Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think Ds' Physics teacher is more than a bit sadistic...

71 replies

wakemeupnow · 11/12/2013 18:44

Ds 15 class did an experiment today . It involved dissolving lots of salt and sugar into water to see how much could be dissolved. He then promised extra points to any students who would drink it. Ds did and felt sick for ages after Angry.

Previously the same teacher after an experiment involving amonia , left the class and told them not to dare smell what was in the sealed test tubes. Of course some of them did and suffered for it...

OP posts:
MrsRajeshKoothrappali · 11/12/2013 18:49

I think a lot of teachers are more than a bit sadistic.

They certainly were at my school. I think the power goes to their heads.

:(

And I said 'a lot of' not 'all'.

I'm sure the teachers on MN are lovely.

Flowers
IslaValargeone · 11/12/2013 18:49

I know salt water used to be recommended as an emetic, but I thought it became regarded as quite dangerous as it didn't always induce vomitting and so the excess salt in the body often led to serious consequences.
I don't think he's sadistic as much as really bloody stupid/potentially dangerous.

frogspoon · 11/12/2013 18:49

Regarding the first point, the teacher has a responsibility to keep the class safe. Therefore by telling them to drink it (assuming he wasn't joking) he was not fulfilling his professional responsibilities.

Regarding the second point, he did tell the pupils not to smell them, and the students deliberately disobeyed him, so that was their fault.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 11/12/2013 18:51

Really? What did they dissolve the salt and sugar into? What did they stir it with? Were they in the lab?

Massive Health and Safety issues here, aside from the drinking salty water thing.

Bloody dangerous. Complain to the school.

(science teacher who would never be so stupid)

Salmotrutta · 11/12/2013 18:51

Well, a couple of points :-

The teacher should not be encouraging the consumption of anything in a science lab. Total No-No.

Teachers of practical subjects such as science/Technical/HE are never supposed to leave the classroom in the middle of practicals - especially if things like ammonia are being used.

Pupils of 15 who accept dares to drink salt water or disobey a teacher and sniff ammonia have really got to learn some sense.

LaurieFairyCake · 11/12/2013 18:52

I'm guessing there wouldn't have been much more than the sugar and salt found in Lucozade

EndoplasmicReticulum · 11/12/2013 18:52

Also he should not leave the class unattended in the lab for any reason, particularly if there is equipment out.

paxtecum · 11/12/2013 18:53

50 years ago our chemistry teacher passed round a dish of mercury.
She told us not to touch it as it could cause cancer.
Some of us did touch it, but we were told.

Maybe the ammonia was a lesson to the kids about consequences.

Coconutty · 11/12/2013 18:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

noblegiraffe · 11/12/2013 18:55

Health and safety! What was the salt drink in? Some test tube that has had all manner of chemicals in it?

Talk to the HOD.

diddlediddledumpling · 11/12/2013 18:57

I think the teacher is irresponsible and playing fast and loose with health & safety.
General rule in science labs: never consume anything you're working with.

IamInvisible · 11/12/2013 19:00

I would be really cross with DS15 if he had drunk that, I would expect him to know better tbh.

^Exactly this!

Salmotrutta · 11/12/2013 19:19

I also meant to say MrsRajesh - where is the sadism? Confused

Teacher offers merits to the pupil who is daft enough who will drink the sugar/salt water.

Teacher tells pupils not to sniff ammonia so the daft ones some do.

How is that sadism Confused?

Ill-advised reverse psychology maybe but not sadism.

TheFallenMadonna · 11/12/2013 19:29

It seems odd indeed. I give a detention to any student eating or drinking anything in my lab.

And it sounds more like chemistry...!

ffluffy · 11/12/2013 19:31

Before you go in all guns blazing, are you certain that the teacher actually said that? I would double check with the school first.

As (another) science teacher, eating or drinking in class, let alone something like saturated salt solutions, is absolutely forbidden. As for the ammonia, he should NEVER have left the classroom with equipment out. However, gently wafting dilute ammonia towards your nose is not dangerous.

Noble giraffe - the test tubes etc should always be sterilised in a dishwasher. Given that the chemicals we use in a school are safe to handle by children, drinking or eating out of a test tube/beaker is safe to do if it's been cleaned.

If it does turn out that the teacher has said that, he needs to be reported to the head of science. That's unacceptable and unsafe behaviour in a school.

TheFallenMadonna · 11/12/2013 19:33

I do tell my classes not to do things that are dangerous. It's a warning, not sadistic reverse psychology tempting them to damage themselves. I don't leave my room with practical equipment out though, of course...

noblegiraffe · 11/12/2013 19:40

Test tubes are sterilised in a dishwasher? Crikey, school science provision has gone up in the world since I was at school!

steff13 · 11/12/2013 19:46

My son is 14 (15 next month), and I don't know that he would realize that drinking saltwater can be dangerous. Especially if the teacher "dared" him to do it, he would likely assume it was a safe thing to do.

I would check that the teacher actually said it, but if he did, I would be very upset.

TheFallenMadonna · 11/12/2013 19:51

I used 78 beakers in a practical today. Dishwashers are a bit of a godsend. Why wouldn't we use them? Confused. Apart from anything else, it saves on technician hours...

EndoplasmicReticulum · 11/12/2013 20:20

I wouldn't drink out of a test-tube in my lab. I know what's been in them. Regardless of dishwasher.

I'm not even allowed to take a cup of tea (made in a mug, not a beaker) into the lab when there are no children around.

noblegiraffe · 11/12/2013 20:23

When I was at school we washed up stuff in those little sinks in the middle of the lab benches. Or am I remembering wrong? I must admit I don't remember what we did with the chemicals.

pianodoodle · 11/12/2013 20:24

Did he get the extra points?

TheFallenMadonna · 11/12/2013 20:29

Oh, we do wash them out if they've just had something innocuous, water soluble and dilute in them. But the trouble with that is if there is any residue left, it can mess up the next practical.

And I only have one washing up sink in my room, so there can be a bit of a queue!

When I passed my PhD viva, I drank champagne out of a beaker, as my supervisor had forgotten to bring glasses. And we used some properly nasty stuff. We did use a dishwasher though...

pixiepotter · 11/12/2013 20:29

I don't think you should believe everything your DS tells you.

Salmotrutta · 11/12/2013 20:31

Ah the halcyon days of playing with mercury and radioactive isotopes in the school labs.

It's all so safe nowadays .

... And I'm not kidding. We really did muck about with mercury and stuff back in the 70s.

Elfin Safety gorn maaaaad nowadays Grin