A plea: please stop sending your sick kids to school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just keep in mind the kids - at least the little ones - tell us everything.

“Do you tell mommy you didn’t feel well?”
“Yes, but she told me she couldn’t stay home today.”

Or “Is anyone else sick at your house?”
“Yes, my brother threw up everything this morning.”

They tell us they took medicine, they tell us they asked to stay home, etc. And yes I have a touchless thermometer in my class and I use it. I also don’t let the sick kids do group work or come to the carpet. I feel badly for the 3 other kids at their table group.

Why are you grilling these kids? I keep my kids home when they are sick but this is really obnoxious. If you want to silently judge the parents, fine. If you think a kid is sick enough to need to be picked up, send them to the nurse and call the parents. But quizzing the kids on whether they asked to stay home or their parent took their temperature? It's gross.

FYI, my kid has gone through phases of school resistance where she will ask to stay home with a tummy ache. It's because she has had some social issues with a girl in her class, and also because she just really likes staying home. I know when my kid is sick and when she's just trying to get out of school because she'd rather stay home and hang out with mommy and play with her toys in her room than deal with some nonsense on the playground. My sense is that you probably don't know any of the kids in your class well enough to understand those kind of nuances.

Don’t teach your kid to lie about illness and no one at school will ask them questions.

Just retire, okay? You hate teaching, you hate parents, you hate kids. We get it. No one is coaching their child to lie about illness, but you are so deeply jaded about your job that you think they are. You're grilling elementary school kids about their parents like you're Sherlock Holmes uncovering the Great Respiratory Virus Caper of 2022.

It's cold and flu season. Kids are going to get sick. So are adults. Some of us have more leeway to keep our kids home when their sick, but some people don't. Some people are crappy parents, too. But do you think the crappy parents who don't care if their kids are well enough to attend school are going to listen to you snarking at them? They are not.

This is part of the job. You know who else works sick the time of year? Doctors, nurses, retail workers, restaurant servers, maids, flight attendants... basically anyone with a public facing job. And they don't have the convenient scapegoat of "parents" (which we all know really means "moms") to blame. They just accept that as people who work with a public population, they are probably going to catch what is going around and have to figure it out. Stop acting like this is something unique to schools or teachers, or like parents are just out to get you personally.

Right. Because all the kids who suddenly spike a fever halfway through the day and tell us how mommy gave them the pink medicine this morning are there because of some big mix up.

I'm a different poster but I also think it's not cool to question kids about whether or not their parents sent them to school sick. Don't make the kids feel guilty, or uneasy about the decisions that adults made for them. I don't think parents should send feverish kids to school obviously, but I also wouldn't pile on to the kid who feels ill by asking him questions about whether or not his mom gave him medicine this morning or whether or not he asked to stay home and what his mom said about it.

I didn’t say anything about questioning them. The kids tell us all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just keep in mind the kids - at least the little ones - tell us everything.

“Do you tell mommy you didn’t feel well?”
“Yes, but she told me she couldn’t stay home today.”

Or “Is anyone else sick at your house?”
“Yes, my brother threw up everything this morning.”

They tell us they took medicine, they tell us they asked to stay home, etc. And yes I have a touchless thermometer in my class and I use it. I also don’t let the sick kids do group work or come to the carpet. I feel badly for the 3 other kids at their table group.

Why are you grilling these kids? I keep my kids home when they are sick but this is really obnoxious. If you want to silently judge the parents, fine. If you think a kid is sick enough to need to be picked up, send them to the nurse and call the parents. But quizzing the kids on whether they asked to stay home or their parent took their temperature? It's gross.

FYI, my kid has gone through phases of school resistance where she will ask to stay home with a tummy ache. It's because she has had some social issues with a girl in her class, and also because she just really likes staying home. I know when my kid is sick and when she's just trying to get out of school because she'd rather stay home and hang out with mommy and play with her toys in her room than deal with some nonsense on the playground. My sense is that you probably don't know any of the kids in your class well enough to understand those kind of nuances.

Don’t teach your kid to lie about illness and no one at school will ask them questions.

