Cramps, medication, school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a teen who had an OTC pain med in her locker and was reported by someone as having "pills" there. It turned into a mess of meetings and she narrowly escaped being suspended. A few years back, a student with prescription acne meds at one FCPS school did end up suspended for many weeks and forced to transfer to another school (a typical FCPS policy for any kid disciplined for "drugs" was forced transfer). You can Google that latter story--the Post covered it.

You'll get lots of "just tell DD to take her Midol with her, all the girls do it" replies here but I wouldn't risk it. Advil is a six-hour dose; if my DD needs it or is likely to because she's having her period, she takes it before school. If she felt bad during the day she'd call me. If she had bad cramps as a regular thing I would send a letter to the school nurse and office staff and leave her meds in the nurse's office.

All it takes for a problem to start is for one other student to mention (maybe with good intentions) in a teacher's hearing that someone had pills. I know it defies simple common sense which says this shouldn't be an issue but if you followed the coverage of draconian FCPS disciplinary policies--well, it's not worth the risk.

Then there is the Woodson kid a few years ago who was by all accounts a great kid who had a bright future and never had a single discipline problem. Helped care for his mom while she was dying of ALS. She died, and he used synthetic marijuana at school and was caught. Kicked off the football team suspended, transferred. I don't remember the exact details and may have some of them wrong. But FCPS brought zero tolerance, zero compassion to a whole new level and ruined the kid's life, without any consideration of extenuating circumstances. He was the first kid to kill himself in the Woodson suicide cluster.

Don't screw with the FCPS medication policy. It's stupid. But they mean business.

[Anonymous]

I let my kids bring OTC pain relievers to school. I just remind them to keep them in their purse/pocket and take them in the restroom. No sharing.

[Anonymous]

Mine doesn't take the pills in the bottle because it's too noisy, so she just puts two pills in a Ziploc baggie in her backpack.

Even though I filled out the authorization form for Midol and took a bottle in at the beginning of the school year in 9th grade, the nurse still had to call me for verbal authorization each time (LCPS). Same with Tylenol. Made no sense. Why have the form and require me to walk to meds in if you're still going to have to call each time she needed them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a teen who had an OTC pain med in her locker and was reported by someone as having "pills" there. It turned into a mess of meetings and she narrowly escaped being suspended. A few years back, a student with prescription acne meds at one FCPS school did end up suspended for many weeks and forced to transfer to another school (a typical FCPS policy for any kid disciplined for "drugs" was forced transfer). You can Google that latter story--the Post covered it.

You'll get lots of "just tell DD to take her Midol with her, all the girls do it" replies here but I wouldn't risk it. Advil is a six-hour dose; if my DD needs it or is likely to because she's having her period, she takes it before school. If she felt bad during the day she'd call me. If she had bad cramps as a regular thing I would send a letter to the school nurse and office staff and leave her meds in the nurse's office.

All it takes for a problem to start is for one other student to mention (maybe with good intentions) in a teacher's hearing that someone had pills. I know it defies simple common sense which says this shouldn't be an issue but if you followed the coverage of draconian FCPS disciplinary policies--well, it's not worth the risk.

Then there is the Woodson kid a few years ago who was by all accounts a great kid who had a bright future and never had a single discipline problem. Helped care for his mom while she was dying of ALS. She died, and he used synthetic marijuana at school and was caught. Kicked off the football team suspended, transferred. I don't remember the exact details and may have some of them wrong. But FCPS brought zero tolerance, zero compassion to a whole new level and ruined the kid's life, without any consideration of extenuating circumstances. He was the first kid to kill himself in the Woodson suicide cluster.

Don't screw with the FCPS medication policy. It's stupid. But they mean business.

Holy. Crap. That is awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid who take Adderall at lunch every day at the clinic. It is NBD-- except that a parent has to hand carry the meds in every month, because they are prescription. My kid says in and out in 3 minutes. In FCPS, kids can carry non prescription meds and the authorization form to the clinic themselves.

FCPS takes the meds policy incredibly seriously. I get it for Adderall. I do not get it for Tylenol. But the penalty for carrying and self administering both meds is the same. Likely because kids can put Adderall or Opiates in a Tylenol bottle and most people can't tell the difference.

Just have your kid leave Tylenol in the clinic and go during lunch to get one. Or between classes and get a late pass. It's a hassle. But so is fighting a suspension for possession of Tylenol the week after the UVA acceptance letter arrives in the mail. The downside is just too great.

It is easier than you might think to overdose on tylenol and end up in organ failure. Imagine a kid taking a couple in the morning, a couple more two hours later, then a couple more ... Not so easy for ibuprofen, but acetomeniphen and aspirin really can be dangerous. I agree that older kids are capable of managing their own meds, but the school is responsible if someone else's kids gets a hold of them and gets sick.