Can I send my middle schooler with Advil/Tylenol?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The form is - at best - inconvenient. Also inconvenient: having to go to the nurse's office whenever you need an ibuprofen.

I think that most people can distinguish between ibuprofen in a girl's purse and, for example, using the school district credit card to buy stuff for your personal use.

[Anonymous]

The teacher here is absolutely a troll because no teacher cares if they find 2 Advil in a kids lunch box and every teacher knows they aren't going to lose their job if they ignore 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.

Yeah. NP here. I'm sending my daughter with 2 advil. F this total nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teacher here is absolutely a troll because no teacher cares if they find 2 Advil in a kids lunch box and every teacher knows they aren't going to lose their job if they ignore it.

Nope. I’m not a troll.

Tell me: what other county policies should I stop enforcing? There are parents who call their children’s cell phones during the school day. Clearly they don’t like our “phones away” policy. Should I stop enforcing it? I’ve also had parents tell me they don’t like tardy policies because kids need more time to relax. Should I stop marking attendance? Which policies are the important ones, and which should I ignore? How should I communicate this to the students? “Well, some policies are dumb. I don’t expect you to follow them.” Do we see how that becomes “some laws are dumb and I shouldn’t have to follow them”?

There are logical reasons the school doesn’t want kids popping pills from their backpacks. One would think the recent fentanyl crisis would have illustrated that.

If you are telling your children it’s okay to break rules, then don’t ever comment on the lack of discipline within the school building. Chaos happens when people choose which rules to follow and which to enforce.

I have a firm hold of my classroom and my students ACHIEVE. Part of that comes from the clear expectations set in my room. I follow rules, and I expect my students to do the same. If a rule isn’t fair or if it’s unreasonable, then you work to change the rule. This one is fair and reasonable. If you have a problem with it, it’s simply laziness on your part. Laziness isn’t a valid excuse.

[Anonymous]

My child needed Lactaid with dairy. We had to fill out the form and DD had to go to the nurse’s office every day before lunch and any time there was an ice cream party (although knowing her she might have skipped the ice cream rather than bother).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child needed Lactaid with dairy. We had to fill out the form and DD had to go to the nurse’s office every day before lunch and any time there was an ice cream party (although knowing her she might have skipped the ice cream rather than bother).

I’m the teacher who posted above. My child also needs a particular medication. The nurse has it and she goes regularly to get it. It’s a mild nuisance, but it hardly impacts her day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child needed Lactaid with dairy. We had to fill out the form and DD had to go to the nurse’s office every day before lunch and any time there was an ice cream party (although knowing her she might have skipped the ice cream rather than bother).

I’m the teacher who posted above. My child also needs a particular medication. The nurse has it and she goes regularly to get it. It’s a mild nuisance, but it hardly impacts her day.

Calling Lactaid a medication is a stretch. As a teacher, do school lunches seem leisurely to you? Hypothetically, if it takes 5 minutes a day to detour to the nurse, that’s 25 minutes a week. If there are 36 weeks in a school year, that’s 15 hours/year that she spent not eating, not learning, not taking a break and interacting socially with her peers, but jumping through bureaucratic hoops. If the school system asked you to give up 5 minutes of your lunch every day for a new regulation, would you shrug it off it as a mild nuisance, or resent it as something that needlessly impacted your day? It was doable, and she did it, but it was ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teacher here is absolutely a troll because no teacher cares if they find 2 Advil in a kids lunch box and every teacher knows they aren't going to lose their job if they ignore it.

Nope. I’m not a troll.

Tell me: what other county policies should I stop enforcing? There are parents who call their children’s cell phones during the school day. Clearly they don’t like our “phones away” policy. Should I stop enforcing it? I’ve also had parents tell me they don’t like tardy policies because kids need more time to relax. Should I stop marking attendance? Which policies are the important ones, and which should I ignore? How should I communicate this to the students? “Well, some policies are dumb. I don’t expect you to follow them.” Do we see how that becomes “some laws are dumb and I shouldn’t have to follow them”?

There are logical reasons the school doesn’t want kids popping pills from their backpacks. One would think the recent fentanyl crisis would have illustrated that.

If you are telling your children it’s okay to break rules, then don’t ever comment on the lack of discipline within the school building. Chaos happens when people choose which rules to follow and which to enforce.

I have a firm hold of my classroom and my students ACHIEVE. Part of that comes from the clear expectations set in my room. I follow rules, and I expect my students to do the same. If a rule isn’t fair or if it’s unreasonable, then you work to change the rule. This one is fair and reasonable. If you have a problem with it, it’s simply laziness on your part. Laziness isn’t a valid excuse.

