"My parents were always amazing and said to me that if I was at a party or out and for ANY reason didn’t want to be where I was I could call them and they would come and get me."
"My parents turned up, coats on over pyjamas and took us both home."
"Apparently half an hour after we left, someone was stabbed and lots of stuff was stolen and people beat up and held up at knifepoint."
"I had such a feel in the air that I’ve hardly felt before or since and KNEW we needed to not be there."- AliceLovesBooks
Came Out Of Nowhere
"I used to drive for Lyft. April 2018, I picked up a young couple from a bar at about 1:30 am."
"They were fairly chill and I figured it would be my last ride of the night."
"The dude asked me to stop at a corner store on the way to their destination so that he could get cigarettes."
"I didn’t see any harm in waiting so I stopped, and had a nice chat with the young woman while he was in the store."
"He ended up being about 5 minutes since everyone was trying to get their pre-2 am beer."
"When he came out, he asked me to take him to a location that was in the opposite direction of their destination, but was only about a mile away."
"He said he wanted to meet some friends real quick and grab some beer."
"Since I figured it would be my last ride of the night, I said ‘f**k it, why not’ and drive him over there."
"Now, I know the town we live in fairly well, but the direction that we were coming from was not a way I was used to going when I would go to this location."
"So when I turned onto the destination street, I missed the turn into the complex parking lot."
"I just came to a complete stop since the roads were empty and asked them if they just wanted me to park on the street or pull into the complex."
"This is when the two of them started arguing, as he suddenly wanted to go in and hang out for a few minutes while she didn’t want to go in at all."
"She just wanted him to do his thing and get out of there so they could go home."
"And then something hit my car."
"The sound is unmistakable to me, so I immediately started to look around to figure out what it was."
"But there were no other cars on the road, so that couldn’t have been it."
"Then I moved to the next thing on my mental checklist."
"If something didn’t hit me, then what did I hit?"
"But that didn’t make any sense either as I’d been in park and couldn’t have hit anything."
"It’s at this point that the young lady’s attitude completely changed."
"She just kinda looked around, and then said ‘Can we just get out of here? It hurts and I want to go home'."
"This was odd to me as she’d been sitting in my car for about 10 minutes at this point and hadn’t said a word about any kind of pain."
"She followed this up with ‘It hurts and I can’t move,’ put her had to her back, and pulled it out covered in blood."
"What. The. F*ck."
"So the guy starts freaking out, thinking that something in my trunk had exploded, but it was empty."
"As he reached over to tend to her I noticed something white sticking out of the seat."
"This hadn’t been there at the beginning of the night, so I asked him what it was."
"He pulled on it; it was a piece of the filler fuzz from my seat."
"It came out of the hole that had been made in the seat."
"Because she’d been shot."
"As soon he grabbed that fuzz we both had the same realization."
"He slammed shut his door and I drove them straight to the hospital, which was only a couple of miles away."
"That realization, and the follow up realization of ‘oh, someone could still shoot you while you’re sitting here’ was one of the most terrifying things I’d ever experienced."- akabuldozer
Lucky They Stayed Up Late...
"About two months ago I’d stayed up past my usual bed time and as soon as I got in bed I smelled something odd and was hearing some inconsistent banging and clattering from downstairs."
"I don’t live in a great neighborhood, so none of this was unusual, but I got out of bed to check anyway and saw flames licking up the side of the building."
"Yelled at my wife to get out of bed and threw on some clothes and we high-tailed it out."
"Our building has a shared wall with the next and that one had an apartment on the ground floor fully engulfed by the time we made it outside, ended up condemning the whole building."
"I was the first one to call 911."
"Have been jerking myself awake in the night pretty consistently since then."- UglierInside
Easy Prey...
"I was waiting for an Uber on the outskirts of Atlanta with a couple friends around 10pm."
"We were just shooting the sh*t after leaving a nearby restaurant and talking about what bar to go to."
"A disheveled older man walked up a few feet behind one of my friends and struck a weird pose for 2-3 minutes while looking in our direction, and there was no one else around."
"Then he walked off without saying a word."
"He came back a few minutes later and sat down on the sidewalk about 5 feet away from us."
"At this point I'm just wondering if he wants something from us, because there was absolutely no other reason to plop down that close to us on an empty sidewalk."
"Then a small sedan pulls in a nearby parking lot, parking behind some bushes in the spot closest to us and consequently furthest from any of the shops in that lot."
