Can I send my middle schooler with Advil/Tylenol?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

You need to understand that the form is a giant hassle, and it hurts a lot of kids who need to take medication as needed for recurring ailments like lactose intolerance, period cramps, etc. It can be really difficult for parents to get the form signed by the pediatrician, because doctors' offices hate signing school forms, and give parents the runaround for weeks. The burden should not be so high to get kids run-of-the-mill OTC meds! When the school day is absolutely packed, no, a kid can't run out of the class to the nurse's station, which is perhaps several staircases and corridors away, when they have cramps and all they need is a little Tylenol and peace and quiet in the bathroom! A little privacy and dignity, if you please. And I DO NOT believe that this over-the-top policing is helping the fentanyl crisis AT ALL.

The easiest thing for you to do is NOT OPEN BAGS OR BOXES. My kid's middle school teachers never open things. They have a table at the back of the room for forgotten items, and the kids looking for stuff check that table, and also check the general lost and found.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler has a zipper on her lunch box and I put a tiny pouch with 4 Advil in there. Have done it for years.

Yes she is breaking the rules. No we don’t care. She gets bad cramps and I work. No one has time for doctor notes and going to the nurse.

Planning to do the same for my MS girl.

I had a student leave their lunch box in my classroom. I looked inside, hoping there was a name, and found pills. This family basically forced me to make a choice between risking my career and getting a kid in major trouble.

It’s an incredibly selfish move.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson not to snoop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

oh shut up

-principal

Nope. I’m not going to shut up. Part of the problem within schools is admin’s clear inability to enforce policy. (Or is it just laziness?) I’m doing my job. Start doing yours. The lack of discipline in schools comes from the top. If you ignore rules, teachers have a harder time getting their jobs done in the classroom. Frankly, I’m appalled but not surprised. I’ve sent kids to admin for pretty serious offenses only to have them come back with candy.

I’m a parent, too. The form is aggravating, but it’s not a major hurdle. We have rules for reasons. If you don’t want to enforce the rules, principal, then work to change them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler has a zipper on her lunch box and I put a tiny pouch with 4 Advil in there. Have done it for years.

Yes she is breaking the rules. No we don’t care. She gets bad cramps and I work. No one has time for doctor notes and going to the nurse.

Planning to do the same for my MS girl.

I had a student leave their lunch box in my classroom. I looked inside, hoping there was a name, and found pills. This family basically forced me to make a choice between risking my career and getting a kid in major trouble.

It’s an incredibly selfish move.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson not to snoop.

So just throw it out? Because I am not leaving a lunch box full of food in my classroom over the weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler has a zipper on her lunch box and I put a tiny pouch with 4 Advil in there. Have done it for years.

Yes she is breaking the rules. No we don’t care. She gets bad cramps and I work. No one has time for doctor notes and going to the nurse.

Planning to do the same for my MS girl.

I had a student leave their lunch box in my classroom. I looked inside, hoping there was a name, and found pills. This family basically forced me to make a choice between risking my career and getting a kid in major trouble.

It’s an incredibly selfish move.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson not to snoop.

So just throw it out? Because I am not leaving a lunch box full of food in my classroom over the weekend.

Is there no lost and found at the school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler has a zipper on her lunch box and I put a tiny pouch with 4 Advil in there. Have done it for years.

Yes she is breaking the rules. No we don’t care. She gets bad cramps and I work. No one has time for doctor notes and going to the nurse.

Planning to do the same for my MS girl.

I had a student leave their lunch box in my classroom. I looked inside, hoping there was a name, and found pills. This family basically forced me to make a choice between risking my career and getting a kid in major trouble.

It’s an incredibly selfish move.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson not to snoop.

So just throw it out? Because I am not leaving a lunch box full of food in my classroom over the weekend.

In your case, apparently yes. Maybe when you get a little older you can try to act like a grown up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler has a zipper on her lunch box and I put a tiny pouch with 4 Advil in there. Have done it for years.

Yes she is breaking the rules. No we don’t care. She gets bad cramps and I work. No one has time for doctor notes and going to the nurse.

Planning to do the same for my MS girl.

I had a student leave their lunch box in my classroom. I looked inside, hoping there was a name, and found pills. This family basically forced me to make a choice between risking my career and getting a kid in major trouble.

It’s an incredibly selfish move.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson not to snoop.

So just throw it out? Because I am not leaving a lunch box full of food in my classroom over the weekend.

Fellow teacher here. You didn’t do anything wrong when you looked in the lunchbox. If anybody is hiding anything (like pills!), that’s on them.

Good luck this year. It seems like we are going to need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My middle schooler has a zipper on her lunch box and I put a tiny pouch with 4 Advil in there. Have done it for years.