Just retire, okay? You hate teaching, you hate parents, you hate kids. We get it. No one is coaching their child to lie about illness, but you are so deeply jaded about your job that you think they are. You're grilling elementary school kids about their parents like you're Sherlock Holmes uncovering the Great Respiratory Virus Caper of 2022.

It's cold and flu season. Kids are going to get sick. So are adults. Some of us have more leeway to keep our kids home when their sick, but some people don't. Some people are crappy parents, too. But do you think the crappy parents who don't care if their kids are well enough to attend school are going to listen to you snarking at them? They are not.

This is part of the job. You know who else works sick the time of year? Doctors, nurses, retail workers, restaurant servers, maids, flight attendants... basically anyone with a public facing job. And they don't have the convenient scapegoat of "parents" (which we all know really means "moms") to blame. They just accept that as people who work with a public population, they are probably going to catch what is going around and have to figure it out. Stop acting like this is something unique to schools or teachers, or like parents are just out to get you personally.

Right. Because all the kids who suddenly spike a fever halfway through the day and tell us how mommy gave them the pink medicine this morning are there because of some big mix up.

I'm a different poster but I also think it's not cool to question kids about whether or not their parents sent them to school sick. Don't make the kids feel guilty, or uneasy about the decisions that adults made for them. I don't think parents should send feverish kids to school obviously, but I also wouldn't pile on to the kid who feels ill by asking him questions about whether or not his mom gave him medicine this morning or whether or not he asked to stay home and what his mom said about it.

I didn’t say anything about questioning them. The kids tell us all the time.

DP, if you're the original poster I've bolded you very much did. Those kinds of questions are what have people's hackles up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just keep in mind the kids - at least the little ones - tell us everything.

“Do you tell mommy you didn’t feel well?”
“Yes, but she told me she couldn’t stay home today.”

Or “Is anyone else sick at your house?”
“Yes, my brother threw up everything this morning.”

They tell us they took medicine, they tell us they asked to stay home, etc. And yes I have a touchless thermometer in my class and I use it. I also don’t let the sick kids do group work or come to the carpet. I feel badly for the 3 other kids at their table group.

Why are you grilling these kids? I keep my kids home when they are sick but this is really obnoxious. If you want to silently judge the parents, fine. If you think a kid is sick enough to need to be picked up, send them to the nurse and call the parents. But quizzing the kids on whether they asked to stay home or their parent took their temperature? It's gross.

FYI, my kid has gone through phases of school resistance where she will ask to stay home with a tummy ache. It's because she has had some social issues with a girl in her class, and also because she just really likes staying home. I know when my kid is sick and when she's just trying to get out of school because she'd rather stay home and hang out with mommy and play with her toys in her room than deal with some nonsense on the playground. My sense is that you probably don't know any of the kids in your class well enough to understand those kind of nuances.

Don’t teach your kid to lie about illness and no one at school will ask them questions.

Just retire, okay? You hate teaching, you hate parents, you hate kids. We get it. No one is coaching their child to lie about illness, but you are so deeply jaded about your job that you think they are. You're grilling elementary school kids about their parents like you're Sherlock Holmes uncovering the Great Respiratory Virus Caper of 2022.

It's cold and flu season. Kids are going to get sick. So are adults. Some of us have more leeway to keep our kids home when their sick, but some people don't. Some people are crappy parents, too. But do you think the crappy parents who don't care if their kids are well enough to attend school are going to listen to you snarking at them? They are not.

This is part of the job. You know who else works sick the time of year? Doctors, nurses, retail workers, restaurant servers, maids, flight attendants... basically anyone with a public facing job. And they don't have the convenient scapegoat of "parents" (which we all know really means "moms") to blame. They just accept that as people who work with a public population, they are probably going to catch what is going around and have to figure it out. Stop acting like this is something unique to schools or teachers, or like parents are just out to get you personally.

Right. Because all the kids who suddenly spike a fever halfway through the day and tell us how mommy gave them the pink medicine this morning are there because of some big mix up.

??? Are you even responding to PP?

