Can I send my middle schooler with Advil/Tylenol?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a silly policy but it's really not that bit of a deal to fill out the little form and keep the pills at the school. I'm a mess with paperwork but even I could handle that.

Sure, but it IS a big deal for some 12 year old girl to have to announce to her teacher she has cramps, and go to the nurse to deal with it potentially multiple times per day for a few days in a row.

You can definitely tell who has bad cramps as a teen and who didn’t by their response to this policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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?

I rarely get an uninterrupted lunch, so your question doesn’t really land the way you want it to. I do what I have to do.

If you want children safe, don’t pick and choose rules. While you’re choosing not to follow this policy, others are choosing not to follow others. It’s hard to enforce rules when we make exceptions for everything.

This isn’t about making bureaucrats happy. (How would it even??) It’s about safe schools. Sure, your kid is popping a Tylenol. The kid next to your kid has Oxy. See the problem? Who is policing this if we say some pills are safe to have and others aren’t? Who is watching what is swapped? I’m a little busy teaching your kids, so I have to hope that people are following policy and being good community members.

The policy is on my side. Don’t like it? Then change it. Loosening rules doesn’t seem to work well in the long run, but give it a try if it’s important to you.

Nope. Not wasting my time on this. My kids will continue to carry Advil and Tylenol. IDGAF if you like it or not. That's what happening. And you will have no clue when they take it because they know to do it when no one is watching.

You do you. Teach your children they are above rules. Teach your children to be deceitful and disrespectful to the environments they are in. That’s the message, I’m afraid.

It’s also why schools are in disarray, because people can’t respect the policies in place to keep the whole population safe. But hey… your kids aren’t being inconvenienced by having to walk 3 minutes out of their way. That would be the real injustice in life.

And when your children get caught doing something far worse because mom taught them rules don’t apply? Remember how it started and don’t argue with the people enforcing the laws.

I wish this were hyperbole, but I’ve seen where this entitled behavior takes people after 20+ years in the classroom.

Yes my sending them with Advil is setting them up for a life of crime 😁. I shall change my way immediately. Thank you anonymous poster i now see the error in my ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There shouldn’t be a problem with your child having Advil/Tylenol. My daughter has a little “kit” with pads, Tylenol, one use heating pad, cough drops, etc that she keeps in her locker or used to put in her Chromebook case.

Are you naive or just don't care about rules?

DP. I don't give a F about ridiculous rules. My kids all carried advil. They've graduated and it was NEVER a problem.

Same - and one of mine just graduated with an engineering degree making 5 figures. I was nervous the 4-6 Advil they carried would corrupt them into drug dealers or a life of crime, but thankfully they came out ahead. Whew!!!

The one troll is particularly hilarious tonight.

[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.

Huh? How is this a moral dilemma for you? You should have reported it. There is no such thing as major trouble in mcps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There shouldn’t be a problem with your child having Advil/Tylenol. My daughter has a little “kit” with pads, Tylenol, one use heating pad, cough drops, etc that she keeps in her locker or used to put in her Chromebook case.

Are you naive or just don't care about rules?

DP. I don't give a F about ridiculous rules. My kids all carried advil. They've graduated and it was NEVER a problem.

Same - and one of mine just graduated with an engineering degree making 5 figures. I was nervous the 4-6 Advil they carried would corrupt them into drug dealers or a life of crime, but thankfully they came out ahead. Whew!!!

The one troll is particularly hilarious tonight.

Five whole figures for an engineering degree? I'd be popping pills after all that work for nothing, too.

[Anonymous]

I got in trouble for having advil at school in the 80s. I didn't just have it, I gave it to another student. When a teacher saw me hand her the pills, they called me to the office and examined the bottle. Once they determined it was, in fact, advil.and not speed they said not to do that again please and we all got on with our lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There shouldn’t be a problem with your child having Advil/Tylenol. My daughter has a little “kit” with pads, Tylenol, one use heating pad, cough drops, etc that she keeps in her locker or used to put in her Chromebook case.

