A plea: please stop sending your sick kids to school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents that can keep their kids home, will. The parents that can’t, won’t. It’s been this way since the beginning of time. Learn to deal.

I also wonder if attitudes have shifted over time, or if my memories are family and region specific. Because when I was a kid, you stayed home for fevers or stomach bugs. That's it. You have a cold? Tough, you suck it up and go to school! You can't miss a spelling test! Now its, "how dare you send your child with a cold to school?!"

Were all of the pediatric hospitals at capacity when you were a kid? Were drug store shelves bare? Was there a pandemic?

So kids can go to school sick if there isn't a pandemic? Seems like they should stay home then too because they could still pass their germs to vulnerable people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The parents that can keep their kids home, will. The parents that can’t, won’t. It’s been this way since the beginning of time. Learn to deal.

I don’t think this is true, or at least is only part of the picture. It’s not a hardship for me to keep my kids home, but I fundamentally disagree that they *should* stay home if there is no fever, no lethargy, no loss of appetite and kid feels fine. A runny nose or a cough but no other symptoms? Sorry, he’s going to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did keep my kids home. I kept them home when they had low fevers and weren’t feeling well. Four/five/six days later, their fevers are gone and they feel back to normal, but they will have a lingering cough for at least a week, probably more. I’m not keeping them home for a non-contagious cough.

How do you know it's not contaigous?

You know you’re usually most contagious BEFORE you have symptoms?

WTF? No, just no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did keep my kids home. I kept them home when they had low fevers and weren’t feeling well. Four/five/six days later, their fevers are gone and they feel back to normal, but they will have a lingering cough for at least a week, probably more. I’m not keeping them home for a non-contagious cough.

How do you know it's not contaigous?

You know you’re usually most contagious BEFORE you have symptoms?

WTF? No, just no.

https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/how-long-flu-contagious#:~:text=Typically%2C%20you're%20contagious%20from,be%20spread%20until%20symptoms%20disappear.

[Anonymous]

They won't. Remember, their jobs are just sooooo important. They'll drug them with Motrin in the morning and send them in anyway. We can tell by their eyes that they are sick, but there is nothing we can do until the Motrin wears off. They'll start running a fever at about noon. We'll try to call. No one will answer. They'll finally call us back around 2. And of course, school is over. Rinse and repeat. Every teacher sees it. We know you are doing it. And we think you suck as parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents that can keep their kids home, will. The parents that can’t, won’t. It’s been this way since the beginning of time. Learn to deal.

I also wonder if attitudes have shifted over time, or if my memories are family and region specific. Because when I was a kid, you stayed home for fevers or stomach bugs. That's it. You have a cold? Tough, you suck it up and go to school! You can't miss a spelling test! Now its, "how dare you send your child with a cold to school?!"

Were all of the pediatric hospitals at capacity when you were a kid? Were drug store shelves bare? Was there a pandemic?

DP but I don't think the change is entirely due to the pandemic. I attended ES in the 80s in NE where winter was one long cold. You just didn't stay home for stuff like that. And my mom was a SAHP for much of that time (and then worked in a school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They won't. Remember, their jobs are just sooooo important. They'll drug them with Motrin in the morning and send them in anyway. We can tell by their eyes that they are sick, but there is nothing we can do until the Motrin wears off. They'll start running a fever at about noon. We'll try to call. No one will answer. They'll finally call us back around 2. And of course, school is over. Rinse and repeat. Every teacher sees it. We know you are doing it. And we think you suck as parents.

If you can't get a hold of the parents, shouldn't you be moving on to emergency contacts if a kid is that sick? That should get the parents attention. But I don't think anyone is arguing here that we shouldn't be keeping kids home for fevers- that's obvious. But keeping them home for every sniffle/lingering cough means less sick time available for when they actually have a fever. I'm guessing the preschool you work at doesn't give you indefinite sick time either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wish they would stop, but the pandemic exposed how many parents can't stand to be around their children. They are so used to spending less than 5 hours a day with them that they loose it if the kids are home. It's the oddest thing to me because I love being around my kids and know how to parent without outsourcing to teachers and coaches.

They will continue to send sick kids to school. All you can do is make sure your children are eating well, getting enough sleep, being active spending time in the sun and fresh air, and keeping their hands clean.

Unfortunate this is very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are reasons to keep a kid home:
-fever
-vomiting
-kid feels really bad
-positive test for something like COVID or strep.

Otherwise, send them on. Our pediatrician’s office even has a chart up about how long a cough can linger following illness. Keeping kids home for every cold would mean tons of missed days & is not practical.

Add diarrhea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really wish they would stop, but the pandemic exposed how many parents can't stand to be around their children. They are so used to spending less than 5 hours a day with them that they loose it if the kids are home. It's the oddest thing to me because I love being around my kids and know how to parent without outsourcing to teachers and coaches.

They will continue to send sick kids to school. All you can do is make sure your children are eating well, getting enough sleep, being active spending time in the sun and fresh air, and keeping their hands clean.

Unfortunate this is very true.

It's not true at all. Parents, especially those with young kids, simply don't have the ability to stay home with kids for long periods or every time a kid gets a sniffle. The old rules, plus COVID-specific guidelines, still apply. Yes, those rules aren't going to exclude children from school for every symptom, but they are a compromise to promote health without unnecessarily excluding fever-free kids who feel well enough to be at school.

[Anonymous]

OP, please know that you are a teacher and not a doctor. YOU do not have the power to diagnose children. You also do not have the authority to write the procedures that are in place, set by the school system when it comes to “sick” children. Therefor, I say this nicely, from one teacher to another… stay in your lane or get a new profession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They won't. Remember, their jobs are just sooooo important. They'll drug them with Motrin in the morning and send them in anyway. We can tell by their eyes that they are sick, but there is nothing we can do until the Motrin wears off. They'll start running a fever at about noon. We'll try to call. No one will answer. They'll finally call us back around 2. And of course, school is over. Rinse and repeat. Every teacher sees it. We know you are doing it. And we think you suck as parents.

You think the grocery store clerk, construction contractors etc can just take 3-4 days off and still pay the bills? I bet they dont have paid benefits etc.
im on kid sickness 3 since sept and my kid has missed min 3 days each time. Im a white collar worker but even I am out of sick leave and working 1/2 days when shes sick since i can do a little from home. I cant imagine peoole who have to be in person on a set schedule manage.

[Anonymous]

I have three kids from pk to early elem. I've accepted they will have one long cold this year. Between allergies and colds it's impossible to tell and I am not taking my kids to the pediatrician weekly. Pediatricians would tell you the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three kids from pk to early elem. I've accepted they will have one long cold this year. Between allergies and colds it's impossible to tell and I am not taking my kids to the pediatrician weekly. Pediatricians would tell you the same thing.

Be careful about this. Twice now I’ve been truly surprised that what I thought was just a cold turned out to be strep in one instance and flu in another. And that’s actually important because in both cases, the child felt better in 1-2 days with medication (antibiotic and tamiflu). It’s super hard to tell sometimes with vague symptoms that can overlap. But I’m so glad I went to the doctor in those cases and fought that urge to just assume its a cold, for my kids’ sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are reasons to keep a kid home:
-fever
-vomiting
-kid feels really bad
-positive test for something like COVID or strep.

Otherwise, send them on. Our pediatrician’s office even has a chart up about how long a cough can linger following illness. Keeping kids home for every cold would mean tons of missed days & is not practical.

Add diarrhea.

Or lice!