If you don’t want to face the public (and children), quit.

She won’t quit because she wouldn’t be able to get a different job with nearly the same pay and benefits given her skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then teachers need to make it less stressful for then to miss. Starting n grade 4 i leave it up to my kids. Vomiting is stay home until 24hrs puke free, but anything else is up to them. Their classes are intense and they feel the pain if they miss important lessons.

I meet virtually with my sick AP students at the end of the school day and deliver the whole lesson to them. I want them HOME.

I’m reading through these posts astounded at the “teachers signed up for this” and “my kid is going to school no matter what” posts. We really have lost all sense of community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just keep in mind the kids - at least the little ones - tell us everything.

“Do you tell mommy you didn’t feel well?”
“Yes, but she told me she couldn’t stay home today.”

Or “Is anyone else sick at your house?”
“Yes, my brother threw up everything this morning.”

They tell us they took medicine, they tell us they asked to stay home, etc. And yes I have a touchless thermometer in my class and I use it. I also don’t let the sick kids do group work or come to the carpet. I feel badly for the 3 other kids at their table group.

Why are you grilling these kids? I keep my kids home when they are sick but this is really obnoxious. If you want to silently judge the parents, fine. If you think a kid is sick enough to need to be picked up, send them to the nurse and call the parents. But quizzing the kids on whether they asked to stay home or their parent took their temperature? It's gross.

FYI, my kid has gone through phases of school resistance where she will ask to stay home with a tummy ache. It's because she has had some social issues with a girl in her class, and also because she just really likes staying home. I know when my kid is sick and when she's just trying to get out of school because she'd rather stay home and hang out with mommy and play with her toys in her room than deal with some nonsense on the playground. My sense is that you probably don't know any of the kids in your class well enough to understand those kind of nuances.

Don’t teach your kid to lie about illness and no one at school will ask them questions.

Just retire, okay? You hate teaching, you hate parents, you hate kids. We get it. No one is coaching their child to lie about illness, but you are so deeply jaded about your job that you think they are. You're grilling elementary school kids about their parents like you're Sherlock Holmes uncovering the Great Respiratory Virus Caper of 2022.

It's cold and flu season. Kids are going to get sick. So are adults. Some of us have more leeway to keep our kids home when their sick, but some people don't. Some people are crappy parents, too. But do you think the crappy parents who don't care if their kids are well enough to attend school are going to listen to you snarking at them? They are not.

This is part of the job. You know who else works sick the time of year? Doctors, nurses, retail workers, restaurant servers, maids, flight attendants... basically anyone with a public facing job. And they don't have the convenient scapegoat of "parents" (which we all know really means "moms") to blame. They just accept that as people who work with a public population, they are probably going to catch what is going around and have to figure it out. Stop acting like this is something unique to schools or teachers, or like parents are just out to get you personally.

Right. Because all the kids who suddenly spike a fever halfway through the day and tell us how mommy gave them the pink medicine this morning are there because of some big mix up.

??? Are you even responding to PP?

If you don’t want to face the public (and children), quit.

She won’t quit because she wouldn’t be able to get a different job with nearly the same pay and benefits given her skills.

Oh, please. Post this nonsense on one of the many threads about teacher shortages. You’ll find teachers aren’t chained to their desks. We know there are more lucrative positions in other fields and we know that we can slide right into them with our tremendous organization, presentation, and management skills.

Those of us choosing to stay and work through this shortage, covering extra classes, would just like super sick kids to stay home. It’s not a big ask. If your child can’t lift their head off a desk, and if your child is flushed and sweating, why send them in? I see this daily right now. Daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then teachers need to make it less stressful for then to miss. Starting n grade 4 i leave it up to my kids. Vomiting is stay home until 24hrs puke free, but anything else is up to them. Their classes are intense and they feel the pain if they miss important lessons.

I meet virtually with my sick AP students at the end of the school day and deliver the whole lesson to them. I want them HOME.

I’m reading through these posts astounded at the “teachers signed up for this” and “my kid is going to school no matter what” posts. We really have lost all sense of community.