"I only noticed because I happened to be facing that direction, but then saw 6 guys pile out of the sedan and immediately cross the street directly towards us."
"I realized there were not any shops or restaurants still open nearby."
"It suddenly occurred to me that the strange dude might have been sizing us up when he was watching us earlier, and he came back to 'mark' us."
"We were all dressed nice with smartphones out and watches visible, basically the fanciest stuff we had for a night out."
"Right as I started to speak up that we should head back towards other people, our uber pulled up to the curb."
"As we drove away, I watched those 6 guys talking in a circle where we had just been standing, and then they crossed the street again and got back in their car."
"I'll never have a definitive answer, but I'm pretty sure we were 10 seconds away from some unfortunate shenanigans."-Zeethro
Shopping
"Grocery shopping with my grandma, she’s tired (normal for her) but she’s getting a bit slower and dragging her leg more than usual. At the checkout counter I saw her face was a little droopy and I said we are leaving now and going to ER. They gave her a bottle of water for the car ride which she ended up choking on and vomiting up all the water. Called ahead to ER so they were ready and they took care of her ASAP, she was having a stroke and they were able to help her quick enough so that she didn’t have any long lasting issues."
"Remember FAST"
"Face: Smile and see if one side of the face droops."
"Arms: Raise both arms. Does one arm drop down?"
"Speech: Say a short phrase and check for slurred or strange speech."
"Time: If the answer to any of these is yes, call 911 right away and write down the time when symptoms started."
Doll
"New years eve in Moscow. I (dark haired brown man) was drinking with my SO (blonde white woman) in a bar getting friendly with some locals who tried their best to speak English. So friendly that one of them gave us a matryoshka doll that he was going to give to his mother later that night."
"They seemed a little too friendly, and maybe they just were, but at one point I went to order more drinks and the bartender (who had been watching and serving us) gave me a stern look and said, “you should leave... now”.
"I found this a little strange and unexpected so naturally tried to question what he meant, but his face was drop dead serious. He looked at the friendly group, then at my GF, then to me and repeated his words."
"I didn’t really want to take any chances in Russia and wanted to see another bar anyway, so I grabbed my girl, the doll and promptly left."
neanderthalensis
Bad Roommates
"I was in college when I had my first solo apartment. This guy across the hall would come over, or invite me over, and we'd hang out a few times. However, I would not call him a friend."
"One night he asks me to loan him some money. In addition to not wanting to loan him money, I don't really have any, so he proceeds to ask for a ride to see his girlfriend because she has some money for him. I agree."
"We arrive at her apartment and a small party is going on. When we walked into the party everyone immediately shuts up and stares at us. He runs off to find his "girlfriend," who I find out is his ex-girlfriend. It is awkward because I'm kind of this guy's friend by association, and I'm getting lots of angry stares. He gets into an argument with her and we are basically thrown out of this place."
"He then asks if I can take him to another part of town. He owes another guy some money and needs to go talk to him. We proceed to an unfamiliar part of town, and he instructs me to park in a fairly isolated spot. He explains that he doesn't want the other guy to see my car...BECAUSE HE MIGHT TAKE IT. He owes this guy money for gambling or drugs or something else bad, and he is way behind on his payments. I left him and spent the rest of my time in that apartment avoiding him."
enephon·
Not Taking A Chance
"Was in Mexico City with family including two daughters. Grabbed a cab on the street around 10:00 pm to take us back to the hotel. I was somewhat familiar with the area since we had been there four or five days already. Cabbie totally passes the hotel district and starts heading away from the part of town we were in. Streets were getting more and more residential. I demanded that he pull over and we GTFO and walked back to the hotel, probably 3 or 4 miles."
"He was probably just padding the fare, but I was not going to take a chance on being kidnapped so we flew."
Choose_2b_Happy
Airshow
"Sknyliv airshow catasrophe"
"I was 5ish at a time, so it's my dad's story more than mine. You can google the details, but long story short, my dad saw the plane jolt in the air, and he realized that something went wrong and started running and yelling at everyone else to run. I was sitting on his shoulders, so he just took off with me. The plane crashed into the crowd killing 77 people, 35 or so children among them. Not us."
Polylactic
Surge
"I work as an engineer in a data center cooling plant. We’re responsible for basically everything in the building- mechanical, electrical, hvac, plumbing."
