Sick Kids in School

[Veronica]

I feel your pain V. At least every sneeze can be a teachable moment. Do you at least have a handwashing sink in your classroom?

We do have a sink. But imagine 32 kids trying to use it. Seriously, I have 6 in my room today who should be washing their hands every 3 minutes.

Veronica

[MommyBird]

Everywhere I go I see those free standing hand sanitizer dispensers.
After greeting time in church the whole sanctuary smell like the stuff.

Yesterday my husband drove to Columbia, SC to meet with an engineering firm about a project. The first guy sneezed into his hand as he was standing up and still held out his hand! Hubby chose not to be rude and shook it, but with mental reservations. Business opportunities are slim these days, you don't want to appear disrespectful to a potential client! To add insult to injury, the next guy refused to shake Dave's hand. I personally do not blame him after witnessing the sneeze.

[Veronica]

Everywhere I go I see those free standing hand sanitizer dispensers.

Yeah, but they are not free. California schools are in a world of hurt right now financially. I'm not even making extra copies of things for my kids who lose stuff anymore. "Sorry dude, you lost it, no extra copes, you're getting a zero."

Sounds harsh, but again I have 5 - 10 kids who lose something every week. Copy costs add up.

Veronica

[ACG]

Raised two kids, now adults, sort of, in college. Now on my third, she's 7. She has allergies. We keep her home if she has a fever. She uses the hand sanitzer so much her skin is raw, now I make her use lotion after the sanitzer.

I donate to the teacher and the daycare the hand sanitizer, tissues, paper and anything else I can think of. Always have. In the beginning of the year I ask them for a wish list, then ask again mid year. They appreciate it.

I sympathize with people who work and maybe they feel like if the kid is that sick the school will call them? Which is a total waste of everyone's time and energy I know.

Do you know how hard it is to find babysitters, people are still being picky and I'm paying them!!!! grrrr. okay, enough said.

Sorry you've got a bunch of sickies. And bravo, if they loose it too bad, this is life, they have to keep on top of thier stuff themselves.

[MommyBird]

Schools are not a place I frequent.
We home school.

Try to look on the bright side, your financially forced responsibility lesson could benefit a student or two.

[sfa]

How sick is sick, though? The problem with most viruses - the "common cold" that runs rampant in schools and offices this time of year - is that you're contagious from a day before you have any symptoms until all of your symptoms are gone. Since most of these viruses last about a week or ten days, you're talking about kids missing a week or more of school and adults missing work for that long when a) they already transmitted it to everyone before they knew they were sick and b) except for being stuffy and coughing and sneezing, they feel fine. Perfectly capable of doing their work and paying attention. School aged kids get, on average, between seven and 12 colds a year. Do you really want them missing that much school?

So where do you draw the line? The rule in our schools is that you have to stay home for 24 hours after you've had a fever or have thrown up. If I had to keep my son out of school every time he had a cold, he'd be out of school a lot more than he's in (he has a primary immune deficiency disorder, so he gets colds and they last a month or more, until they finally turn into a secondary infection and we can treat with antibiotics. Until that point, though, it's just a cold and nothing can be done about it). I checked with the school system about getting him "home and hospital" services for when he was sick so that he COULD stay home and not infect other people, but they didn't go for it. So I follow the fever/vomiting rule and only keep him out with a cold if I think that he's too sick to learn--if he hasn't been sleeping because of a cough, or is just so physically miserable that he needs rest and no stimulation, or if he's not eating well because of his cold.

Sarah

[Veronica]

I wouldn't send a kid to school who was coughing or sneezing every few minutes. You're not here to hear my one kid who sounds like he's hacking up a lung and has his head down because it hurts.

And as the teacher, I'd like those kids to be home, since I don't want to be out sick. No matter how good the sub, they don't do as good a job teaching as I do.

Veronica

[sfa]

Yeah, a kid who hurts so much that he can't keep his head up should be at home. Can't you call the school nurse and have her call one of the parents?

Sarah

[michelem]

I so hear you! My DH works with middle schoolers (60+ per day). Due to the CA financial crisis, a whole program above his is being cut and those people are getting the option of taking the layoff or bumping those immediately below (which, would include my DH).

This past week he came home with a sinus/chest cold as well as pink eye. Unfortunately, due to the fact that he is in a low-income, "at risk" school/area these parents (caregivers, really -- it's rare to find kids in that school with two parents, and even one is stretching it) don't really have any other options for their kids besides sending them to school/after-school program even when they are sick.

For all the problems though, he loves getting to make a difference in these rugrats' lives each day.