There's been maybe one or two "my kid is going to school no matter what" posts, and they have not been supported.

Nearly every parent on this thread has stated that they keep their kids home with fevers, vomiting, if they seem to tired or ill to leave the house, and for the first few days of a bad cold. But as we have explained repeatedly, we cannot keep children home for every hint of illness, because then they would be home most days from October to March. Which means yes, sometimes kids are going to spread viruses at school. And if not at school, at activities, on playgrounds, at home, while traveling, etc.

It is a fact that if you teach or perform any other public facing job during cold and flu season, you will likely have to interact with people who are sick and you are more likely to get sick yourself. I don't know how to sugarcoat this. I have worked in a field for a number of years (not teaching) that was like this, and it sucked. Though I will also note that in that job, I made close to minimum wage, had no guaranteed sick leave, and could be fired for missing too many days of work. Fortunately, teachers have guaranteed leave and are paid much more fairly than that, and union protections that would prevent wrongful termination. I am not complaining about these benefits -- I think everyone should get them. I'm glad teachers do.

The sub situation is what it is. We will always need subs, and presently there are not enough, and the things necessary to fix that (better pay, more available training for potential subs) are not part of the system. But idly threatening parents with "terrible subs" if they send their kid to school with the sniffles because you hate that your job necessarily involves working with human beings who might be sick during the season in which many, many human beings get sick, is absurd. Kids are going to show up at school with a cough or the sniffles.

I am currently being harassed by the school district because my child has missed so many days of school this fall with illness. And guess what, she's coming down with something else, I'm certain of it. In a couple hours, I'll have to make a judgment call on whether I send her in today based on how she feels and sounds. If it's just congestion and a little cough, I think I have to send in her in even though I'd rather keep her home and in fact woke up at 4:30 am to get some work done so that if she does have to stay home, I can spend the morning with her. If I do keep her home, I expect a call from the district this afternoon letting me know how important it is for her to go to school and demanding documentation for her absence. Tell me again that it is only teachers who are "sucking it up" through this terrible cold and flu season and how irresponsible and selfish parents are. Go ahead, tell me ALL about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then teachers need to make it less stressful for then to miss. Starting n grade 4 i leave it up to my kids. Vomiting is stay home until 24hrs puke free, but anything else is up to them. Their classes are intense and they feel the pain if they miss important lessons.

I meet virtually with my sick AP students at the end of the school day and deliver the whole lesson to them. I want them HOME.

I’m reading through these posts astounded at the “teachers signed up for this” and “my kid is going to school no matter what” posts. We really have lost all sense of community.

There's been maybe one or two "my kid is going to school no matter what" posts, and they have not been supported.

Nearly every parent on this thread has stated that they keep their kids home with fevers, vomiting, if they seem to tired or ill to leave the house, and for the first few days of a bad cold. But as we have explained repeatedly, we cannot keep children home for every hint of illness, because then they would be home most days from October to March. Which means yes, sometimes kids are going to spread viruses at school. And if not at school, at activities, on playgrounds, at home, while traveling, etc.

It is a fact that if you teach or perform any other public facing job during cold and flu season, you will likely have to interact with people who are sick and you are more likely to get sick yourself. I don't know how to sugarcoat this. I have worked in a field for a number of years (not teaching) that was like this, and it sucked. Though I will also note that in that job, I made close to minimum wage, had no guaranteed sick leave, and could be fired for missing too many days of work. Fortunately, teachers have guaranteed leave and are paid much more fairly than that, and union protections that would prevent wrongful termination. I am not complaining about these benefits -- I think everyone should get them. I'm glad teachers do.

The sub situation is what it is. We will always need subs, and presently there are not enough, and the things necessary to fix that (better pay, more available training for potential subs) are not part of the system. But idly threatening parents with "terrible subs" if they send their kid to school with the sniffles because you hate that your job necessarily involves working with human beings who might be sick during the season in which many, many human beings get sick, is absurd. Kids are going to show up at school with a cough or the sniffles.