Yes she is breaking the rules. No we don’t care. She gets bad cramps and I work. No one has time for doctor notes and going to the nurse.

Planning to do the same for my MS girl.

I had a student leave their lunch box in my classroom. I looked inside, hoping there was a name, and found pills. This family basically forced me to make a choice between risking my career and getting a kid in major trouble.

It’s an incredibly selfish move.

Hopefully you learned a valuable lesson not to snoop.

So just throw it out? Because I am not leaving a lunch box full of food in my classroom over the weekend.

Fellow teacher here. You didn’t do anything wrong when you looked in the lunchbox. If anybody is hiding anything (like pills!), that’s on them.

Good luck this year. It seems like we are going to need it.

Based on this thread I think you’re right.

As a parent I have not and would not send any medication with my kid. I don’t want a suspension on the record. I don’t tell my kid to thwart the rules. Even if I would, my kid would tell me she doesn’t need it because she doesn’t want to break the rules. Also she is very aware of the drug issues and understands the need for the rules. And, if she had them and a friend needed them, I could see my daughter offering and that is a bad road to travel.

The form is not that big of a deal. If I had the problems with my pediatrician that some of the posters here have, I’d have a new doctor. It’s ridiculous that you can’t get a form signed. I’ve never had an issue. It’s inconvenient but so are a lot of parenting things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

You need to understand that the form is a giant hassle, and it hurts a lot of kids who need to take medication as needed for recurring ailments like lactose intolerance, period cramps, etc. It can be really difficult for parents to get the form signed by the pediatrician, because doctors' offices hate signing school forms, and give parents the runaround for weeks. The burden should not be so high to get kids run-of-the-mill OTC meds! When the school day is absolutely packed, no, a kid can't run out of the class to the nurse's station, which is perhaps several staircases and corridors away, when they have cramps and all they need is a little Tylenol and peace and quiet in the bathroom! A little privacy and dignity, if you please. And I DO NOT believe that this over-the-top policing is helping the fentanyl crisis AT ALL.

The easiest thing for you to do is NOT OPEN BAGS OR BOXES. My kid's middle school teachers never open things. They have a table at the back of the room for forgotten items, and the kids looking for stuff check that table, and also check the general lost and found.

This. There's no reason for a teacher to be opening up items. Our MS and HS has a lost and found. Turn in the item to the lost and found and let them take care of it.

My kid bringing a few Advil to school is not making the fentanyl crisis worse. Good god. It's like the ridiculous bathroom policies.

Instead of fixing the actual problems (like the kids who are caught smoking weed in the bathrooms, or the kids who are vaping in the hallways) the school wants to focus on nonsense issues like a girl bringing Advil to school? Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

You need to understand that the form is a giant hassle, and it hurts a lot of kids who need to take medication as needed for recurring ailments like lactose intolerance, period cramps, etc. It can be really difficult for parents to get the form signed by the pediatrician, because doctors' offices hate signing school forms, and give parents the runaround for weeks. The burden should not be so high to get kids run-of-the-mill OTC meds! When the school day is absolutely packed, no, a kid can't run out of the class to the nurse's station, which is perhaps several staircases and corridors away, when they have cramps and all they need is a little Tylenol and peace and quiet in the bathroom! A little privacy and dignity, if you please. And I DO NOT believe that this over-the-top policing is helping the fentanyl crisis AT ALL.

The easiest thing for you to do is NOT OPEN BAGS OR BOXES. My kid's middle school teachers never open things. They have a table at the back of the room for forgotten items, and the kids looking for stuff check that table, and also check the general lost and found.

This. There's no reason for a teacher to be opening up items. Our MS and HS has a lost and found. Turn in the item to the lost and found and let them take care of it.

My kid bringing a few Advil to school is not making the fentanyl crisis worse. Good god. It's like the ridiculous bathroom policies.

Instead of fixing the actual problems (like the kids who are caught smoking weed in the bathrooms, or the kids who are vaping in the hallways) the school wants to focus on nonsense issues like a girl bringing Advil to school? Ridiculous.

Teacher from above here.

You have no right to complain about discipline problems within schools when you pick the rules you choose to follow. So you think this one is stupid. Guess what? Students think cell phone policies are stupid, so they ignore those rules. See where this leads?

Be a team player. When you blatantly choose to ignore a school policy, employees now have more problems to deal with. When you follow policy, they can place more focus on the bigger issues like the ones you mention above. This is simple. You just made yourself and your daughter part of the larger problem, and you taught your daughter she’s above the rules. She’ll be rather surprised when she finds out she isn’t.

