Question to parents...

[JoyG]

How would you feel if a teacher handed your sick or coughing child a face mask to wear in class for the day? The reasoning behind it is to stop the spread of swine flu before a vaccine become available. She has no way of knowing if your child has swine flu, but observes they are sneezing, coughing or have a runny nose.

Just curious.

 

[pearlieq]

Why is a sick, coughing child with a runny nose at school?

If a parent sent their kid to school that way, I guess I can't really fault the teacher for trying to halt the spread of infection, especially if there is a flu risk.

 

[locolala]

I don't have kids yet, but honestly I don't think it would bother me too much. I would make sure that my child is seen by the school nurse, but masks aren't such a bad thing. They can prevent the transmission of many bugs, not just swine flu!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hey, why doesn't the teacher give out a dunce cap along with the mask and have them sit in a corner?

Unless it was a district policy and the nurse examined the child, a teacher has no business handing out random masks.

The kid could have allergies.

 

[ORMom2Four]

If she is concerned enough to place a mask on my child, I would prefer that she send them home instead.

 

[JoyG]

If she is concerned enough to place a mask on my child, I would prefer that she send them home instead.

School policy doesn't send anyone home unless they throw up or have a fever.

Coughing, sneezing and runny nosed kids stay.

 

[Kath2003]

The school needs a new policy that sneezing, snotty, coughing kids go home, then. Either they're well enough to be at school, around other children and staff, or they're sick. And if they're sick, they need to be at home.

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

Why is a sick, coughing child with a runny nose at school?

If a parent sent their kid to school that way, I guess I can't really fault the teacher for trying to halt the spread of infection, especially if there is a flu risk.

If she is concerned enough to place a mask on my child, I would prefer that she send them home instead.

I agree with both. We do have to remember about alergies, but I've also noticed a lot of parents use that as an excuse when they don't want to keep their child home due to their having to go to work, etc.

 

[disney1990]

School policy doesn't send anyone home unless they throw up or have a fever.

Coughing, sneezing and runny nosed kids stay.

Wow, I can see this policy quickly changing.

 

[diznygirl]

My kid is one that had allergies and asthma, and I'm waiting for his first cough to cause waves of hysteria at the school.

 

[tzolkin]

School policy doesn't send anyone home unless they throw up or have a fever.

Coughing, sneezing and runny nosed kids stay.

Ah, I always loved that policy...

I learned quickly as a child to tell the volunteer (we had no nurse, just parent volunteers who took your temp and sent you back to class if you didn't have one) that I had vomited. My parents supported this lying because I would never try to come home unless I really was sick... I just didn't usually run a fever. I had mono, shingles, and several other real illnesses where the school thought I was fine to stay.


As for the mask... Certainly I feel they should call the parents. If I couldn't be reached, I'm not sure how I would feel about my child being given a mask. I think it's a good that they're concerned with preventing the spread of illnesses, but I would think they would want to keep the kids from passing along anything. I think putting a mask on the kid and saying that they might have swine flu would have a stigma attached to it and may lead to ridicule from the other students.

 

[mamacatnv]

I think that perhaps that was a little of an overreaction - BUT I do believe that schools are in a damned if they do and damned if they don't area when it comes to dealing with the spread of disease and parents. IMO no matter what they do some parent somewhere is not going to like it and will raise a fuss.

The Swine Flu has everyone on edge and if putting a mask on the coughing kids helps alleve fears and might help the spread then by all means - heck the kids probably think its cool anyway!

 

[kidzmom3]

have you ever tried to do work and concentrate with a mask on? Its difficult. If you wear glasses, they fog up. You can feel yourself breathing and coughing. You get hot and short of breath. I would be upset if they masked my kid and didn't call me. If they are going to mask them, then it should be excused home.


also allergies are real and right now where we live, they are high. Ragweed, Sagebrush/Sage and Nettle. Ragweed being the worse and makes you feel like crud. But, you can't stop living.

 

[Pakey]

have you ever tried to do work and concentrate with a mask on? Its difficult. If you wear glasses, they fog up. You can feel yourself breathing and coughing. You get hot and short of breath. I would be upset if they masked my kid and didn't call me. If they are going to mask them, then it should be excused home.


also allergies are real and right now where we live, they are high. Ragweed, Sagebrush/Sage and Nettle. Ragweed being the worse and makes you feel like crud. But, you can't stop living.

I agree. I had to wear a mask on a 5 hour flight when I was going through chemo and had very low white counts and it was all I could do to make it without going insane (and yes, I wear glasses). Unless it's a school policy and parents are informed of it ahead of time, I would not be happy if my child came home and told me this had happened.

 

[luvmy3]

Our school has instituted a new policy in regards to preventing the spread of swine flu. Faculty and staff displaying flu like symptoms will be quarantined with masks until someone can come and pick them up. I assume the faculty will be leaving on their own, unless they carpool or get dropped off. I have no idea what those flu like symptoms consist of, if its just coughing, sneezing and runny nose I have a feeling there will be a ton of students in that room with nothing more than hayfever.
In a case like yours OP, I would rather they call me to pick my child up instead of giving them a mask to sit in class. If they have such fear its the flu, then they need to notify the parent and ask them to observe them at home to see if symptoms get worse. If no then they should just return to school the next day. Besides I read today that those masks do nothing to prevent the spread, if the swine flu is in your school it is going to spread through the student population no matter what attempts are made to stop it.

 

[mum4jenn]

At our school no only the kids that are showing signs of possible flu are allowed to go to the nurse. Those that need a bandaid get it from the teacher and those needing regular medicine for things like behavior, etc get them from another staff member. We had 61 kids out of school on Monday as well as a few staff members. One of the teachers has a child that is diabetic and had the swine flu. I would be fine if sick children had to wear a mask to keep my child well.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I don't know how I'd feel about it. I'm usually pretty laid back. I guess I'd be more concerned with how my child felt about it.

I think in such a case, the teacher would have good intentions but those intentions carry some innuendos that might have unpleasant repercussions. Having the child wear a mask is basically saying the parent sent the child to school very sick and either doesn't know they might have swine flu or doesn't care. Explaining that to the parents would be very dreadful for the teacher. And I imagine a difficult conversation for the parents.

Then there's the child that's singled out, made to look different on a chance. I don't know. I think it's a slippery slope.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

No, I do not want my kids wearing masks at school. If you are that concerned about their health then call me at home and I will come get them. I would be very angry.

 

[ChrizJen]

I think it's funny that they think the child is sick enough to warrant a face mask, but not sick enough to be sent home...LOL

So to answer your question OP: I wouldn't want my child given a face mask. Seriously, if he/she's sick enough to need a mask, send him/her home. Teachers are not doctors or nurses (generally), so they have no place determining whether or not my child is sick.

 

[Tinijocaro]

School policy doesn't send anyone home unless they throw up or have a fever.

Coughing, sneezing and runny nosed kids stay.

School policy needs to be changed, considering we are currently in a pandemic.