"So the engineer I’m relieving tells me there’s an odd sound coming from the Con Ed vaults- this is where these huge transformers are that step down from 26,000 volts or so to a voltage the building can actually use- we are not allowed in those vaults, they’re locked and only Con Ed has they key."
"So he leaves, and I take a walk by the vaults- I had never actually heard electricity arcing through the air before, but I knew I was hearing it then."
"I called Con Ed’s emergency line and told them to get out there ASAP- a crew of two guys show up, they seem calm and disinterested in the elevator on the way up- “it’s probably just a contact chattering” they said."
"We get off the elevator and start heading down the hall- the sound was WAY louder now, we weren’t even near the vaults and there was no mistaking it. Both guys stopped dead in their tracks and kind of hunkered down. I saw the color drain from them."
"Wasted no time getting back in that elevator. If you’ve never seen video of a large transformer explosion, go check YouTube. These transformers are not like the ones you see up on utility poles, they’re as big as a couple of trucks stacked on top of each other. Anyone on the floor when one of them cooked off would be gone, and we have 8 of them."
blind30
Sometimes, the most reliable things we can trust are the hairs on the back of our neck.
The minute they start to stand, it's often a sign that we might very well be in danger.
When this happens, the best thing to do, more often than not, is to get out.
Sometimes, we truly never know how lucky we are.
Particularly when we might be disappointed to have missed out on something, only to learn after the fact that it was something of a miracle we did.
As the saying goes, we "dodged a bullet".
This could be for something trivial, like being late for a concert owing to traffic, only to find out it was a real stinker, or having to cancel a trip, only to discover how terrible the weather was the whole time you would have been there.
In other cases, the bullet you dodged may have been an actual life or death situation.
"What was the biggest bullet you dodged?"
Miracle Survival!
"My dad was a truck driver in the oilfield in Canada."
"He worked a lot of long hours and every single day."
"So on weekends he would bring me and my younger brother on some of his jobs."
"We were on location and my little brother, 3 yrs, and me, 10 yrs, were waiting for him playing in cab of truck."
"My little brother opened the passenger door and my little arms closed it."
"Jobs done, we start our trek home going about 35 km/hr and the door flies open and I get sucked out of truck."
"I remember doing about 10 back flips as I tumbled out."
"Hitting the ground on my back a few times and rolling my way to a stop."
"I stood up before the truck was even stopped in absolute shock."
"Next thing I see my dad looking for me and he burst into tears."
"First time I ever seen him cry."
"I’m 33 now and he still won’t talk to me about it."
"Luckily the rig was in a farmers field."
"So when we were leaving I landed on softer dirt."
"Not a single scratch on me."
"Dad thought he ran over me with trailer."
"Don’t think we ever went to work with dad again."
"I work for the company now."- Paydayson
Near Kidnapping
"Years ago I lived in Vancouver and liked to go for long walks, beautiful city to do so."
"I was heading to a friends first to drop something off and and cut through a neighborhood with a lot of south east asian immigrants, the ones I got to talk to were mostly from Vietnam."
"I was aware of a van behind me but it was mid day and there were people out, so it was only a passing thought."
"A lady was working in her garden and as I approached her house she started to look behind me."
"Then she came out onto the side walk and started talking to me in her native language."
"I understood none of it but her body language was agitated."
"She kept gesturing to me to come with her up their walkway."
"As I looked behind me I see three men getting out of the van, which is now parked just behind me."
"By this point the woman has a good grip on my arm and and has me dragged almost to her porch."
"She kept talking to me and pointing to stuff in her garden and i just listened, nodded, and kept a good eye on the men and van."
"I don't remember how long we were there but the men finally left."
"Both myself and the woman let out huge sighs of relief."
"She then patted me on the arm, said something, and then went back to her gardening."
"I booted it to my friends house."
"On the news the next day was the story of a woman who was kidnapped."
"The victim was grabbed on the next street over from the woman's house, not long after my encounter with her, by 5 men in a van."
"The men were distinctive and the description of the men and van fit the ones I had see."
"That woman saved me from something horrible and I am forever thankful."- grainia99
Near Fatal Illness
:A few years ago I had pneumonia, but my whole family insisted that it was just post nasal drip, which runs in the family."
"After a week or two I woke up in the middle of the night when I couldn't feel my arm."
"After I got to the ER the doctor said that it was the worst he'd ever seen and he was surprised I wasn't dead."
"I had 3 lbs of mucus cut out of my lungs and another two weeks in the hospital siphoning out the rest."