I agree this conversation is ridiculous, but that’s because of the sense of entitlement displayed by some posters. You don’t have the right to break policies you don’t like. Period. You don’t like it? Then work to change the rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

You need to understand that the form is a giant hassle, and it hurts a lot of kids who need to take medication as needed for recurring ailments like lactose intolerance, period cramps, etc. It can be really difficult for parents to get the form signed by the pediatrician, because doctors' offices hate signing school forms, and give parents the runaround for weeks. The burden should not be so high to get kids run-of-the-mill OTC meds! When the school day is absolutely packed, no, a kid can't run out of the class to the nurse's station, which is perhaps several staircases and corridors away, when they have cramps and all they need is a little Tylenol and peace and quiet in the bathroom! A little privacy and dignity, if you please. And I DO NOT believe that this over-the-top policing is helping the fentanyl crisis AT ALL.

The easiest thing for you to do is NOT OPEN BAGS OR BOXES. My kid's middle school teachers never open things. They have a table at the back of the room for forgotten items, and the kids looking for stuff check that table, and also check the general lost and found.

This. There's no reason for a teacher to be opening up items. Our MS and HS has a lost and found. Turn in the item to the lost and found and let them take care of it.

My kid bringing a few Advil to school is not making the fentanyl crisis worse. Good god. It's like the ridiculous bathroom policies.

Instead of fixing the actual problems (like the kids who are caught smoking weed in the bathrooms, or the kids who are vaping in the hallways) the school wants to focus on nonsense issues like a girl bringing Advil to school? Ridiculous.

Teacher from above here.

You have no right to complain about discipline problems within schools when you pick the rules you choose to follow. So you think this one is stupid. Guess what? Students think cell phone policies are stupid, so they ignore those rules. See where this leads?

Be a team player. When you blatantly choose to ignore a school policy, employees now have more problems to deal with. When you follow policy, they can place more focus on the bigger issues like the ones you mention above. This is simple. You just made yourself and your daughter part of the larger problem, and you taught your daughter she’s above the rules. She’ll be rather surprised when she finds out she isn’t.

I agree this conversation is ridiculous, but that’s because of the sense of entitlement displayed by some posters. You don’t have the right to break policies you don’t like. Period. You don’t like it? Then work to change the rule.

The irony of this reply being a few posts above a thread where MCPS teachers are saying they commonly lie to parents of children with special needs, without regard for district policies or state/federal law...

And that's over the education of vulnerable kids. This is over Advil...

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are not allowed to have it, but the risk of getting caught with Tylenol is exceedingly low. The risk of getting suspended for it is even lower.

Not true. Many schools have a “zero tolerance” drug policy. If you are caught with it, you could very easily be suspended no matter the policy.

Having said that, it is stupid that girls can’t have access to OTC pain relief during the school day since period pain is very common at that age.

Your Doc can prescribe an 8 hour dose of anaprox (which is just extra large dose of naproxen which is available over the counter). If take before school, that should last the school day.

If you don’t want to do that, get the doc to write an Rx for ibuprofen and send a bottle to the school nurse and give permission to dose as needed.

I don't know where you are writing from, but you are definitely not going to get suspended for taking a couple of tylenol in MCPS. My kid had a classmate who threw chairs every few weeks meaning the whole class had to be evacuated. That kid was never suspended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

You need to understand that the form is a giant hassle, and it hurts a lot of kids who need to take medication as needed for recurring ailments like lactose intolerance, period cramps, etc. It can be really difficult for parents to get the form signed by the pediatrician, because doctors' offices hate signing school forms, and give parents the runaround for weeks. The burden should not be so high to get kids run-of-the-mill OTC meds! When the school day is absolutely packed, no, a kid can't run out of the class to the nurse's station, which is perhaps several staircases and corridors away, when they have cramps and all they need is a little Tylenol and peace and quiet in the bathroom! A little privacy and dignity, if you please. And I DO NOT believe that this over-the-top policing is helping the fentanyl crisis AT ALL.

The easiest thing for you to do is NOT OPEN BAGS OR BOXES. My kid's middle school teachers never open things. They have a table at the back of the room for forgotten items, and the kids looking for stuff check that table, and also check the general lost and found.

This. There's no reason for a teacher to be opening up items. Our MS and HS has a lost and found. Turn in the item to the lost and found and let them take care of it.

My kid bringing a few Advil to school is not making the fentanyl crisis worse. Good god. It's like the ridiculous bathroom policies.

Instead of fixing the actual problems (like the kids who are caught smoking weed in the bathrooms, or the kids who are vaping in the hallways) the school wants to focus on nonsense issues like a girl bringing Advil to school? Ridiculous.

Teacher from above here.

You have no right to complain about discipline problems within schools when you pick the rules you choose to follow. So you think this one is stupid. Guess what? Students think cell phone policies are stupid, so they ignore those rules. See where this leads?

