Please stop sending sick kids to school!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Sending a kid with a fever, covid, flu, strep, HFM, yeah that’s a dick move.

Runny nose or mild cough? Post nasal drip? They can go to school.

+1. This is what the rule at our school is. I think it’s very reasonable.

Yes, even our school nurses do not require staying home for a runny nose or mild cough.

Sorry, ours requires kids to stay home when sick.

PP here. Yep, ours require kids to stay home with a fever, strep, covid, or other actual illness. If schools required everyone to stay home for a simple runny nose, the classes would be half empty from October through February.

With a great deal of those being colds that get others sick.

Meh. Colds happen during those months. If you want to participate in society you will likely have a cold at some point. If you don’t have a job and don’t care if your kid misses school, then just keep them home if you want to avoid a case of the sniffles.

As a parent you need to plan for these things and use your vacation time if necessary. Don't make everyone else sick because you are too selfish to stay home with your kids.

What do you do for a living?

What does what someone does for a living have to do with a sick child?

What do you do for a living?

NP. Someone cannot comprehend.

I’d like to know what jobs the PPs have where they can call out for days or weeks without any repercussions. If they’re just housewives with husbands who support them, they can clarify that.

Funny how most of these parents have plenty of time to do vacations and other things which are more important to them than staying home with a sick kid. And, where is the other parent in all this? If these kids have two parents and if those parents cannot take care of their kids, they need to stop having kids and find someone else to care for them.

By all means, let me know what job you or your spouse has that allows you to take off for unscheduled leave every time your kid has a runny nose.

Since you are that important, you need to hire a nanny as a back up.

My spouse works for a big tech company and its very flexible. So flexible the kids are still in virtual school. Our priority is our kids. You shouldn't have them if you cannot care for them.

Oh, if you still have your kids in virtual school at this point, I don’t think it’s worth engaging…

Yeah, I asked how long you have kept your kid home and the answer is apparently 2.5 years. Never mind.

I don't have the luxury of sending my kids in person because I don't have the luxury of a simple cold, which will last months for me. Ever think that your yes big deal cold could be a big deal to someone else?

NP but it sounds like you want empathy or sympathy from other parents in regards to how a cold affects your family but you aren’t willing to extend that same courtesy to working parents who don’t have flexible jobs. And I will say as a kindergarten teacher that if I took off every time my kid had a runny nose your children wouldn’t have a teacher for 10 days a month. It’s unreasonable.

We have gone long periods without a teacher. I'd rather no teacher than one sick that will make my child sick, then us (and then I couldn't drive my kid to school) as then it would last longer than 10 days for us. If you don't have a flexible job, your spouse can stay home or hire help. Its part of being a parent.

When they're actually sick, sure. But not when they have a runny nose or slight cough. If a simple cold is too much for you, then you're beyond help. I don't know how to say this in a way that won't come out as harsh, but it was really irresponsible for you to have kids given your apparent health conditions.

I didn't have the health issues when I had kids however, with the health issues, at least I can take care of my kids, unlike you. It is irresponsible to have kids that you cannot physically take care of because your job is more important.

I'm a cancer patient, and I'm normally very sympathetic to people wanting to minimize germ spread. You, however, are batshit crazy and need serious therapy or something. It is not reasonable to expect everyone to keep their kids home or call in sick to work when they are operating at 98% and have at most a minor nuisance. Really, the world does not revolve around you and your health issues, and you're not being remotely reasonable with this.

Schools have illness policies. As long as you're following them, you're good. If your kid has a minor cold, please consider having your child wear a mask and use a lot of hand sanitizer, but definitely send them to school. Heck, schools don't want to see tons of absences that will impact students' learning as well as funding when the kid just has a minor sniffle.

There is no way you are a cancer patient and sympathetic. Its not as simple as masking and hand sanitizer. A minor sniffle that gets shared is may not be minor to someone else. So, while you go to work, someone else is missing a week of work to take off for their sick family.

If your immune system is abnormally weak, it’s on you to protect yourself. The rest of the world can not and will not quarantine for every minor nuisance. There are no employers who will even let you take leave for every sniffle. There are no schools that even want kids to stay home for a sniffle. The lost productivity would be astronomical, and it wouldn’t really accomplish anything.

