Do you allow your kids to take "Personal Days" from school?

[va32h]

Yes I do.

I took my oldest out of school to drive to Ft. Hood, Texas and greet their father, who was returning from an 18 month deployment. And in March I will be taking all of them out of school to take him back to Ft. Hood for another one, unfortunately.

In between those two major events, I have kept them home a few times a year because...you know what? Because I wanted to. I just have this wacky notion that as their mother I can do that.

 

[momrek06]

My DS' are in college but when they were in h.s. ABSOLUTELY. They were/are good students and I knew if they were stressing and needed a day off I allowed it. I knew they would have no problems making up any work they may have missed.

As a matter of act, DS#2 went to a private Catholic h.s. 35 minutes from our home and times in the winter when the weather was treacherous and yet they still had school I made DS stay home...umm, actually his Senior year was a horrible winter and I wanted him to stay home allot but he argued with me that "Mom, I WON'T graduate if you keep this up!" Heck, I am his Mom, I was worried about his traveling back and forth to school.

 

[pigletgirl]

Nope, I was never allowed to have a personal day. I would of gotten too far behind.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Absolutely not. They get too many days off from school as it is. Although he does seem to be in school more now that he's in the public school system! His parochial school had WAY too many 1/2 days, teacher planning days, etc. He's only home if he's actually sick. And if so, he better see the teachers to make up all work. Not worth taking the day off in my book.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I think this practice is hilarious. When I was a child, personal/mental health days were called "weekends."

 

[bluefairy13]

My mom let me take a couple in high school when she knew I was especially upset about something, and I did the same. I think when you are a mom you can tell when they are really upset and really need it.

I'm just amazed that the yes and no's are neck and neck and no fight!

 

[poohandwendy]

No, but its never really come up where they have asked, LOL.

 

[Barb D]

I voted "other". I let DD14 stay home the day after she went to the Van Halen concert in a city 2.5 hours away (and didn't get home until the middle of the night.) She wasn't technically "sick" the next day, but she sure was exhausted.

She's also stayed home with migraines, even though they don't count as the school's definition (throwing up, fever...) of sick.

Normally I would not allow "mental health" days.

 

[angel_bright05]

There are lots of possibilities. Maybe your child is having a complete meltdown. Maybe you want to go on vacation. Maybe they are exhausted. Maybe they are completely stressed out. etc. etc. Unfortunately, our emotions and our well-being don't know when weekends are. Did anyone ever think that the reason certain kids get sick so often is because their immune systems are weak from being stressed or tired? Taking time to see these signs before they result in sickness is well worth it. Personal days are one way to do this.



You don't take days off? Ever? Life isn't supposed to be all about work. In fact, this is the only society that puts work ahead of health, family, etc. You would do horribly in France where they get 56 vacation days a year.
I also don't think that school is a child's "job" and I think it's kind of harsh to look at that way. Kids are kids not mini-adults. Sure school teaches about work ethic but it also teaches a lot of other things too. As well, I think children learn a great deal outside of the classroom, as I've stated earlier.

I take the days off that I have off. I don't work everyday. I can't just call into work and say I'm not coming. If we're taking a vacation, I switch my shifts so everything can work out.

I don't think missing school for vacations counts as a taking a personal day. We don't usually pull the kids out of school for vacations, and if we have to it's usually only a Friday being missed since we tend to schedule around school breaks.

Also, if kids are so stressed out, I believe some activities need to be cut out.

 

[aprilgail2]

You don't take days off? Ever? Life isn't supposed to be all about work. In fact, this is the only society that puts work ahead of health, family, etc. You would do horribly in France where they get 56 vacation days a year.

.

Thats how I feel- I do get 6 weeks paid vacation time from work that I take each year and 12 sick days a year and I generally take all 12 throughout the year-sometimes I am sick or sometimes I just feel like having a couple extra days off here or there. To me my family, health and sanity come before work-and I am counting down the days until retirement -1672!!!

 

[MushyMushy]

I think this practice is hilarious. When I was a child, personal/mental health days were called "weekends."

I had weekends when I worked full time, but I still used personal days when I just needed a break!

 

[#1hockeymom]

My son took one today. Its called a "hockey tournament". He takes about three days a year for three day hockey tournaments.

 

[Ride Junkie]

When I was a kid, pretending to be sick just caused my mom roll to her eyes at us. If I just said, "Mom, I really don't feel like going to school today", she was ok with that because she knew I never cut school. I managed to get through school just fine. I think you need a mental health day every now & then.

 

[Melissamoo]

I don't have kids - but my parents let us have days off -just because. My sister and I have been plagued my migraines since high school. Those days I don't count as 'personal days' because they did make me throw up, etc. I usually stayed home the 'day after' one of the horrible headaches because I always (and still do) felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck.
My parents also let us do the 'mental health days' usually after finals for the semester, etc.
My sister and I never abused it, she does the same for her kids. You need them!!!!!

 

[::Snow_White::]

I have never been allowed to stay home for a personal day.

If I'm sick, I'm in bed.
If not I'm in school.

But I think if I really told my mom exactly that I needed a day off she would probably let me stay home.

 

[AmazingGrace]

yes. My son is a cancer survivor. When you go through something like that with your child, it forces you to reprioritize as far as family time and all goes.
If my kids need a break or if we want to do something special as a family, we do it. We don't go overboard, but when i was sitting in that Dr's office convinced my child was going to die, his attendance record never flashed through my mind. All the memories we had as a family is what I spent that day thinking about.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I never had a "mental health day" as a student or as an employee. Kind of a foreign concept, I guess....

{snip}

Add to the days that we pull them for family needs (be that vacation or b/c I have a migraine and can't drive, etc.)....they need to be in school the rest of the days.

I don't think missing school for vacations counts as a taking a personal day.

Why wouldn't taking a day off for vacation count as a personal day for a student? They don't get vacation days and they aren't sick. So to me, that's a personal day! I would say, in that case, you both do allow your kids to take personal days from school.

yes. My son is a cancer survivor. When you go through something like that with your child, it forces you to reprioritize as far as family time and all goes.
If my kids need a break or if we want to do something special as a family, we do it. We don't go overboard, but when i was sitting in that Dr's office convinced my child was going to die, his attendance record never flashed through my mind. All the memories we had as a family is what I spent that day thinking about.

Exactly! There are more important things in life than school. I'm glad to hear that your son is doing well, AmazingGrace. Keep spending that time with him. Math class can wait sometimes.

I just wanted to add one more thought to the conversation. I remember kids in my high school whose parents forced them to be there - wouldn't let them stay home unless they were visibly ill. You know what those kids did when they needed a "personal day"? Took one anyway and just didn't tell their parents. It's called skipping class. I think I would much rather my kids just be honest with me and be flexible with them than have them lie to me. Also, when I was in university, the kids with the strict parents ended up being the first to act out. They take as many personal days as they want then!

 

[Longsx3]

We allow DD (6th grade) to take a day off occasionally ...maybe 2 a year. Just last week I offered for her to stay home, she hadn't slept well the night before, but she declined.

I must say that I allow it because DD is an A student and would never choose to stay home and miss any thing major. Also DD attends a DODD School and they don't have a strict attendance policy. On days when she does stay home, it is a relaxing day but she is not allowed to play with friends that day....she usually reads most of the day.

For me my parents were also very reasonable and because of it I never skipped in HS. If my friends were skipping to go to DW or the beach, I could just ask my parents for permission.