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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Music teacher used my daughters clarinet and then expected her to play it

98 replies

HarrietSpecter · 07/06/2018 22:21

AIBU? I was horrified. Isn't this totally unhygienic??

She also said that the smell left on it made her nauseous and almost sick.

It was a supply teacher at school, so not her usual teacher.

Should I say something to school, or am I being unreasonable?

OP posts:
mygrandchildrenrock · 07/06/2018 22:34

Well my own children would have just wiped it and played it.
If you daughter was upset about it, can you give her a pack of wipes to use if it happens again.

kitkatsky · 07/06/2018 22:36

Erm why do you feel sick about it? Given your reasons prob project on your DD?

OohMavis · 07/06/2018 22:36

Was he maybe just not thinking?

That is pretty gross.

ScaredPAD · 07/06/2018 22:37

I'm sure my daughter's flute teacher has played my daughter's flute to help tune it when bits are funny.

I'm not worried.
Just wipe it if she is. I'd be more concerned if my child was anxious about these things!

OohMavis · 07/06/2018 22:37

kit OP's DD felt sick, because the man's residual saliva left a nasty smell.

Original poster
HarrietSpecter · 07/06/2018 22:38

Thanks for your opinion, I still don't think I'm being unreasonable, you can get diseases spread through saliva...

•	Rhinovirus 
•	Flu
•	Epstein-Barr virus 
•	Type 1 herpes (cold sores)
•	Strep bacteria
•	Hepatitis B and hepatitis C
•	Cytomegalovirus
OP posts:
Herbalteahippie · 07/06/2018 22:39

I play clarinet. It has a reed, and a mouthpiece, just wipe it and play it. It’s normal and reasonable amongst most musicians. Chill x

RainySeptember · 07/06/2018 22:39

There wasn't a smell left on it from him playing it. She's neurotic. Like you.

OohMavis · 07/06/2018 22:39

(assuming the teacher was male)

50shadesofgreyismylaundry · 07/06/2018 22:39

Yuk, clean it and change the reed.

I used to play the clarinet. The thought of the minging rag to clean it after playing gives me the boak now.

HateIsNotGood · 07/06/2018 22:40

Yes that is a bit gross - seeing as you soften the reed with saliva. Hopefully as Mave said - teach wasn't thinking - and won't be back soon. Get DD to mention the grossness to her normal music teacher.

Original poster
HarrietSpecter · 07/06/2018 22:40

My DD thought the saliva was gross and then the smell made her feel sick

I made light of it when she told me, and changed the subject, but the more I've thought about it this evening, the more I think it's unhygienic

OP posts:
OohMavis · 07/06/2018 22:40

If the teacher hadn't brushed their teeth, or suffered from bad breath there could well have been a smell

Youvealwaysbeenthecaretaker · 07/06/2018 22:41

Yanbu it's gross. Particularly as you can wipe the front of the mouthpiece but the reed is permeable wood and not wipe clean. Also the reed will have been actually inside your daughter's mouth before she screwed it in.

HollowTalk · 07/06/2018 22:41

I would imagine this happens all the time, doesn't it?

Cutyourshakehole · 07/06/2018 22:41

Yeah I wouldn’t want to
Share a reed with a stranger

Eurgh

leghairdontcare · 07/06/2018 22:42

In youth orchestra, i'd blow anything and not give it a second thought.

HateIsNotGood · 07/06/2018 22:42

Rainy have you ever played a clarinet and cleaned it with the weighted rag afterwards? It's very spitty.

Original poster
HarrietSpecter · 07/06/2018 22:42

My DD hasn't got a strong sense of smell actually (DD 2 on the other hand has!!) so it must have been bad for her to say she felt sick.
Actually I'm not neurotic, thanks, we have pets and I work in healthcare, so used to icky stuff!!

OP posts:
MumofBoysx2 · 07/06/2018 22:42

Gross. If she was in the habit of playing the same instrument as her students she should have had also the habit of using some sort of oral-safe antibacterial solution to wipe the reed and mouthpiece with.

RainySeptember · 07/06/2018 22:43

Yes happens all the time amongst musicians, he wouldn't have thought twice, using it to tune or demonstrate.

Unless she's very young, primary, this can't be the first time it's happened. My kids would've wiped it and continued.

BackforGood · 07/06/2018 22:45

YA over reacting.
Most teens would just wipe it on their sleeve and carry on.

FlyMaybe · 07/06/2018 22:46

In youth orchestra, i'd blow anything and not give it a second thought.

CornishMaid1 · 07/06/2018 22:47

In youth orchestra, i'd blow anything and not give it a second thought

Really?! So band camp stories are true...
Grin

littletike · 07/06/2018 22:47

Good grief when I was at school we used to share instruments and it was normal for the teachers to demonstrate on it.

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