Are you naive or just don't care about rules?

DP. I don't give a F about ridiculous rules. My kids all carried advil. They've graduated and it was NEVER a problem.

Same - and one of mine just graduated with an engineering degree making 5 figures. I was nervous the 4-6 Advil they carried would corrupt them into drug dealers or a life of crime, but thankfully they came out ahead. Whew!!!

The one troll is particularly hilarious tonight.

Five whole figures for an engineering degree? I'd be popping pills after all that work for nothing, too.

They prob meant 6 figures and you know it. You are just mad No one is agreeing with your over the top strictness on policies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. MCPS will freak if found. Even OTC meds need to be prescribed by a dr., brought in labelled and given to the nurse.

Yup, new bottle, sealed, must be given to the nurse. Paperwork completed.

[Anonymous]

My 2 girls have had Advil in their lunch boxes since 5th grade. One is a senior and the other is a sophomore. Never an issue.

They have so many teachers that won't let them go to the bathroom or nurse and many times the nurse tells them to go away and even more times I have heard complaints that they won't give it unless they talk to the parent. I am an OR nurse. You aren't going to reach me. So until they have a better plan for flexibility and don't force you to get it done by a doctor and have a 15yr old girl with cramps have the nurse call the mommy, this works for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Option 3: Follow the damn rule. It's not hard.

[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.

Option 3: Follow the damn rule. It's not hard.

Yes, that is an option. But Option 2 (Allow my kid to keep ibuprofen in her purse, for her use, when she needs it) is a better option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Option 3: Follow the damn rule. It's not hard.

Yes, that is an option. But Option 2 (Allow my kid to keep ibuprofen in her purse, for her use, when she needs it) is a better option.

It's obviously the most popular option, too.

[Anonymous]

The one poster coming back with the “follow the rule” retorts…

Do you think the tech/nurse has enough time or room in her room for 1500 bottles of ibuprofen in a school that has 2500 kids? You are talking EASILY 150 more kids coming down a day than normal. They are already short staffed and have diabetics, allergies, immunocompromised students, along with all the mental and physical sicknesses. Not to mention the Covid policies. They also don’t have room for kids to lye down with cramps or headaches. And no chance they can call all of their parents for approval.

No one cares that kids carry Advil for cramps or headaches. No one has time otherwise, even more now that schools are overcrowded and understaffed. So it has been silently allowed for years and years to make it easier for everyone.

- RN (former MCPS nurse)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The one poster coming back with the “follow the rule” retorts…

Do you think the tech/nurse has enough time or room in her room for 1500 bottles of ibuprofen in a school that has 2500 kids? You are talking EASILY 150 more kids coming down a day than normal. They are already short staffed and have diabetics, allergies, immunocompromised students, along with all the mental and physical sicknesses. Not to mention the Covid policies. They also don’t have room for kids to lye down with cramps or headaches. And no chance they can call all of their parents for approval.

No one cares that kids carry Advil for cramps or headaches. No one has time otherwise, even more now that schools are overcrowded and understaffed. So it has been silently allowed for years and years to make it easier for everyone.

- RN (former MCPS nurse)

I’m the “troll.” I work in a high school and my point stands. It’s policy. If people don’t like it, change it. While it is policy, I am going to enforce it.

There are threads all over DCUM about chaos in MCPS schools. As long as we allow students (and parents) to pick and choose the rules they are going to follow, we can expect the chaos to continue.

You may “silently allow” something, but all you are doing is contributing to the current state of our schools. Classroom teachers have to put up with the mess caused by all the people picking and choosing rules.

I’m 100% correct on this from a policy standpoint. For a school system that’s this far out of control, we need more people to clean this mess up instead of fewer.

[Anonymous]

Nah you trippin PP

No one cares including teachers, nurses, and administration. But if this is your hill to die on, have at it. LOL