greed-the-dorkalicious:

Ugh, ok. I didn’t want to have to say this, but… I keep seeing those cheeky posts going around like “Tee hee, I sure hope no protesters know that-” or “It would be a shame if anyone were to-”

Guys, PLEASE STOP SPREADING THOSE. Those posts are going to get someone hurt.

You should NOT trust unverified advice from strangers on the internet. Honestly, some of the advice I’ve seen is so bad I almost have to wonder if it was created by plants to try to get people hurt. Speaking as someone who’s involved in multiple martial arts, improper self-defense techniques will get you hurt; Speaking as someone who is familiar with plywood, it ain’t going to do shit to block a heavy projectile and WILL fill you with horrible splinters. Unless you know for certain advice is trustworthy, you should be neither listening to nor spreading it.

If you see any attempt at combat or self-defense advice online, you should ask yourself:

• Who is posting it?
• What are their qualifications?
• Where did they get this information?
• Is it being explained in a clear, detailed, and easy-to-understand manner?
• What are the precautions? How might this go wrong?

If you don’t have good answers to these questions, then it’s bad advice and should not be followed or spread. Sure, maybe some of it might be genuinely good advice- But it might not be, and unless you know for sure, then it’s far better to err on the side of caution than to risk getting hurt.

Be safe, be smart, and always check your sources.