Mommy Time: Difference between Static Electricity and Current Electricity

Tonight, my son got electrocuted!  He put a small wire on the socket, to test what will happen to him if he got electrocuted!!! Imagine that?!?  His dad got so mad at him, he was punished right away and asked to stand in the corner. 

When I finally got to talk to him, and asked him why he did that, he said, it was because one time he experienced static electricity, and his dad told him that it was just static electricity and it was nothing.  So...a child with an ever curious mind, would of course try what Enzo just did.

So parents, be careful with what you tell your kids.  Of course, there was no way for me and my husband to know that he would compare static electricty and the real electricity, but maybe we could have explained it further or could have anticipated something like this, especially if your kid is as curious as mine.

According to Google, static electricity, is electricity at rest.  It is generated by friction or sudden contact - for instance rubbing 2 materials together.  Cuurent electricity on the otherhand, is a phenomenon of moving electrons in a particular path, or direction, such as a stream of them flowing through conducting materials.

Current electricity, in huge amounts, is typically brought about by generators. Power plants have many of these to produce enormous quantities of current electricity. The phenomenon is usually controlled, and requires a flow of electrons along a path, which is fittingly called the ‘electric current’.

In our own words, explain to kids current electricity is live electricity, and that a simple touch can already be fatal, that electrocution can result to severe burn or worst - death.  They should never experiment with electricty, never poke anything on sockets or even touch sockets.  Best of all, is to put covers on your sockets.