I am currently being harassed by the school district because my child has missed so many days of school this fall with illness. And guess what, she's coming down with something else, I'm certain of it. In a couple hours, I'll have to make a judgment call on whether I send her in today based on how she feels and sounds. If it's just congestion and a little cough, I think I have to send in her in even though I'd rather keep her home and in fact woke up at 4:30 am to get some work done so that if she does have to stay home, I can spend the morning with her. If I do keep her home, I expect a call from the district this afternoon letting me know how important it is for her to go to school and demanding documentation for her absence. Tell me again that it is only teachers who are "sucking it up" through this terrible cold and flu season and how irresponsible and selfish parents are. Go ahead, tell me ALL about it.

I’m the PP and I’ll state this very clearly: I am not your enemy. I’m the teacher taking 40 minutes out of my own time to virtually conference with your sick child so they don’t get behind. I’ll then spend 30 with a child from a different class. I’m also QUITE aware getting sick is part of my job. I caught Covid just a month ago from work and had to spend 5 days home, sitting on my laptop for 10 hours each day frantically responding to emails and getting sub work back immediately (with comments). I am trying to HELP. If you review my post, nowhere did I say that recovering / coughing kids should stay home. I said the miserable, feverish ones should. Perhaps you don’t send your child that way, but plenty of parents do.

As one of the “I’m bending over so far backwards to keep education afloat during shortages” types, you need to understand that your tone above is misplaced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just keep in mind the kids - at least the little ones - tell us everything.

“Do you tell mommy you didn’t feel well?”
“Yes, but she told me she couldn’t stay home today.”

Or “Is anyone else sick at your house?”
“Yes, my brother threw up everything this morning.”

They tell us they took medicine, they tell us they asked to stay home, etc. And yes I have a touchless thermometer in my class and I use it. I also don’t let the sick kids do group work or come to the carpet. I feel badly for the 3 other kids at their table group.

Why are you grilling these kids? I keep my kids home when they are sick but this is really obnoxious. If you want to silently judge the parents, fine. If you think a kid is sick enough to need to be picked up, send them to the nurse and call the parents. But quizzing the kids on whether they asked to stay home or their parent took their temperature? It's gross.

FYI, my kid has gone through phases of school resistance where she will ask to stay home with a tummy ache. It's because she has had some social issues with a girl in her class, and also because she just really likes staying home. I know when my kid is sick and when she's just trying to get out of school because she'd rather stay home and hang out with mommy and play with her toys in her room than deal with some nonsense on the playground. My sense is that you probably don't know any of the kids in your class well enough to understand those kind of nuances.

Don’t teach your kid to lie about illness and no one at school will ask them questions.

Just retire, okay? You hate teaching, you hate parents, you hate kids. We get it. No one is coaching their child to lie about illness, but you are so deeply jaded about your job that you think they are. You're grilling elementary school kids about their parents like you're Sherlock Holmes uncovering the Great Respiratory Virus Caper of 2022.

It's cold and flu season. Kids are going to get sick. So are adults. Some of us have more leeway to keep our kids home when their sick, but some people don't. Some people are crappy parents, too. But do you think the crappy parents who don't care if their kids are well enough to attend school are going to listen to you snarking at them? They are not.

This is part of the job. You know who else works sick the time of year? Doctors, nurses, retail workers, restaurant servers, maids, flight attendants... basically anyone with a public facing job. And they don't have the convenient scapegoat of "parents" (which we all know really means "moms") to blame. They just accept that as people who work with a public population, they are probably going to catch what is going around and have to figure it out. Stop acting like this is something unique to schools or teachers, or like parents are just out to get you personally.

Right. Because all the kids who suddenly spike a fever halfway through the day and tell us how mommy gave them the pink medicine this morning are there because of some big mix up.

I'm a different poster but I also think it's not cool to question kids about whether or not their parents sent them to school sick. Don't make the kids feel guilty, or uneasy about the decisions that adults made for them. I don't think parents should send feverish kids to school obviously, but I also wouldn't pile on to the kid who feels ill by asking him questions about whether or not his mom gave him medicine this morning or whether or not he asked to stay home and what his mom said about it.