"For three months afterwards I could barely walk half a mile without starting to pass out and I still can't run for more than 200-300 yards without collapsing."- Deadthrow742
Near Fatal Collision
"Around 30,000 pounds."
"I was driving with my wife in town one snowy evening and we had pulled up to a stop light."
"I happened to glance up at the rear view mirror and saw a city bus heading towards us."
"And rotating sideways."
"I hit the gas and pulled ahead into the intersection and left into the turning lane, and less than a second later, the bus went sliding through right where our car was."
"It came to a stop on the other side of the intersection and fortunately didn't hit anything, but one second or two feet difference and we would've had some nice spinal injuries."- LackingUtility
Barely Safe Landing
"Many years ago, my flight had just landed at Chicago O'hare and the plane was taxiing when the pilot suddenly slammed on the brakes."
"People were literally thrown forward against the seat in front of them."
"A few seconds later, another plane, taking off I think, went screaming by right in front of us."
"No explanation was given, though our imaginations provided a lot of gory details."- khendron
Timing Is everything
"Not changing jobs in early 2020."
"Would have been a short lived promotion after early restructuring and layoffs."- LegallyBodacious
We all find ourselves wondering "what if" regarding certain choices we've made in our lives.
It's never helpful to look back with regret.
Instead, one should only be grateful for avoiding the many wrong turns our lives could have easily taken.
Teachers are often regarded as heroes.
Though they might not possess superpowers, or put their lives in danger on an ongoing basis, teachers have a way of influencing the lives of others in ways they can never imagine.
Of course, there are teachers who do literally save lives.
As they are the teachers who help students who are being abused at home out of toxic and dangerous situations.
Doing so without ever being explicitly told, but rather by noticing their students behavior, or reading between the lines in their work.
"Teachers of reddit, what are some signs that a student is being abused or lives in a toxic environment?"
Flinching At The Slightest Moment
"It's been a few years, but I had an incident/situation that stuck with me."
"My students were working on something, probably solving density equations, and one guy came up to ask for help."
"I was standing near my whiteboard but had left my favorite Expo marker on the cart that held my projector/laptop."
"So I reached around him to grab the marker and show him on the board how to figure out the problem."
"Hey, if one kid is struggling with a problem, there's usually several more that haven't asked."
"Anyway, when I reached, he flinched."
"Hard."
"Arms over his head."
"Eyes tight shut."
"As if he just knew I was going to hurt him."
"I kept him after class and we talked."
"Lots of tears, not just his."
"He showed me bruises on his back."
"I notified my principal that I'd need someone to cover my next class, and called DCS, what most states call CPS."
"He was placed in a foster home and his father was arrested."
"He missed a few days and came back."
"He wasn't instantly better, which would make for a better story, but by the end of the school year, I could see he was a little more confident, a little happier."
"This was around 10 years ago. I often wonder what happened to him."- AZScienceTeacher
Not So Subtle "Ticks"
"I developed a 'tick'."
"For years, I would rip out all my eyebrows and eyelashes."
"Half the time I didn’t realize that I was doing it, because I lived with my abuser and was so stressed out and terrified ALL the time."
"When I was 17, I finally moved in with a friend to get away from them, and people started telling me they 'knew all along' that something was wrong, but no one ever said anything."
"No one ever took action, even when I tried to come forward on multiple occasions."
"I’m begging you guys- if you see something, say something."- aliveanewbeginagain
Telltale Signs
"From my experience teaching middle schoolers for the last decade."
"They smell, particularly of cigarette smoke, weed, or just general, unbearable, BO."
"They either NEVER miss a day, when it’s clear they should because they’re obviously sick, or they miss school at least 2 times a week, because their parents can’t be bothered to get them there."
"They either avoid adults like the plague, will literally run away from any authority figure, or are very clingy to adults."
"And on the more extreme end are things like wetting themselves, sign of sexual abuse, and showing a severe lack of empathy."- coreythebuckeye
Knowing And Saying Things Children Shouldn't...
"Physical abuse think of kids who get normal bumps and scrapes."
"Then think of areas that would be difficult."
"Inner arms and legs, torso, back etc."
"Also if you ask a child 'oh how did you get that bruise, it looks sore' usually they'll tell you some huge story about how they were playing some game with their siblings, and they tried to do x and then fell and did this etc."
"Abused children will try to shut down the conversation."
"Say its not sore, doesn't hurt, not that bad, was an accident."
"You won't find out how it happened."
