Translation into regular human language:
Credit cards have eliminated kids putting coins in their noses/mouths
this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2025
28 points (100.0% liked)
science
18047 readers
217 users here now
A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.
rule #1: be kind
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Contactless payments more so than credit cards.
My bad,
𝓕𝓪𝓷𝓬𝔂 cards have eliminated kids putting coins in their noses/mouths
Don't forget paying with phones and watches!
Maybe I read it wrong, but it looks to me like getting rid of coins reduced all incidents of kids needing to go to the ER.
Well tbf I think most ER visits from kids are these kinda incidents. So if you reduce the rate of these incidents, you significantly reduce kids ER visits overall
Here are my thoughts.
Speaking as a former child, I don't remember being particularly attracted to money as something to stick in my nose/ears. I did have to go once with a glass bead, but that's the only visit I can remember for this particular condition.
I assumed that the rate of kids sticking things i the nose/ears would be a constant, and that the objects would vary over time. I would have thought that coins would be replaced by Legos or candy.
See what I'm getting at?
That implies that kids are making an executive decision to stick things up their noses, and search for options. That can be true, like if their noses are really itchy; but it can also just whatever nearby miscellany they happen to be curious about.
But really, its the shape is relevant. Because these are cases that require a parent takes them to ED, meaning they couldnt solve it themselves. A coin that goes up and turns flat is muuuch harder to get out than something with points or edges to grab, like a LEGO man. Perhaps it's not that kids are sticking less things up there, it's that coins are more likely to get trapped up there.
I can't tell you the minds of toddlers man, but if ED's records say less toddlers are going to ED for nose-junk, then they probably are, and we can speculate on why that is.
That implies that kids are making an executive decision to stick things up their noses, and search for options
This sounds like the start of a comedy skit.