I didn’t say anything about questioning them. The kids tell us all the time.

DP, if you're the original poster I've bolded you very much did. Those kinds of questions are what have people's hackles up.

You should compel your sick child to keep your shameful secrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just keep in mind the kids - at least the little ones - tell us everything.

“Do you tell mommy you didn’t feel well?”
“Yes, but she told me she couldn’t stay home today.”

Or “Is anyone else sick at your house?”
“Yes, my brother threw up everything this morning.”

They tell us they took medicine, they tell us they asked to stay home, etc. And yes I have a touchless thermometer in my class and I use it. I also don’t let the sick kids do group work or come to the carpet. I feel badly for the 3 other kids at their table group.

Why are you grilling these kids? I keep my kids home when they are sick but this is really obnoxious. If you want to silently judge the parents, fine. If you think a kid is sick enough to need to be picked up, send them to the nurse and call the parents. But quizzing the kids on whether they asked to stay home or their parent took their temperature? It's gross.

FYI, my kid has gone through phases of school resistance where she will ask to stay home with a tummy ache. It's because she has had some social issues with a girl in her class, and also because she just really likes staying home. I know when my kid is sick and when she's just trying to get out of school because she'd rather stay home and hang out with mommy and play with her toys in her room than deal with some nonsense on the playground. My sense is that you probably don't know any of the kids in your class well enough to understand those kind of nuances.

Don’t teach your kid to lie about illness and no one at school will ask them questions.

Just retire, okay? You hate teaching, you hate parents, you hate kids. We get it. No one is coaching their child to lie about illness, but you are so deeply jaded about your job that you think they are. You're grilling elementary school kids about their parents like you're Sherlock Holmes uncovering the Great Respiratory Virus Caper of 2022.

It's cold and flu season. Kids are going to get sick. So are adults. Some of us have more leeway to keep our kids home when their sick, but some people don't. Some people are crappy parents, too. But do you think the crappy parents who don't care if their kids are well enough to attend school are going to listen to you snarking at them? They are not.

This is part of the job. You know who else works sick the time of year? Doctors, nurses, retail workers, restaurant servers, maids, flight attendants... basically anyone with a public facing job. And they don't have the convenient scapegoat of "parents" (which we all know really means "moms") to blame. They just accept that as people who work with a public population, they are probably going to catch what is going around and have to figure it out. Stop acting like this is something unique to schools or teachers, or like parents are just out to get you personally.

Right. Because all the kids who suddenly spike a fever halfway through the day and tell us how mommy gave them the pink medicine this morning are there because of some big mix up.

??? Are you even responding to PP?

If you don’t want to face the public (and children), quit.

Dosing your kid with Tylenol when you know they have a fever and are contagious is dishonest and wrong. It is unfair for the child who is being put in a bad situation and it is unfair to the entire school community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then teachers need to make it less stressful for then to miss. Starting n grade 4 i leave it up to my kids. Vomiting is stay home until 24hrs puke free, but anything else is up to them. Their classes are intense and they feel the pain if they miss important lessons.

I meet virtually with my sick AP students at the end of the school day and deliver the whole lesson to them. I want them HOME.

I’m reading through these posts astounded at the “teachers signed up for this” and “my kid is going to school no matter what” posts. We really have lost all sense of community.

There's been maybe one or two "my kid is going to school no matter what" posts, and they have not been supported.

Nearly every parent on this thread has stated that they keep their kids home with fevers, vomiting, if they seem to tired or ill to leave the house, and for the first few days of a bad cold. But as we have explained repeatedly, we cannot keep children home for every hint of illness, because then they would be home most days from October to March. Which means yes, sometimes kids are going to spread viruses at school. And if not at school, at activities, on playgrounds, at home, while traveling, etc.

It is a fact that if you teach or perform any other public facing job during cold and flu season, you will likely have to interact with people who are sick and you are more likely to get sick yourself. I don't know how to sugarcoat this. I have worked in a field for a number of years (not teaching) that was like this, and it sucked. Though I will also note that in that job, I made close to minimum wage, had no guaranteed sick leave, and could be fired for missing too many days of work. Fortunately, teachers have guaranteed leave and are paid much more fairly than that, and union protections that would prevent wrongful termination. I am not complaining about these benefits -- I think everyone should get them. I'm glad teachers do.