You keep bringing up fentanyl, yet you haven’t been able to provide a plausible explanation for how this policy would help.

Something for you to think about as you drive at or below the speed limit on your way to work tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child needed Lactaid with dairy. We had to fill out the form and DD had to go to the nurse’s office every day before lunch and any time there was an ice cream party (although knowing her she might have skipped the ice cream rather than bother).

I’m the teacher who posted above. My child also needs a particular medication. The nurse has it and she goes regularly to get it. It’s a mild nuisance, but it hardly impacts her day.

Calling Lactaid a medication is a stretch. As a teacher, do school lunches seem leisurely to you? Hypothetically, if it takes 5 minutes a day to detour to the nurse, that’s 25 minutes a week. If there are 36 weeks in a school year, that’s 15 hours/year that she spent not eating, not learning, not taking a break and interacting socially with her peers, but jumping through bureaucratic hoops. If the school system asked you to give up 5 minutes of your lunch every day for a new regulation, would you shrug it off it as a mild nuisance, or resent it as something that needlessly impacted your day? It was doable, and she did it, but it was ridiculous.

The point is it’s a RULE. Students have died because of pills being passed around the schools. Have we all forgotten so soon?

I care about my students. I want them to be safe, and that’s getting a lot harder to do. You see this as an inconvenience. I see this as a slippery slope.

But ultimately, this argument is pointless. The policy exists. If you allow your child to carry medication, then accept the consequences if they are caught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teacher here is absolutely a troll because no teacher cares if they find 2 Advil in a kids lunch box and every teacher knows they aren't going to lose their job if they ignore it.

Nope. I’m not a troll.

Tell me: what other county policies should I stop enforcing? There are parents who call their children’s cell phones during the school day. Clearly they don’t like our “phones away” policy. Should I stop enforcing it? I’ve also had parents tell me they don’t like tardy policies because kids need more time to relax. Should I stop marking attendance? Which policies are the important ones, and which should I ignore? How should I communicate this to the students? “Well, some policies are dumb. I don’t expect you to follow them.” Do we see how that becomes “some laws are dumb and I shouldn’t have to follow them”?

There are logical reasons the school doesn’t want kids popping pills from their backpacks. One would think the recent fentanyl crisis would have illustrated that.

If you are telling your children it’s okay to break rules, then don’t ever comment on the lack of discipline within the school building. Chaos happens when people choose which rules to follow and which to enforce.

I have a firm hold of my classroom and my students ACHIEVE. Part of that comes from the clear expectations set in my room. I follow rules, and I expect my students to do the same. If a rule isn’t fair or if it’s unreasonable, then you work to change the rule. This one is fair and reasonable. If you have a problem with it, it’s simply laziness on your part. Laziness isn’t a valid excuse.

You keep bringing up fentanyl, yet you haven’t been able to provide a plausible explanation for how this policy would help.

Something for you to think about as you drive at or below the speed limit on your way to work tomorrow.

I already explained that upthread.

Follow the rules, or explain to your children why they are above the rules.

And I don’t speed. I know someone who died that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teacher here is absolutely a troll because no teacher cares if they find 2 Advil in a kids lunch box and every teacher knows they aren't going to lose their job if they ignore it.

Nope. I’m not a troll.

Tell me: what other county policies should I stop enforcing? There are parents who call their children’s cell phones during the school day. Clearly they don’t like our “phones away” policy. Should I stop enforcing it? I’ve also had parents tell me they don’t like tardy policies because kids need more time to relax. Should I stop marking attendance? Which policies are the important ones, and which should I ignore? How should I communicate this to the students? “Well, some policies are dumb. I don’t expect you to follow them.” Do we see how that becomes “some laws are dumb and I shouldn’t have to follow them”?

There are logical reasons the school doesn’t want kids popping pills from their backpacks. One would think the recent fentanyl crisis would have illustrated that.

If you are telling your children it’s okay to break rules, then don’t ever comment on the lack of discipline within the school building. Chaos happens when people choose which rules to follow and which to enforce.

I have a firm hold of my classroom and my students ACHIEVE. Part of that comes from the clear expectations set in my room. I follow rules, and I expect my students to do the same. If a rule isn’t fair or if it’s unreasonable, then you work to change the rule. This one is fair and reasonable. If you have a problem with it, it’s simply laziness on your part. Laziness isn’t a valid excuse.

