This is shocking....

But quite funny. my daughter has a problem, i said someone on ATS would have an answer, she said not, so here goes.
My daughter teaches three year olds. Every day she takes them out to play, there is one particular little girl who loves playing on the slide. When my daughter gets her off it, she recieves a massive electric shock off the kid, it has literally floored her on occasion. So i said "stop helping her off", and my daugher replied, "but she gets stuck".
Other teachers have had the same "shocking experience". Im just interested to know if theres any way of avoiding it?, (apart from getting a new job).
Aparrantly the kid also has crazy hair. (dont know how relevant that is).

reply to post by thedoctorswife


Touch the bare ground with her bare hand then touch the slide while maintaining contact with the ground before touching the kid.

Problem solved.

reply to post by thedoctorswife


static electricity?

when i was a child i would scuff my feet on the carpet at the subway and point at the metal
door handles leading outside

this would create a quite visible and audible spark

polyester clothes or "crazy hair" rubbing the slide as she goes down

Originally posted by watchitburn
reply to post by thedoctorswife

 

Touch the bare ground with her bare hand then touch the slide while maintaining contact with the ground before touching the kid.

Problem solved.

edit on 5-5-2013 by watchitburn because: Sorry

Thanks, ive just told her now, apparantly the floor underneath the slide is a rubbery" tarmacy" stuff. Does that count?

She cant run over to the edge to touch the ground.

Try carrying an anti-static dryer sheet in your pocket, and rubbing it once in a while.

Or, pick the girl up while holding the anti-static sheet, if any kids ask why , say it's for cootie protection.

reply to post by thedoctorswife


I'm not sure...50/50?

Ask her how it works out.

?maybe the slide itself needs to be grounded?

She could dowse the kid with a bucket of water before picking her up. Hmmm..... that may be a bad idea after all.

Originally posted by Knives4eyes
Try carrying an anti-static dryer sheet in your pocket, and rubbing it once in a while.

Or, pick the girl up while holding the anti-static sheet, if any kids ask why , say it's for cootie protection.

edit on 5-5-2013 by Knives4eyes because: (no reason given)

My daughter just asked are they big enough to wrap a child in??? I dunno what theyre teaching teachers these days.
I will buy some.
And thanks watchitburn, we'll see how shes gets on.

If there's anything made of wood around touch that first.

I used to collect so much static in the winter, I couldn't open a door with a metal handle, without touching the wood first. If I touched the metal first, it would make such a loud cracking noise, people would stop and stare.
Plus it was really painful.

reply to post by thedoctorswife


OMG! JUST before reading this I came in from outside and got zapped on a light switch. I jokingly yelled to some of my friends that it should be against the law for static electricity to shock us in MAY!

I think there's a way to ground the slide so there's no static buildup. It was years ago, but I remember visiting a factory where machines had a tendency to zap the living daylights out of people. What fixed it was they strung out what looked like copper garland (like the stuff you put on Christmas trees) on the machines, making sure that the ends touched the ground.

Yup, here it is:

Its the childs clothing!!

Grounding the slide wont work.

Get a metal pole and while one end is touching the ground hand it to the little girl. She'll discharge through the pole and then your daughter will be able to pick her up without harm.

Alternatively hook her up to the grid and wait for the pennies to come in

Static electricity. You can rub a balloon really fast across a childs(or yours) head/hair and then stick the balloon to the wall.

I can scuff my shoes at work across certain rugs and touch soemone and they get a shock. Not every rug....but always the same ones.