"Are they regressing in toileting, night time or day time wetting etc."
"Do they have an aversion to a place, person or certain day."
"Perhaps on Tuesdays they go to a friends house so they only display this behavior sometimes."
"As parents do they suddenly hate a place they used to love."
"Abusers will try to get children to trust them."
"To want to be praised by them."
"Sometimes that's a 'you're so mature for your age shall we go do x together that's your favourite right' now x is tarnished."
"As a parent you're wondering why they don't want to do this with you."
"Sleeping patterns may change."
"Especially if they don't feel safe at all times when they should have a place they can relax."
"Children may become hypersexualised."
"Know more than you'd expect for their age."
"Children can become very controlling of their bodies."
"Not wanting touched, assisted with changing, to wear certain clothes."
"Please early on ensure children know boundaries and if someone touches them or asks them to watch an area usually covered by underwear to tell a trusted adult."
"Not all abuse is a child being physically touched."
"Not all abuse is done by adults, it can be older children and teenagers."
"I've worked in nurseries, after school clubs, schools, summer camps, I've been a sports coach, a babysitter, a private tutor, a teaching assistant in schools."
"I've spent days with social work and police and now work in healthcare."
"You'll spot signs everywhere."
"You may be a member of the public walking in a store and see something that worries you."
"As many people are saying in the comments you might be the trusted friend hearing about a child in potential risk."
"Know how to report concerns, who you tell and how you escalate something."
"Know how to listen to a child without prompting and how to record the conversation on paper incase your statement is used to build a case."
"Also know reporting concerns doesn't mean someone will immediately be arrested on your thoughts."
"A case has to be investigated, social work/ child protective services and police will conduct joint investigations to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed."- koig1314
Heightened Stakes
"If a student doesn't care about content and doesn't seem happy about getting a good grade, just relieved."
"I've seen students almost breakdown when earning a poor grade on an assessment knowing the pending verbal/psychological abuse coming."
"One student, living with his father and 6 hours from his mother, was sworn at and told he wouldn't see his mother for Christmas because he had a C."
"The kid cried in my classroom after school and poured his heart out about not having seen his mom for 3 months."
"Berating a child and withholding seeing his other parent for a grade?"
"High expectations are great."
"High expectations without support, however, in this case, emotional. put undue stress on students, resulting in a cycle of anxiety that can permeate their lives."- chewbaccalaureate
Teacher or not, if you notice something off with someone you know, always say something.
Sometimes, even just knowing there is someone willing to listen can provide more help than you can possibly imagine.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
If you or someone you know experienced sexual assault, help is out there. You can reach the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline by calling 1-800-656-4673, use their Live Chat tool: https://www.rainn.org/get-help, or visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
In Canada, help is available through the Ending Violence Association of Canada website.
International resources can be found through the Rape Crisis Network Europe website.
People Break Down Which Things They'd Like To See Invented In Their Lifetime
It's amazing to think of all the inventions and advancements we've seen over the course of time.
Smart phones, automated check out machines, electric powered cars.
In this modern age of technology and science, it's rare for a year to go by without a major new invention.
Seeing every new invention with each passing year only leads us to wonder, what does the future have in store?
Redditor dramafan1 was curious to hear what people hope to see invented during the course of their life, leading them to ask:
"What invention would you want to see in your lifetime?"
Brighten That Smile!
"Dental regrowth would be friggin sweet!"
"Expensive...but sweet..."- Exotic_Imagination95
Cleaner, Clearer Water
"Efficient water desalination and or plastic recycling."- Ashamed_Seat8290
The Cure
"Cure of most genetic diseases or cancer or Alzheimer."- Theapexfighter
"Cure for age related deafness/tinnitus."- Pork_Chap
"Cure for ALS and Parkinson."
"Oh and gol-dern flying cars, geez I wanna flying car."- peanutsfordarwin
"Cure for cancer or cerebral palsy, etc."- IllegalMigrant
Clean Air
"Full time operational fusion energy."- BigEvilDoer
The End Of Language Barriers
"Universal translator."- phuglee4ever
Never Be Late Again!
"Warp drive."- wmzer0mw·
Organ Farming?
"I've been telling my children for years that in their lifetime, when they need an organ transplant, doctors will just grow an exact genetic match for them in a vat."
"Time to get cracking on this."- JustAFileClerk
One can only assume it will only be a matter of years, months, or even days when these wishes become a reality.
Or at least that people are hard at work in hopes of doing so.