Trolling posts on SE sites are not very uncommon, and people often respond in exactly the manner the trolls hope for: outrage/indignation/other similar strong reaction.
I admit I've fallen for a troll question in the past, but I learned from it not to waste my time. Common traits of troll posts are:
- extreme situations, overly dramatic, sometimes to the point of being outlandish
- often express heavy bias against one group of people (years ago, we had a series of posts about Islamic women)
- often are about, or include, sexual issues
- are often about (previously/current) taboo subjects
- posted, and troll never returns to check the answer(s) (look at the time of their post and check their activity; usually they post and leave, never to return.)
Recent troll posts:
If the spanking draws blood and leaves bruises? Should I call the police?
If the spanking and grounding is not deserved how do you fix it? (The comments under this post are fairly amusing - given that it's a troll post - and pretty much exactly what the troll hopes for, I imagine.)
My 12-year old daughter all of a sudden says she's trans (Overly dramatic to the point of outlandishness, quasi-sexual assault, about a past taboo subject, posted and OP never returned.)
My son is using crack. Should I stop him?
How to convince your child you love them after hurting them?
These are far from all of the recent trolling posts.
Some sites prefer to take a troll at their word and try to help them, e.g. IPS. Maybe this is true of Parenting as well? Is there a role for moderators on troll posts? How could they be handled (or should they be handled at all?) Are troll posts bad for a site?
Edited to add: Ironically - so soon after this post - there is another candidate, but that's yet to be determined. Not that such things just don't happen; terrible things happen all the time. It does fit most of the categories, though.
(I sincerely do regret having gained so much rep from a troll post. I now check before answering.)