Schools and workplaces have sickness policies for a reason. There is a reason that they aren’t indulging your germophobia. If you want to live in a bubble, that’s on you. And yes, I have been on chemo. I just understand reality, unlike you.

[Anonymous]

PP here with cancer. Also, if I reached a point where I felt like the possibility of my kids catching a cold at school would be too dangerous for me, I’d put them in virtual school. It’s simply not reasonable to expect kids to miss middle and high school classes for days at a time whenever they get a runny nose. My kids would freak if I made them stay home for a sniffle. Missing that much school would mean falling behind. My kids wear masks and wash hands frequently, and so far things have been fine.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Very different to send a kid with a runny nose who is 8 vs 3. If you expect other people to manage your child’s illness in a congregate setting in this still COVID environment, you are nuts. No one is blowing Charlotte’s nose and she has to be able to reasonably keep her germs to herself.

This must be another SAHM, given anyone that's had kids in daycare knows they have runny noses about half the time they're there.

No, I’m not a SAHM. Why do you think other adults are going to care for your sick child? That’s not a reasonable expectation. They are supposed to be home when sick. No one else should be touching their mucus. They shouldn’t be spreading it to the class. You’re not some working class hero when you’re spreading illness to every other family in daycare. You’re just putting everyone else in the same predicament that you’re in. Maybe your kid wouldn’t be sick if this behavior wasn’t so pervasive.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very different to send a kid with a runny nose who is 8 vs 3. If you expect other people to manage your child’s illness in a congregate setting in this still COVID environment, you are nuts. No one is blowing Charlotte’s nose and she has to be able to reasonably keep her germs to herself.

This must be another SAHM, given anyone that's had kids in daycare knows they have runny noses about half the time they're there.

No, I’m not a SAHM. Why do you think other adults are going to care for your sick child? That’s not a reasonable expectation. They are supposed to be home when sick. No one else should be touching their mucus. They shouldn’t be spreading it to the class. You’re not some working class hero when you’re spreading illness to every other family in daycare. You’re just putting everyone else in the same predicament that you’re in. Maybe your kid wouldn’t be sick if this behavior wasn’t so pervasive.

So what do you think should happen to the parents that send their kids in to school with runny noses, even if that is school policy? What should happen to the kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very different to send a kid with a runny nose who is 8 vs 3. If you expect other people to manage your child’s illness in a congregate setting in this still COVID environment, you are nuts. No one is blowing Charlotte’s nose and she has to be able to reasonably keep her germs to herself.

This must be another SAHM, given anyone that's had kids in daycare knows they have runny noses about half the time they're there.

No, I’m not a SAHM. Why do you think other adults are going to care for your sick child? That’s not a reasonable expectation. They are supposed to be home when sick. No one else should be touching their mucus. They shouldn’t be spreading it to the class. You’re not some working class hero when you’re spreading illness to every other family in daycare. You’re just putting everyone else in the same predicament that you’re in. Maybe your kid wouldn’t be sick if this behavior wasn’t so pervasive.

Most people don’t consider a kid with a runny nose and/or mild cough to be meaningfully ill. That’s why both precedent and formal school policies say it’s fine for them to go to school.

[Anonymous]

There is a difference between a sick kid, who is lethargic and a kid with a cold with normal energy. I’m sending the normal energy kid.

As a teacher, and parent to 3&5 year old - do you want me to get a sub 3-10 days a month? (My husband owns his own company so has no sick days. As a the parent with benefits I’ll use my banked sick days before we take a financial hit.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference between a sick kid, who is lethargic and a kid with a cold with normal energy. I’m sending the normal energy kid.

As a teacher, and parent to 3&5 year old - do you want me to get a sub 3-10 days a month? (My husband owns his own company so has no sick days. As a the parent with benefits I’ll use my banked sick days before we take a financial hit.)

I’d rather a sub than you give your germs to my kid, because then they have to stay home and still miss school. See how that works????

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Sending a kid with a fever, covid, flu, strep, HFM, yeah that’s a dick move.

Runny nose or mild cough? Post nasal drip? They can go to school.

