Teacher vent--If your child is sick, keep them HOME!

[torinsmom]

I teach pre-K/K in a public school and I have just about had it with certain parents. They seem to think the rules do no apply to them and that their jobs are more important than the health of all our students, not to mention the teachers' health and wellbeing.

So.....week before last, little M came to school with welts all over his neck. Mom said they are mosquito bites and we should discourage him from scratching. After she left, we discovered they were all over his stomach, legs, etc. Poor child was itching to death and within two hours, there were more "bites" and it was obvious that this was hives and not mosquito bites. So, mom is called and AN HOUR LATER she comes to get little M. He is of course back the next day on steroids.

Last week, M complained of a terrible stomach ache. I mean, doubling over and screaming in pain. My assistant runs him to the office and he has a temp of 99.9. Mom is called and comes after an hour once again. She emails to say he is fine at home. Brings him in next day and the principal lets him stay. Mom says he is a drama king and just wants to stay home.

Then, Monday, little M says he feels bad as soon as he gets to school. He is not warm, but says he feels achy. Mom said he was a drama king, so we let him be. Three hours later, he tells me his stomach hurts again, and he is hot to the touch. This time 101 fever. Mom comes and he has been out since. The secretary told me that when mom came, Little M told her "I told the teacher I hurt all over, just like I told you this morning." She said mom turned beet red.

Today, I saw little M's sister on the playground. She was sitting out, so I went to talk to her. She said Little M still had a 103 fever. She also said her stomach and head hurt, and had since last night. I told her teacher that those were little M's first symptoms. So she goes to the office, and has a 103 fever!

It's no wonder we have had five kids plus my assistant out for the last few days! I really don't know what parents are thinking! And no this is not a single parent household or a low income family. And these are the parents who will complain when I am out because I caught what their child brought into the classroom too.

Okay, vent over......

Marsha

 

[lyeag]

I know what you mean. I teach middle school and it is the same thing....

 

[KAMKIM]

I agree while it is tough when one of our kids gets sick, I dont want them having to spend a whole day at school not feeling well, and I dont want them getting any one else sick. DH, Grandma and I take turns with sick days....I also have the option of working from home if need be...

 

[All American]

As a parent, thank you, for saying this from a teacher's perspective. I hope things settle down, and everyone in your class feels better soon.

 

[C.Ann]

And it's only going to get worse - especially this year..

Hope you're able to stay healthy somehow..

 

[mhsjax]

We actually had a pre-recorded phone call from DS middle school. Seems parents are sending their kids back to school still running a fever, or no fever with the help of tylenol. They asked us to please keep kids home until 24 hurs with no fever without medication. I don't know why parents have to send their kids to school sick. I know that some are concerned about missing too much work, however, I don't care about your work, what I do care about is you sending your sick kid to school and infecting other kids and the teachers trying to do their jobs. Rant over, I do feel for you teacher out there.

 

[Rora]

As a teacher, I agree.

UGH.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I had a 5th grader come into his lesson last week-as soon as I saw him I knew he was sick. He looked awful, could barely breathe through his nose-I assume it was a bad cold, didn't appear to have a fever but you never know.

When his dad picked him up I said "Poor Nick-he looks really bad" Dad said "Yeah, but he really wanted to come to school". These are two teachers at the high school. I couldn't believe they sent him because he wanted to come to school.

 

[KAMKIM]

I had a 5th grader come into his lesson last week-as soon as I saw him I knew he was sick. He looked awful, could barely breathe through his nose-I assume it was a bad cold, didn't appear to have a fever but you never know.

When his dad picked him up I said "Poor Nick-he looks really bad" Dad said "Yeah, but he really wanted to come to school". These are two teachers at the high school. I couldn't believe they sent him because he wanted to come to school.

Yeah I dont think you can totally go by the "there is no fever" if they feel lousy they should be kept home and allowed to rest.

 

[2binak]

They asked us to please keep kids home until 24 hurs with no fever without medication.

This is the rule at DD's daycare and it's strictly inforced - and yes, I'm all for it. If my baby is sick, she needs to be home resting and being cared for 1-on-1, not sitting in a classroom, feeling sick, spreading germs and unable to get rest or proper care. In fact, DD was sick last week and although her fever didn't reach 101.0, (school policy is that the child has to leave once it reaches 101.0) I still left work to bring her home since I just couldn't imagine leaving here there while she was sick. I'm sure these same parents would not sit at work while feeling so sick.

 

[sharonW]

I'm an in home day care provider and I too deal
with this same kind of stuff....unfair to everyone
especially the sick child who needs to be kept
at home

 

[daisyduck123]

1st grade teacher chiming in ....

I stated explicitly & in NO uncertain terms on Back to School Night that kids cannot return to school until they have been fever free for 24 hours without the help of medication.