The sub situation is what it is. We will always need subs, and presently there are not enough, and the things necessary to fix that (better pay, more available training for potential subs) are not part of the system. But idly threatening parents with "terrible subs" if they send their kid to school with the sniffles because you hate that your job necessarily involves working with human beings who might be sick during the season in which many, many human beings get sick, is absurd. Kids are going to show up at school with a cough or the sniffles.

I am currently being harassed by the school district because my child has missed so many days of school this fall with illness. And guess what, she's coming down with something else, I'm certain of it. In a couple hours, I'll have to make a judgment call on whether I send her in today based on how she feels and sounds. If it's just congestion and a little cough, I think I have to send in her in even though I'd rather keep her home and in fact woke up at 4:30 am to get some work done so that if she does have to stay home, I can spend the morning with her. If I do keep her home, I expect a call from the district this afternoon letting me know how important it is for her to go to school and demanding documentation for her absence. Tell me again that it is only teachers who are "sucking it up" through this terrible cold and flu season and how irresponsible and selfish parents are. Go ahead, tell me ALL about it.

If you worked in assisted care, that is the only way you have ever been in an environment similar to teaching in an early childhood class.

Did you consistently get someone sneezing in your face within inches of you?
Did you consistently get mucus wiped on you?
Did you consistently get coughed on within inches of your face?
Were you asked to open someone’s ketchup packet, gogurt, capri sun straw after they place said item in their mouth?
Were you consistently handed dirty facial tissues to throw them away?

No teachers aren’ t the only ones sucking it up this cold season. My entire family has been sick for the last month. Congestion and cough is fine to send kids to school with, perhaps no one is addressing you when asking kids to stay home if you are in fact following health rules. The second question any experienced clinic aide asks kids is: Did mommy give you medicine this morning?

Because it happens all the time. Maybe it isn’t you or the DCUM crowd, but it happens all the time.

[Anonymous]

oh my god, PP. Have you heard of RETAIL? Of course there are people that are getting coughed on regularly at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Then teachers need to make it less stressful for then to miss. Starting n grade 4 i leave it up to my kids. Vomiting is stay home until 24hrs puke free, but anything else is up to them. Their classes are intense and they feel the pain if they miss important lessons.

I meet virtually with my sick AP students at the end of the school day and deliver the whole lesson to them. I want them HOME.

I’m reading through these posts astounded at the “teachers signed up for this” and “my kid is going to school no matter what” posts. We really have lost all sense of community.

There's been maybe one or two "my kid is going to school no matter what" posts, and they have not been supported.

Nearly every parent on this thread has stated that they keep their kids home with fevers, vomiting, if they seem to tired or ill to leave the house, and for the first few days of a bad cold. But as we have explained repeatedly, we cannot keep children home for every hint of illness, because then they would be home most days from October to March. Which means yes, sometimes kids are going to spread viruses at school. And if not at school, at activities, on playgrounds, at home, while traveling, etc.

It is a fact that if you teach or perform any other public facing job during cold and flu season, you will likely have to interact with people who are sick and you are more likely to get sick yourself. I don't know how to sugarcoat this. I have worked in a field for a number of years (not teaching) that was like this, and it sucked. Though I will also note that in that job, I made close to minimum wage, had no guaranteed sick leave, and could be fired for missing too many days of work. Fortunately, teachers have guaranteed leave and are paid much more fairly than that, and union protections that would prevent wrongful termination. I am not complaining about these benefits -- I think everyone should get them. I'm glad teachers do.

The sub situation is what it is. We will always need subs, and presently there are not enough, and the things necessary to fix that (better pay, more available training for potential subs) are not part of the system. But idly threatening parents with "terrible subs" if they send their kid to school with the sniffles because you hate that your job necessarily involves working with human beings who might be sick during the season in which many, many human beings get sick, is absurd. Kids are going to show up at school with a cough or the sniffles.

