Fed up with parents who send sick kids to school
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Anonymous
I think you are fine at this point. 1yo is not going to do a lot of social interactions. |
Anonymous
I think it's because the kids are fed crap. Tons of quick, processed convenience foods and not enough fresh veggies. Also, not enough rest time or sleep. There's a kid on my DD's team who is always sick. She'll get over one cold and have a few days before catching another one. This kid is maxed out... home from school, off to a lesson, off to practice, off to dance, home for a bath and bedtime. Rinse and repeat each night. There isn't one night during the week where she doesn't have 2 or 3 activities after school. The mom is always dropping her off with either fast food or some processed crap to quickly eat before practice begins. There is zero benefit of having your kids in a sport or an academic extracurricular to be healthy if in order to participate in those those things they must fill their bodies with junk food and forego the appropriate amount of sleep for a kid their age. |
Anonymous
Maybe kid is fine but it’s not the social interaction I’d worry about on a plane, it’s all the breathing and dripping snot in close quarters. If money is no object I’d wait the extra 48hrs. However it’s likely there are others who are not as respectful and will have super sick kids in the plane and infect your child again so really you can’t win. This is why we always drive. Planes are cesspools. |
Anonymous
There are plenty of families like this at our school in FCPS. There's a reason you have to designate an emergency contact on school forms. Most of the families have no problem finding a family friend or cousin or grandparent pick up their sick kid if the parent(s) are working. I used to work at a private school and those parents were much more of a pain in the ass about it. The school was also too cheap to hire a clinic aide or nurse, but at least the custodial staff was awesome. |
Anonymous
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If you have a job without benefits- don’t have a lot of kids. It’s not that hard. My salary is X. I’d like to have more kids- but I can’t.
If you are truly unable to attend to your sick children (neglect) you need to re-evaluate your ability to parent. And yes- this goes for the CVS cashier and the aspiring law parenter mom/dad. |
Anonymous
Or maybe we as a society could find more ways to support families so that parents feel like they can take more sick days. I’ve lost track of the number of times I see statements on here like, “if you can’t do XYZ” or be entirely self sufficient, don’t have kids. Thing is, outside of the UMC DC bubble, more families struggle than not. I’m curious who these posters would like to fill the next generation of Americans if all these people heed their advice and not have children. Immigrants I guess? |
Anonymous
As a teacher, I believe this is the root of our frustration. I'm sure what I'm about to say won't be very popular, but it's something that's been eating at me slowly throughout the years because there is such a snowball effect as to what schools and teachers are expected to be accountable for. There's been a gradual release of accountability from parents and families, and that has landed on schools/teachers. Parents forgot to pack a snack? I'm expected to provide one that I have to buy out of my own pocket. Parents don't provide school supplies? I am expected to provide them and the $200 budget I get for all supplies for the entire year doesn't stretch that far when many students arrive without any school supplies. The school wants to foster relationships with parents? Teachers are expected to donate food/activities/personal time for the event since the events with the best attendance provide free food. Parents can't afford holiday gifts for their children? There's an angel tree in the staff lounge that we're expected to fulfill. Parents can't pick their kids up from after free school clubs, which we sponsor completely uncompensated, at the designated pick up time? We're expected to sit and wait with the kids until the parents show up. There are schools where there are washers and dryers, and staff rotate taking turns doing laundry for students so that they have clean clothes--my school hasn't gotten to this point yet but the precedent has been set by other schools so it's only a matter of time before it reaches more schools. So when parents send their clearly sick kids to school, it feels like one more way that they have released accountability for their kids onto us. It's not any of the one things in a vacuum, but the snowball effect of all of them. But when your kid pukes on the carpet in my classroom when they puked at home last night but sent them into school anyway, and then the virus slowly goes through the classroom culminating in my need to take some of my 8 total days of sick leave for the year, it feels like the straw that broke the camel's back. I work in a focus school, and I stay because I truly care about the kids. The kids aren't responsible for their parents' choices. But it's morale depleting and frustrating when the parents seem to have time and money for the "wants" but not the "needs" because they know it will be supplied for them. There's money for their 8 year old to have their own iphone, but not $20 for a holiday gift since they know one will be provided if they ask the school. They know that there are no consequences to them for releasing accountability of their kids onto the school. That knowledge allows them to have more kids than they can provide for, as well. The actual teaching part of my job is almost secondary by now. I am mom, nurse, therapist, janitor and social worker all wrapped up in a teacher's job title. Cue the "you shouldn't be a teacher" and "I'm glad you're not my child's teacher" comments. No worries, I don't work in a DCUM approved school. But for me, at least, this is a big reason why I get so frustrated when parents send their sick kids to school. Of course, there's also the factor of knowing the kid feels miserable and would much rather be comfortable at home than at school but their parent sent them anyway. I understand what an inconvenience it is to need to be at work but your kid needs to stay home, especially with the sub shortage going on. But I am the parent, not the school, so I do what's best for my kid and what's best for his classmates and teacher which is to keep him home when he's sick. |
