Death Frolics Behind You

I know the media loves to scare the living crap out of everyone, but this headline in Wired really is too much:

Slides: A Playground Menace

Ahh!!! We're all gonna die!!

Yes, it's an attention-grabbing headline, but more than a little misleading. If you read a little ways into the article, at the end of the lead, the threat is qualified a tad:

For most kids, the static electricity that builds up as they go down playground slides does little more than make their hair stand on end. But for thousands of hearing-impaired children, static can shut down their cochlear implants in an instant.

Not to disregard the issue for those for whom it is a problem, but, no, slides are not "a playground menace" except in certain circumstances for certain kids. Jeesh!