Dear Downingtown Middle School Families,
On social media, the Paqui one chip challenge has once again become popular (picture attached). Other companies have jumped on the “ghost pepper” powder challenges. One example is Lil Nitro Gummy Bears. These are “food products” (we use that term loosely) infused or dusted with incredibly hot peppers. These items are equal in strength to pepper spray (true story). They are widely available at convenience stores. Influencers on social media record themselves eating these things and millions of people watch them suffer the ill effects.
Over the past week or so, we’ve had an uptick of students bringing these items to school and eating them at lunch so their friends can watch. The students who use the glove to handle the chip that comes in the box suffer the least. Some vomit. Most wind up at the nurse. All will likely suffer the gastrointestinal effects later.
Worse, most students don’t use the glove and also pass the chip around to their friends. The hot powder gets on their hands and they inevitably touch their face…and sometimes their eyes. Those students also wind up in the nurse’s office in quite a bit of pain and discomfort.
On a normal day, the nurse’s office is busy, so the added strain of students getting sick from eating hot stuff is difficult. Therefore, for that reason, and for the common good, all Paqui hot chips, Nitro gummy bears, actual hot peppers, etc. are on the “not permitted at school list.” Additionally, these products are ridiculously expensive (one chip is between $6 and $11 at most stores).
Thank you for reading this email. It’s one that I never expected to send way back in my younger years. But here we are. Good luck out there, everyone. There’s hot chips everywhere.
Sincerely,
Dr. I
