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My son plays with electricity

post #1 of 4
Thread Starter 


my son nearly killed himself today, and I am freaked out and worried and don't know what to do. 


He had one of this little earth globes (don't know what they are in english) that can glow from inside, and he opened it, took it apart, and put his finger in the part where the electricity is supposed to light the bulb. And he got an electric shock with burns on his fingers. 


How can I prevent something like this in the future? I think that the only option is to remove everything that is supposed to go into a socket (child locks are no problem for him - anyway) since this globe was his night light and plugged in. 


I even removed the office lights and table lights from his sister. 


He has ADHD so I don't know how much talking will do here. :( 

I am still thinking about what it would have been like if I would have gone to his room and he would have been lying dead on the floor. 


Any tips?


x-posted gentle discipline

post #2 of 4

How old is he?


I would probably make sure anything plugged in has an actual cover over the entire outlet and plug.  Other than that make sure that anything plugged in is something he won't be able to disassemble.


If he's old enough at all, I would start talking about the dangers of electricity and why not to touch things like that.  It is a teaching issue eventually.  He's probably just curious.


Depending on age, you might even be able to find things that use electricity he can use to satisfy his curiousity that are safe.  Things like snap circuits or a potato battery kit, etc.  But that's more elementary age I would think.

post #3 of 4
I would try and figure out what his goal is- was he trying to figure out how things work? Making something new? I loved making "flashlights" out of light bulbs, wires and batteries as a youngish child. Is he also playing with wall sockets, lamps etc? That would be very worrying to me. My 14 yo lost a friend in August due to electrocution on their family farm.
post #4 of 4

I suppose it depends a bit on age, but all it takes for most kids to have a respect for the juice is one zap. I know I learned the hard way on that one when I was about 10, and to this day, I'm careful when bending electric plugs to fit in the socket. OW! Or bending over the cow fence to get a frisbee, or.....


I'm a fan of embracing this interest he has, and facilitating his learning about electricity in any way you can. It would be the best way to keep him safe, I think. This could be early budding genius!

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