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If you have a match, do not light it in my office


jsharr

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21 hours ago, jsharr said:

or we may both blow up real good.

Sorry.

In my high school lab, I had to start each year closely watching anyone before they used a match or a striker to light a Bunsen burner: a lot of the teenagers had never lit anything on fire before in their lives besides their kitchen gas ranges and I had to make sure they didn't fill the lab with natural gas before they got the nerve to light it or otherwise didn't follow my instructions.

When a trembling teen would say, "My mother won't let me light a match!" I'd reply, "Your mother let you sign up for chemistry and knows you'll have to use Bunsen burners, so you're approved by mom!"

I'd teach and have them light it with a match instead of a striker just so they'd lose the fear and gain the ability for a skill they'd be likely to need at some point in the future.  I never had a parent complaint - I guess they either weren't told, tolerated it, or figured it was about time their kid learned to correctly light a match!

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2 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

In my high school lab, I had to start each year closely watching anyone before they used a match or a striker to light a Bunsen burner: a lot of the teenagers had never lit anything on fire before in their lives besides their kitchen gas ranges!

When a trembling teen would say, "My mother won't let me light a match!" I'd reply, "Your mother let you sign up for chemistry and knows you'll have to use Bunsen burners, so you're approved by mom!"

I'd teach and have them light it with a match instead of a striker just so they'd lose the fear and gain the ability for a skill they'd be likely to need at some point in the future.  I never had a parent complaint - I guess they either weren't told, tolerated it, or figured it was about time their kid learned to correctly light a match!

I am a Scout leader.  Scouts learn from a very early age how to burn stuff.  Sometimes safely even.

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3 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I am a Scout leader.  Scouts learn from a very early age how to burn stuff.  Sometimes safely even.

I had a lot of scouts in chemistry - I taught the honors (gifted and talented) classes and parents who tend to get their kids into scouting are usually the kind that strongly support their kids' educations.  On a few occasions, I was invited to attend my student's or athlete's Eagle Scout Investitures and did so.

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