You keep bringing up fentanyl, yet you haven’t been able to provide a plausible explanation for how this policy would help.

Something for you to think about as you drive at or below the speed limit on your way to work tomorrow.

I already explained that upthread.

Follow the rules, or explain to your children why they are above the rules.

And I don’t speed. I know someone who died that way.

No, you haven’t. Do you think kids bringing more serious drugs to school are going to be deterred by a no-pills policy? Of course not. Do you think it someone makes enforcement easier? No, because it’s impractical to enforce, as demonstrated by the posts in this thread.

All you're doing it making it harder for kids with legitimate medical needs to get access to their medication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teacher here is absolutely a troll because no teacher cares if they find 2 Advil in a kids lunch box and every teacher knows they aren't going to lose their job if they ignore it.

Nope. I’m not a troll.

Tell me: what other county policies should I stop enforcing? There are parents who call their children’s cell phones during the school day. Clearly they don’t like our “phones away” policy. Should I stop enforcing it? I’ve also had parents tell me they don’t like tardy policies because kids need more time to relax. Should I stop marking attendance? Which policies are the important ones, and which should I ignore? How should I communicate this to the students? “Well, some policies are dumb. I don’t expect you to follow them.” Do we see how that becomes “some laws are dumb and I shouldn’t have to follow them”?

There are logical reasons the school doesn’t want kids popping pills from their backpacks. One would think the recent fentanyl crisis would have illustrated that.

If you are telling your children it’s okay to break rules, then don’t ever comment on the lack of discipline within the school building. Chaos happens when people choose which rules to follow and which to enforce.

I have a firm hold of my classroom and my students ACHIEVE. Part of that comes from the clear expectations set in my room. I follow rules, and I expect my students to do the same. If a rule isn’t fair or if it’s unreasonable, then you work to change the rule. This one is fair and reasonable. If you have a problem with it, it’s simply laziness on your part. Laziness isn’t a valid excuse.

You keep bringing up fentanyl, yet you haven’t been able to provide a plausible explanation for how this policy would help.

Something for you to think about as you drive at or below the speed limit on your way to work tomorrow.

I already explained that upthread.

Follow the rules, or explain to your children why they are above the rules.

And I don’t speed. I know someone who died that way.

Speeding is dangerous. My daughter having ibuprofen in her purse is not dangerous. Rules that are widely/routinely ignored are ineffective rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child needed Lactaid with dairy. We had to fill out the form and DD had to go to the nurse’s office every day before lunch and any time there was an ice cream party (although knowing her she might have skipped the ice cream rather than bother).

I’m the teacher who posted above. My child also needs a particular medication. The nurse has it and she goes regularly to get it. It’s a mild nuisance, but it hardly impacts her day.

Calling Lactaid a medication is a stretch. As a teacher, do school lunches seem leisurely to you? Hypothetically, if it takes 5 minutes a day to detour to the nurse, that’s 25 minutes a week. If there are 36 weeks in a school year, that’s 15 hours/year that she spent not eating, not learning, not taking a break and interacting socially with her peers, but jumping through bureaucratic hoops. If the school system asked you to give up 5 minutes of your lunch every day for a new regulation, would you shrug it off it as a mild nuisance, or resent it as something that needlessly impacted your day? It was doable, and she did it, but it was ridiculous.

The point is it’s a RULE. Students have died because of pills being passed around the schools. Have we all forgotten so soon?

I care about my students. I want them to be safe, and that’s getting a lot harder to do. You see this as an inconvenience. I see this as a slippery slope.

But ultimately, this argument is pointless. The policy exists. If you allow your child to carry medication, then accept the consequences if they are caught.

I understand it’s a RULE. Since you seem to have ignored part of my post, we followed the RULE. My child did not carry the “medication”.

I also want children to be safe. I think some policies (including this one) become less about the child’s welfare than making bureaucrats happy when they become overly rigid. I understand the slippery slope, but it seems like there are fairly substantive differences between fentanyl, tylenol/ibuprofen, and lactaid.

By the way, you never answered my question. Would you be fine giving up 5 minutes of your lunch every day to satisfy a new regulation?

[Anonymous]

Do teachers need to drop off their medications with the nurse so we don’t have pills floating around? Or risk having staff distribute fentanyl to students?

[Anonymous]

We are at an mcps middle school. I have an extra spacer, inhaler, Claritin and Advil stored with the nurse, all self-administered PRN. They call me to get permission. She carries the inhaler with her (got permission to self carry). It's a bit of work, but we did it in 6th grade.