+1. This is what the rule at our school is. I think it’s very reasonable.

Yes, even our school nurses do not require staying home for a runny nose or mild cough.

Sorry, ours requires kids to stay home when sick.

PP here. Yep, ours require kids to stay home with a fever, strep, covid, or other actual illness. If schools required everyone to stay home for a simple runny nose, the classes would be half empty from October through February.

With a great deal of those being colds that get others sick.

Meh. Colds happen during those months. If you want to participate in society you will likely have a cold at some point. If you don’t have a job and don’t care if your kid misses school, then just keep them home if you want to avoid a case of the sniffles.

As a parent you need to plan for these things and use your vacation time if necessary. Don't make everyone else sick because you are too selfish to stay home with your kids.

What do you do for a living?

What does what someone does for a living have to do with a sick child?

What do you do for a living?

NP. Someone cannot comprehend.

I’d like to know what jobs the PPs have where they can call out for days or weeks without any repercussions. If they’re just housewives with husbands who support them, they can clarify that.

Funny how most of these parents have plenty of time to do vacations and other things which are more important to them than staying home with a sick kid. And, where is the other parent in all this? If these kids have two parents and if those parents cannot take care of their kids, they need to stop having kids and find someone else to care for them.

By all means, let me know what job you or your spouse has that allows you to take off for unscheduled leave every time your kid has a runny nose.

Since you are that important, you need to hire a nanny as a back up.

My spouse works for a big tech company and its very flexible. So flexible the kids are still in virtual school. Our priority is our kids. You shouldn't have them if you cannot care for them.

Oh, if you still have your kids in virtual school at this point, I don’t think it’s worth engaging…

Yeah, I asked how long you have kept your kid home and the answer is apparently 2.5 years. Never mind.

I don't have the luxury of sending my kids in person because I don't have the luxury of a simple cold, which will last months for me. Ever think that your yes big deal cold could be a big deal to someone else?

NP but it sounds like you want empathy or sympathy from other parents in regards to how a cold affects your family but you aren’t willing to extend that same courtesy to working parents who don’t have flexible jobs. And I will say as a kindergarten teacher that if I took off every time my kid had a runny nose your children wouldn’t have a teacher for 10 days a month. It’s unreasonable.

We have gone long periods without a teacher. I'd rather no teacher than one sick that will make my child sick, then us (and then I couldn't drive my kid to school) as then it would last longer than 10 days for us. If you don't have a flexible job, your spouse can stay home or hire help. Its part of being a parent.

When they're actually sick, sure. But not when they have a runny nose or slight cough. If a simple cold is too much for you, then you're beyond help. I don't know how to say this in a way that won't come out as harsh, but it was really irresponsible for you to have kids given your apparent health conditions.

It’s irresponsible of you to not take care od your kids when they are sick.

Pp didn’t say she didn’t care of them when they are sick. There appear to be two camps here; one group does not see a runny nose (no other symptoms) as sickness that requires school absence and bed rest, another poster does.

At the end of the day, go by your school guidelines. At my kids’ school a runny nose alone is fine at school. Different schools will have different requirements.

If your kids have a new runny nose and not diagnosed with allergies, it is a cold, flu or covid and you keep them home.

That's not our school's policy. That's what most PPs are saying. That was the policy during part of Covid and now it has changed. We follow the policy and also DD's mood / energy / behavior to think about how she'd do if we sent her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference between a sick kid, who is lethargic and a kid with a cold with normal energy. I’m sending the normal energy kid.

As a teacher, and parent to 3&5 year old - do you want me to get a sub 3-10 days a month? (My husband owns his own company so has no sick days. As a the parent with benefits I’ll use my banked sick days before we take a financial hit.)

I’d rather a sub than you give your germs to my kid, because then they have to stay home and still miss school. See how that works????

That's not what the PP asked.

PP asked if when your child's teacher has a sick child, do you want them to take off from school to stay home with their own child and send a sub into school so your child has a day of watching a video instead of learning. The teacher is not sick. His/her child is. But by your policy, the teacher will stay home with their child and the entire class or several classes will lose learning. When her child is only mildly sick and behavior normally, but only has a runny nose.