Question to parents...

[Disney Doll]

Excatly. Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.

I am quite sure that the schools feel the exact same way.

 

[EthansMom]

I have two kids with viral/bacterial-induced asthma. They get a colds and other respiratory illnesses easily and those then cause a flair up of their asthma (causing them to cough a great deal, lose sleep, and often results in brochitis or pneumonia). Our school has a "24 hours from throwing up and/or high fever" policy for keeping kids out of school which I follow.

However, I CAN'T keep my child out of school every time he/she just has a cold or allergies. Because my kids would miss WEEKS of school every year. As it is, both of my kids each missed at least 7 days of school due to illness last winter. That includes flus, fevers, bronchitis, pneumonia, and REALLY bad colds.

When I go in to their classrooms to volunteer, I see many of the (mostly) healthy kids who are sent to school with terrible colds. Maybe if their parents kept those kids home more often, my kids would be sick less often.

Personally, I don't think a mask would help for grade school age kids. The kid is going to be fussing at the mask, touching it, and removing it to blow his/her nose. Then, the child is going to touch stuff (desk, toilet, community pencils) with that same hand. In all likelihood, the mask will just prove more of a distraction to the learning process than anything else. And if it's not supported by the nurse or school board for all students, then I wouldn't necessarily care for a teacher picking my child out in that way.

Now, our school nurse will call if a child is having difficulty concentrating (listless, coughing excessively, cranky, etc...) for any reason (including a cold, allergies, etc..) and will recommend that they be picked up, even if they don't have any other symptoms. I never have a problem picking up my kids if the nurse feels that they should be brought home. And I suspect that many schools will be sending kids home more quickly this fall/winter than in the past.

IMO, if the child is coughing/sneezing/etc... so much as to warrant a mask, he/she should be sent home.

 

[jrmasm]

Well, then send them to school with a note reading that it is a cold and not Swine Flu and you'd appreciate if it they didn't put a mask on your child.

Now, that begs the question of how a parent would be able to tell the difference between cold and Swine Flu symptoms, but I'll leave to greater minds than mine to figure out.

From the CDC:

•People who are sick with an influenza-like illness (ILI) (fever plus at least cough or sore throat and possibly other symptoms like runny nose, body aches, headaches, chills, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea)

I think the school nurse show be able to tell the difference between a cold and season/swine flu.

 

[KAMKIM]

I would be very upset about the mask. Talk about setting the kid up for humliation. Poor thing....I'd rather the school call me and let me make the decision as to whether or not I would pick her up, or allow her to walk around school with a mask on her face.

If they are THAT concerned...give every kid a mask...that way they all look silly

 

[sbell111]

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.

I think that it's funny that parents would send their coughy, snotty kids to school and then be upset if they get masked.

 

[sbell111]

Exactly! Living in a climate where cold & snow happens, you are bound to get at least 1 or 2 or 10 colds throughout the winter. ...

You know that 'cold & snow' doesn't actually cause colds, right?

 

[mjkacmom]

I agree. That's where the rubber hits the road. If a parent kept a child home for every sniffle, the school board would take the parents to court for truancy.

I agree - kids get many colds each season, lasting from 7 - 10 days. They just can't stay home with every sniffle! Our school policy is keep them home 24 hours fever and/or vomit free. If a child has the swine flu, I would assume a fever would be involved, which isn't the case with a cold.

 

[cocodog]

I would think the teacher acted appropriately to protect the majority of the class.

 

[Disney Doll]

From the CDC:


I think the school nurse show be able to tell the difference between a cold and season/swine flu.

If the school has a full time nurse, which many don't.

With that very pertinent information you just posted, so should a parent, and would therefore be able to tell the difference between Swine Flu and a cold, and could send in a note as such.

 

[Disney Doll]

I think that it's funny that parents would send their coughy, snotty kids to school and then be upset if they get masked.

So do I, but apparently we are in the minority.

 

[Kath2003]

I think that it's funny that parents would send their coughy, snotty kids to school and then be upset if they get masked.

I'm all for keeping sick kids home, but if kids were kept off school every time they had a cough (which can last months after a bout of something) or a runny nose, half the school would be empty on a daily basis!

(Also if teachers stayed home every time we were croaky/snotty/coughing, there'd be no staff in to teach the kids anyway!)

 

[jrmasm]

If the school has a full time nurse, which many don't.

With that very pertinent information you just posted, so should a parent, and would therefore be able to tell the difference between Swine Flu and a cold, and could send in a note as such.

I'd say there is no reason to send in a note when your kid has a cold.


I think we can keep going around and around all day....

 

[Mkrop]

Yeah coughing and sneezing and having a runny nose with a mask on wont be distracting to the child

My kids both have allergies and DS11 has COUGH variant asthma.

Call and send the child home if you think they are that ill. I dont think a mask is going to do squat to prevent anything.

 

[jrmasm]

I think that it's funny that parents would send their coughy, snotty kids to school and then be upset if they get masked.

Just curious, are you planning to use daycare?

 

[OceanAnnie]

If the teachers are going to have the students wear a mask for coughs and sniffles, that's going to be a lot of masks (money, time spent monitoring if they are on properly, etc.).

 

[sbell111]

Just curious, are you planning to use daycare?

No. Why?

 

[jrmasm]

No. Why?

Because you'd change your tune about whether a kid with a snotty nose is sick or not.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Because you'd change your tune about whether a kid with a snotty nose is sick or not.

You don't need daycare for that, just a kid.

 

[sbell111]

Because you'd change your tune about whether a kid with a snotty nose is sick or not.

whatever.

 

[tmarquez]

If it's an elementary school (the only experience I have so far) then half the kids would be absent daily. That would destroy all school funding.

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.

OP, I think it's totally ridiculous. Kids get colds and have allergies. But it's just going to get worse with the Swine Flu thing...people will go crazy.