School want kids dressed as mad scientists.. any ideas?

[FireFaerie]

have a DS aged 5 and dont have a ton of cash for this. im ussually quite creative, but all i can think of is a white coat (which i cant find) and some specs.. maybe messy hair? anyone else have some ideas? im out

[webcrone]

hahaha! I live with one so clothes that don't match and are in absurd colour combinations that make no sense at all. Shirt hanging out of trousers, silly ties (bow ties are great - very Einstein), tank top? Yes to whitecoat (an old white shirt might do with some quick adaptations), glasses, messy hair.

[Bibliophile]

And the educational value of all this parental effort is....? (at the school, not you FF)

[Whizzz]

Rubber gloves also good !

[Bibliophile]

Actually, if the school wants children to think scientists are odd, weird and crazy and therefore to be laughed at and not emulated, it is going the right way about it. But is that what we want our kids to think?

[Blandmum]

I think that it is a crap idea to get kids to dress up as 'mad' scientists. It is Totaly and utterly counter productive.

Tell your child to go in and say that they are Norman Borlaug and that they are so 'mad' they saved over 25 million Indian peoples lives by discovering'dwarf' wheat.

Or how about Jonas Salk, helping to erradicate polio

Sorry to seem like a grump about it, but this is such a shit idea, and wrecks kids ideas about what science is and does

[FireFaerie]

i never even thought of it like that.. but thanks for all the ideas.

[throckenholt]

all the scientist I know (work in a University) are either entirely normal looking, or just down right scruffy - with very old or bizarre clothes, often buttoned up wrongly and very old sandals . Or very "unique" jumpers.

[throckenholt]

by the way most of them are far from mad (maybe a few a bit obsessed) - but generally they don't give a toss what they look like and probably don't even know what fashion is.

I agree - what is the school trying to achieve by that stereotype ? I presume they are all arts graduates ?

[Blandmum]

THis scientist is sitting a per una pair of jeans and a stripy top

[tamum]

I am wearing jeans, admittedly, but a Jigsaw top and a black cashmere cardigan. I am trying hard not to find this idea counter-productive and offensive, but am not succeeding very well.

[hooleymama]

throckenholt - scientists dress like that because the pays so shite

[hooleymama]

oh yes- ditto jeans + breastfeeding top

[DominiConnor]

I'm with MartianBishop, this is the sort of crap that puts kids off science (unless your kid develops an early grey beard and has a German accent), and of course there are no female scientists...

Next week will they have them coming in as famous writers stoned out of their minds ?

How about talented artists coming in dressed in the Burger Bar uniform of their choice ?

By coincidence (but not much), a really quite important person from Microsoft has got his people to set up a chat so we can work out what if anything can be done about the way that kids, and especially girls choose undemanding subjects with poor career prospects.
I'm a deep skeptic on this. Schools portray science as being run by:
1: Mad people
2: Bad people who kill cute animals
3: Mad & Bad people who torture them first
4: People who do things so hard and mysterious that girls can never do it unless they are so ugly they can frighten the the other scientists into doing their bidding.
5: Dull
6: Duller than that
7: Something to do with a bad smell.

No doubt if you query this the teacher will see you as humourless. Your choice is either to fight this crap or for your kids to learn skills that will make the able to compete for menial jobs under my children.

[throckenholt]

well it doesn't stretch to armani suits generally - but I am sure they could afford decent clothes if they cared enough - they just don't ! DH included.

Actually me included - although I am an escaped scientist.

[throckenholt]

7: Something to do with a bad smell.

that was my BSc dissertation

[muma3]

so strange we have same thing going on at dd's school this week??

firefaerie where are you ?

[Blandmum]

I'm going to type something amazing. I agree with DC 100%

It will mark me forever as a humourless old cow bag, but this sort of thing is just so shit. Shoddy thinking, and does nothing to make kids see scientists as in any way positive. And also reinforces the idea that they have to be white men!

Send your DS as Rosalind Frankin

Pah to this silly, silly idea!

[hooleymama]

Hmm-the reality of being a scientist in industry..

eldest brother is a highly qualified /experienced immunologist whose work includes investigating transplant rejection-he's comstantly criticised by his maths teacher wife on the grounds that he earns a great deal less than she does.

I'm an graduate analytical chemist with almost 20 yrs experience in the food industry specialising in food safety-many of my colleagues have PhD's, MSc's etc- and would still not earn as much as a teacher.

Middle brother did his degree in chemistry but has never used it in industry, he's just done an MBA to try & get a proper job.

If you don't want people to be put off science then justify the long & difficult training with some decent wages.

[hooleymama]

shocking spelling-but I am a scientist

[tamum]

Blimey, I agree with DC too

I don't actually consider myself to be poorly paid to be honest, and just happen not to like Armani, but that's not because I don't care about nice clothes, or because I can't afford them. There's an awful lot of stereotyping going on on this thread. MrsBadger, where are you???

[hooleymama]

Tamum - I read somewhere that you're a geneticist- is that right?

I just know so many people who are brilliant scientists & it's not an easy job, who could do many easier careers for much better pay-if you didn't have a sense of humour & a lot of dedication you wouldn't do it.

I would hesitate to encourage Hooley boy in this direction & that's a shame because DP & I are both scientists.

[tamum]

Yes, that's right, in a university. I suppose I am spoilt by dh being a very well-paid scientist, but I don't actually think my salary is that bad. Maybe I'm out of touch.

[Bibliophile]

My ds wants to be a scientist because he thinks it is extremely interesting to find out how things work. I would be pretty cross if his school started stereotyping his career choice (and yes, he will probably want to be a bus driver tomorrow) as 'mad'. I just think this is an incredibly crap idea. And I am an arts graduate.