Anonymous
It is irresponsible to have kids if you can’t parent. A better question is to ask for a show of hands- for who has decided the number of kids they have based on $$ & resources. I don’t know a single person who just rolls the dice with parenting. |
Anonymous
You sound like our teacher. We send in snacks but they never get acknowledged and don't even know if you nether, so we stop. We send in extra supplies and they don't ever seem to get used. We send in cleaning supplies and the few times we go in the classroom, they are clearly not being used as the desks, chairs and tables are filthy. We offer to come in and help and do the cleaning and get turned down. We'd like to keep our kids healthy too. We are not mind readers. If our 8 years old runs out of supplies, send a note home or email and let us know and you will get it either next day or as soon as we can get it. You need holiday donations or clothing, just send an email and let us know. I am so tired of teachers who do not communicate needs and then bitterly complain. The big issue with keeping kids home is they end up impacting their grades. Mine has been home 8 days in 3 weeks and we were promised to have the work sent home. I asked several times and it never get sent home. My child's grades were severely impacted this marking period and that is not fair. Next time mine is going to school. |
Anonymous
The food isn't the issue. You sound really nasty to slam her and her family when maybe the child is pushing for all the activities. |
Anonymous
I think people are intentionally misunderstanding to make their own points. PP didn't say a cold. And yes strep could come from anywhere but if you know your kid has strep keep them home. I think that is the point of the thread, if you know or think your kid is contagious, keep them home. And I want to point out that 24 hours fever free means unmedicated. Don't give them advil and call them fever free. It just takes thinking about others. I picked my son up from school one afternoon for a dentist appointment. He looked awful. I looked down his throat and immediately told the nurse we needed to reschedule. I didn't want to give anyone in the office, especially the tech and the dentist who would literally be in my child's mouth, whatever he had. It was a pain to reschedule but luckily we did. It was the flu and he could have gotten the whole office sick right before the holidays. Now I didn't know he has the flu that day but something seemed off so I took him home. It really is just common sense and thinking about others needs over mine. Should the dentist be sick b/c it would have been easier to just do the cleaning since we were already there? Of course not. And yes he did stay home from school until he was fever free (unmedicated for 24 hours) Think about others and we will all be good. |
Anonymous
Yes all the PPs who insist that they keep their kids home when they have a fever of 99 degrees for two weeks, are the same ones who will complain nonstop if their kids’ grades are impacted. |
Anonymous
You assume everyone has an upward trajectory. Sometimes professionals hit a bad patch and lose positions with nice benefits. There’s been a huge shift away from traditional hours and compensation. As a result, you might have 2-3 kids you can afford and then suddenly you can’t afford them anymore. I know 5 different people laid off in the Great Recession that still haven’t completely rebounded. They all have kids about the same age as my youngest so things are going to be a bit easier in the near future. But they spent the ES and MS years really hurting financially due to not having paid sick leave. |
Anonymous
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It's all a snowball effect- families live far away from each other or don't/can't help, we need two incomes to get by, work hours and expectations are difficult especially if you don't have support, kids have tons of homework so it's difficult for them (and their parents) to catch up if they are out of school-- the result is that many parents wouldn't send an obviously sick child to school, but might play the stats if their kid is borderline.
I remember years ago, some of the non-exempt female employees in my office seemed like they were back at work *really fast* after having babies. I found out that between their leave and anything they could expect from work, they could take a max of 4-6 weeks off. That's really not enough if you're trying to establish nursing and schedules + keep yourself and your family healthy. |
Anonymous
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I’m sure it’s not a surprise for schools to have sick kids absent. Surely, they can provide missed materials to catch up.
My DC’s private school handles this very well. They want the child to rest and not to do work while sick. As soon as child comes back to school the teachers and academic advisor work with the child to help catch up. This is a common sense, sane approach imho. |