Would you believe that some parents had looks of surprises on their faces when I said that???? C'mon people...it's just common sense.

 

[Feralpeg]

Unfortunately, I think you'll see more of this. It shouldn't happen, but it will. Many employers don't give a lot of sick leave to their employees. With jobs at such a premium right now, people are not going to miss work if they can help it. Think of what it would mean to a parent with multiple kids. Say a person has three kids. They each get sick and need to be out four days. Unless they are all sick at the same time, that parent might need to take off from four to twelve days. And, should the parent get sick, things just get worse. Not too many people who can afford to be off work that many days.

Not all parents have a support system of grandparents, etc. to take their sick kids so they can go to work. I never did. When my daughter was sick, I had to stay home with her. I burned a lot of vacation that way. I was lucky because I had been at my job a long time and had a lot of vacation time available. If not, I'd have been docked pay for those days.

Some cities have hospital day care to take care of sick kids so their parents can go to work. Sounds like this would be a great thing for many cities or possible school districts.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I agree. I even work in a public school and sometimes feel a cold shoulder when I have to stay home when my kids are sick. Also, I do not take my child to the doctor if I'm sure he just has a cold. After six days of absences without a doctors note, the district sends home a warning letter. Then there are those lovely perfect attendance awards.

 

[jfoofj]

I do feel bad for the parents who are in a situation where they will be in trouble at their work for taking sick days due to sick kids, I wish more employers were a little more family friendly. Kids shouldn't go to school sick, absolutely not, it just stinks that some parents are faced with the choice of sending a so-so feeling kid to school and going to work or staying home to face possibly losing a job due to excessive absenteeism. Especially with the job market the way it is right now. I'm home a lot during the week, so I'm pretty lucky but I know people who have no one to help out when kids get sick or there is a snow day. It stinks all around.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

My niece home schools her son (she will home school her daughters when they get to 6th grade) and also runs an in-home day care center. She is getting extremely irritated with the people who are sending their kids to the center (and to her daughters' school) sick as well.

 

[creativeamanda]

You would not believe the number of kids that come to school saying, "My mama told me to go to the nurse when I come to school." I thought if I read that on another documentation form this week I was gonna scream! Comeon parents, I want to say, the school nurse is NOT your primary care physician. There is no sense in that--this is MEDICAID documentation I am reading. So these kids are on Medicaid, have access to transportation to the doctor through Medicaid, but they are telling their kids to go to school and have the school nurse to take care of it. Do they not want to be bothered?

Two weeks ago, I missed 2 1/2 days of work in the public schools because my dd10 was sick. They told us to keep her home until she had been fever free for 24 hours with no fever reducers. We had her home for 4 1/2 days--me taking 2.5 days, dh taking 2.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Single mom w/o much of a support system chiming in here...

This policy needs to be enforced. Many children get sick because parents ignore this rule.

I am currently home with a sick dd (8). She was fine over the weekend but came home Tuesday with sniffles (saying x and y are really sick) and woke up this morning with a 102 degree temp. So what could I do but keep her home. Which ment I missed work.

Luckily I am working on a project that I can do at home but that normally is not the case. Tomorrow we are off to the doc. Based on how she felt today I imagine that Monday will be her first day back unless her fever dissappears overnight.

What upsets me is that if the orginial sick children had not come to school she most likely would not have gotten sick herself.

Naturally my dd is my main concern but this episode is costing dd school time and decreasing my income (the project does not equal three days of pay for me).

So.... please keep your sick kids home. You have no idea of the impact on other children's families this could have. Plus, children need to rest when they are ill!!!!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Unfortunately, it's not just parents that work who send sick kids to school. We have several stay-at-home parents who repeatedly send their sick kids to my special ed preschool class. When we told one mom her son wasn't feeling well (thick, green runny nose, coughing, etc.) she said, "I know, but I was hoping he'd be ok for school. This is the only time of day I get to myself." Gosh...sorry you didn't get to go shopping or have your nap, but your child is sick and should be at home resting and not infecting the rest of the class!

 

[disfan07]

We had to deal with this in the preschool. But if a child has a high fever and they are not being picked up in a timely manner (for some parents that meant 30 mins for some that meant 1 1/2 hours depending on where they worked...we know where all of them work, it's in their file) we had every right to call child services if it is a regular occurance.

As my boss said one day.....when you have children, you know what you're getting into. Yes, there are certain circumstances where you will lose your job, etc. if you leave but that excuse gets used way too much. I know my boss ended up going into her vacation time b/c her daughter kept getting sick when her husband was out of town (go figure).

This is another case of the whole me, me, me thing that exists.
A parent sends their child to school sick b/c keeping them home inconveinces them and then their kid gets another child sick and that parent might now suffer consequences at work b/c their child is sick b/c of another parents decision.