I am currently being harassed by the school district because my child has missed so many days of school this fall with illness. And guess what, she's coming down with something else, I'm certain of it. In a couple hours, I'll have to make a judgment call on whether I send her in today based on how she feels and sounds. If it's just congestion and a little cough, I think I have to send in her in even though I'd rather keep her home and in fact woke up at 4:30 am to get some work done so that if she does have to stay home, I can spend the morning with her. If I do keep her home, I expect a call from the district this afternoon letting me know how important it is for her to go to school and demanding documentation for her absence. Tell me again that it is only teachers who are "sucking it up" through this terrible cold and flu season and how irresponsible and selfish parents are. Go ahead, tell me ALL about it.

If you worked in assisted care, that is the only way you have ever been in an environment similar to teaching in an early childhood class.

Did you consistently get someone sneezing in your face within inches of you?
Did you consistently get mucus wiped on you?
Did you consistently get coughed on within inches of your face?
Were you asked to open someone’s ketchup packet, gogurt, capri sun straw after they place said item in their mouth?
Were you consistently handed dirty facial tissues to throw them away?

No teachers aren’ t the only ones sucking it up this cold season. My entire family has been sick for the last month. Congestion and cough is fine to send kids to school with, perhaps no one is addressing you when asking kids to stay home if you are in fact following health rules. The second question any experienced clinic aide asks kids is: Did mommy give you medicine this morning?

Because it happens all the time. Maybe it isn’t you or the DCUM crowd, but it happens all the time.

DP. There are nearly constant threads on this site asking parents to keep their kids home for any congestion and until coughs clear up completely. Those people might be idiots, but don't act like "no one is addressing" the people who send their kids to school with lingering coughs. Some people here get very upset about that

[Anonymous]

I’m trying to say this respectfully but it sounds like you’re very dramatic and I can only imagine what it would be like to be your husband or child… perhaps you should just chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:oh my god, PP. Have you heard of RETAIL? Of course there are people that are getting coughed on regularly at work.

+1, I've worked in both retail and food service and been coughed and sneezed on, had people touch me with hands they just coughed or sneezed into. Also, in these jobs you are constantly cleaning. I've had to clean the bathroom in restaurant jobs before. Ever scrubbed a toilet that a bunch of random strangers who'd been drinking recently used?

I would take being a preschool teacher over these jobs every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Yes, I'm sure I'd also catch viruses from the kids all the time. But there is no way that a bunch of 4 year olds would treat me worse or that I'd have to deal with as much disgusting behavior as I have had to in the many service industry jobs I've had. At least with kids you go into it knowing they are going to be kind of gross and it's because they don't yet know better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:oh my god, PP. Have you heard of RETAIL? Of course there are people that are getting coughed on regularly at work.

+1, I've worked in both retail and food service and been coughed and sneezed on, had people touch me with hands they just coughed or sneezed into. Also, in these jobs you are constantly cleaning. I've had to clean the bathroom in restaurant jobs before. Ever scrubbed a toilet that a bunch of random strangers who'd been drinking recently used?

I would take being a preschool teacher over these jobs every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Yes, I'm sure I'd also catch viruses from the kids all the time. But there is no way that a bunch of 4 year olds would treat me worse or that I'd have to deal with as much disgusting behavior as I have had to in the many service industry jobs I've had. At least with kids you go into it knowing they are going to be kind of gross and it's because they don't yet know better.

Absolutely I have worked in retail. I worked at a beer serving Chuck E. Cheese during college so yes I have cleaned up after strangers and when the toilet overflows I worked in macys during Christmas and nope you do not get as close to people in retail because they are strangers and we keep a certain amount of social distance from people we don’t know. In retail you are not talking eye to eye with a child comforting them when they cry when they just sneeze in your face. As a caregiver the kids naturally get very close to you. Strangers in a retail store keep more distance because they don’t know you as well . Kids are cuter and I clean up their crap snot and pee everyday. Come be a preschool teacher- or at least sub! Besides pee is mostly sterile even when it is in the floor and toilet seat.