Be a team player. When you blatantly choose to ignore a school policy, employees now have more problems to deal with. When you follow policy, they can place more focus on the bigger issues like the ones you mention above. This is simple. You just made yourself and your daughter part of the larger problem, and you taught your daughter she’s above the rules. She’ll be rather surprised when she finds out she isn’t.

I agree this conversation is ridiculous, but that’s because of the sense of entitlement displayed by some posters. You don’t have the right to break policies you don’t like. Period. You don’t like it? Then work to change the rule.

Option 1: Go to a lot of trouble and effort to try to persuade a large, inertial bureaucracy to change a rule.
Option 2: Allow my kid to keep ibuprofen in her purse, for her use, when she needs it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are not allowed to have it, but the risk of getting caught with Tylenol is exceedingly low. The risk of getting suspended for it is even lower.

Not true. Many schools have a “zero tolerance” drug policy. If you are caught with it, you could very easily be suspended no matter the policy.

Having said that, it is stupid that girls can’t have access to OTC pain relief during the school day since period pain is very common at that age.

Your Doc can prescribe an 8 hour dose of anaprox (which is just extra large dose of naproxen which is available over the counter). If take before school, that should last the school day.

If you don’t want to do that, get the doc to write an Rx for ibuprofen and send a bottle to the school nurse and give permission to dose as needed.

I don't know where you are writing from, but you are definitely not going to get suspended for taking a couple of tylenol in MCPS. My kid had a classmate who threw chairs every few weeks meaning the whole class had to be evacuated. That kid was never suspended.

Same. We had a kid throwing chairs and recycling bins/trash cans but the kid was never suspended.

We have kids vaping in our MS hallway and smoking weed on our bus - the kids are not ever suspended.

MCPS wants to hassle my kid for keeping a few Tylenol? Have at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get all the suggestions to just hide pills. MCPS is dealing with quite the fentanyl crisis right now. If I see *any* pill on a student, I’m going to be reporting it. I will not be assuming it is advil. If you want to help us out, get the form signed and have your child go to the nurse.

-teacher

You need to understand that the form is a giant hassle, and it hurts a lot of kids who need to take medication as needed for recurring ailments like lactose intolerance, period cramps, etc. It can be really difficult for parents to get the form signed by the pediatrician, because doctors' offices hate signing school forms, and give parents the runaround for weeks. The burden should not be so high to get kids run-of-the-mill OTC meds! When the school day is absolutely packed, no, a kid can't run out of the class to the nurse's station, which is perhaps several staircases and corridors away, when they have cramps and all they need is a little Tylenol and peace and quiet in the bathroom! A little privacy and dignity, if you please. And I DO NOT believe that this over-the-top policing is helping the fentanyl crisis AT ALL.

The easiest thing for you to do is NOT OPEN BAGS OR BOXES. My kid's middle school teachers never open things. They have a table at the back of the room for forgotten items, and the kids looking for stuff check that table, and also check the general lost and found.

This. There's no reason for a teacher to be opening up items. Our MS and HS has a lost and found. Turn in the item to the lost and found and let them take care of it.

My kid bringing a few Advil to school is not making the fentanyl crisis worse. Good god. It's like the ridiculous bathroom policies.

Instead of fixing the actual problems (like the kids who are caught smoking weed in the bathrooms, or the kids who are vaping in the hallways) the school wants to focus on nonsense issues like a girl bringing Advil to school? Ridiculous.

Teacher from above here.

You have no right to complain about discipline problems within schools when you pick the rules you choose to follow. So you think this one is stupid. Guess what? Students think cell phone policies are stupid, so they ignore those rules. See where this leads?

Be a team player. When you blatantly choose to ignore a school policy, employees now have more problems to deal with. When you follow policy, they can place more focus on the bigger issues like the ones you mention above. This is simple. You just made yourself and your daughter part of the larger problem, and you taught your daughter she’s above the rules. She’ll be rather surprised when she finds out she isn’t.

I agree this conversation is ridiculous, but that’s because of the sense of entitlement displayed by some posters. You don’t have the right to break policies you don’t like. Period. You don’t like it? Then work to change the rule.

Option 1: Go to a lot of trouble and effort to try to persuade a large, inertial bureaucracy to change a rule.
Option 2: Allow my kid to keep ibuprofen in her purse, for her use, when she needs it.

Okay. Then don’t complain about the state of discipline within MCPS if you refuse to follow simple rules yourself. You decided rules are optional, so you lost the right to gripe when others make the same decision about other rules.

It’s a silly, simple form. You have ALL SUMMER to get it done. Own that ignoring this policy is entitled behavior and accept the consequences when your child is caught.