Question to parents. Remove child from school because of Swine Flu?

Also just to note,

Teach your children about really washing there hands, Make it common practice now, using an hankie to sneeze in and blowing there nose,

When in public places try not to let them touch door handles ect without a hankie.

These can be the most important things to keep your child safe right now.

My daughter is staying home because she has mild flu-like symptoms (fever/body pains/tummy upset). I am taking her to the Drs today. I live in SE VA. I seriously doubt it's the swine thing.
.
BUT...be warned. She missed school earlier this semester because of another illness. Now, she only has two days of absences left before she will fail some of her classes. She is an A student and has never been in trouble a day in her life, but the school puts so much pressure on kids that if she misses X number of classes, she automatically fails. So, sometimes parents send their kids to school knowing that they are sick because if they are sent home, it's not always counted as an absence, or they get through some of their classes (better than none).

LET ME CLEARLY STATE that I've always kept my kids home when they were sick. I've always done the right thing. I don't want my kid making other kids sick. But if her doctor says she can go to school, she's going to school!

Keep in mind, not all parents are going to keep their sick kid home. I've seen it over and over.

I understand the "system" is set up for a reason. But an A student missing school for valid reasons should not fail. And, I shouldn't even have to feel pressure to send a sick child to school!

Edit to say: I wanted to add that, normally, I would not take her to the drs
for mild-flu (but better safe with the swine going around), but I need a note from her doctor for her school. Now, I'm risking exposure by sitting in a waiting room with really sick people and probably wasting the drs time who could be seeing really sick people.

Okay.
I think I'm done.

I just wanted other parents to keep these points in mind about sick kids at school

Thanks for letting me vent.

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Pamie]

[edit on 27-4-2009 by Pamie]

Glad to read all of your posts. As a mom of 6 and new grandma to 1 I can identify with the concerns. As of today mine are in school. I hope that all of this hype is purely precautionary. I know the school here is very aggressive in dealing with any outbreak due to such small schools and wanting to keep illnesses contained.

We've had a pretty rough go this school year with my husband having pneumonia as well as 2 of my sons. Also a couple of my children had some sort of stomach virus and because of the number of cases in the school the school nurse actually had me take stool samples(yuk) to the local health department for testing. All was fine and not Norwalk virus.

Having been through Rota Virus with 3 kids in the hospital at the same time and RSV with 2 in the hospital and then 7 hospitaliztions in 1 year with our last child with RSV and pneumonia you would think that I would be in panic mode by now.

But as strange as it may seem I am listening to the wisdom of my 8 year old son. He saw the newscast and he's very mathmatical. So he just did the math on the number of cases and the world population and said why are they so worried. Personally I am more concerned about the supposed "medication" that the federal government is releasing to combat this "pandemic."

So I say a prayer of blessing over all of us and especially our children. May protection be on all of his. This latest scheme of the enemy whether it be naturally occuring or manufactured by men will fail. Be safe everyone.

reply to post by Pamie


I don't know much about your state, but I was a teacher for several years in GA, and here if a child has a long term illness or is sick for several weeks you as a parent can force the school to provide with all the materials to home school your child until he or she is well enough to attend schools.

I knew because I had a few students that were in that type of program, I used to leave the materials in the office and the parent will pick them off in the afternoon to return the assignments the next day.

Perhaps you should call your state education board and find out the procedures.

Originally posted by Pamie

I understand the "system" is set up for a reason. But an A student missing school for valid reasons should not fail. And, I shouldn't even have to feel pressure to send a sick child to school!

You are 100% correct, the system is set up for a reason, money.

The only reason they care about the kids missing school is because they receive a certain amount of money per child, per day. That in itsef ia an assinine way to run a school system. They should not be penalized every time a child is out sick, the teachers still have to show up to teach the other students, school staff must still show up to run the school, makes no sense to run it the way they do.

You are also correct in the fact that an "A" student missing school for valid reasons should not fail. But then again NO student be it an "A" student or a "C' student should be failed soley due to the fact of missing school for valid reasons as long as they have the grades to pass.

There was a time when the school system stressed keeping children home if they were sick, but now they stress the child not missing school at all, heck i saw on the news a cpl months ago that they are now telling people to continue to send their children to school when they have lice. And you are correct again , no parent should be pressured to send a sick child to school.

Originally posted by NATIVO
If the school system in AZ is anything like it is in Colorado they will be upset that children are not attending as it may cost them money.
I hate knowing that our schools only care about the money and not the well being of our children...

I may be too paranoid, but I doubt my child will be in school tomorrow

They are like that here. They grade on attendance out here! My straight A daughter got her first B in her life this y ear because she was out sick with a the flu. Guess we are supposed to send em in all sick and get everyone else all sick. She did not get her A honor roll because she was sick for sake! That is so messed up.

My son is home and in bed this morning. He complained of a stomach ache, headache and felt hot this morning. Not even thinking about this new flu, I kept him home.

He woke up for a bit, watched some tv, had some gingerale and is now sleeping again.

We are located only 2hrs from NYC and many people in our community commute there for work each day. My husband drives to an area in NJ that he can see Manhatten from 2 times each day.

I'm glad I kept him home from school today. I'd rather keep him home, let him feel better, than to risk other children not feeling well.

A_L

*Update*- We called the school

I posted this in the wrong place!!!! It's supposed to be in another thread how do I move it?

Ok, I've just contacted the school nurse to let her know my child will not be in school today and possibly for the rest of the week. I tried to pick her brain by saying I am just worried about the health situation and asked her if she knows what I mean. Her reply "No I don't have any clue". I said well it's a world wide health emergency now do you know what I mean and she said "yeah yeah yeah"

So. I'm gonna play it by ear this week and see where this thing goes.

Thanks for all your information and comments.

reply to post by NATIVO


She is never going to give you a true answer about your concerns they school can not contribute to the spread of panic.

Just remember that, if I was you I will call the board of education and there you can express better your concerns.

reply to post by another_lurker


Just made sure that if he starts vomiting do not hesitate and take him to the doctor right away.

Is better to be safe than sorry, it will also ease your mind about his health.

Hopefully he is just under the weather.

They are like that here. They grade on attendance out here! My straight A daughter got her first B in her life this y ear because she was out sick with a the flu. Guess we are supposed to send em in all sick and get everyone else all sick. She did not get her A honor roll because she was sick for sake! That is so messed up.

I think we need to bring attention to the pressure they are putting on our children and fight back. If a child is sick "they can't help it" You don't see congress losing votes because they had to be out sick. The school system needs to be restructured for the better of our children and not the money!!

My 1yo threw up on friday and saturday and has had diarrhea all weekend. He had a low grade fever yesterday that came down with some Tylenol. He hasn't been eating normal and has been sleeping a lot more than usual. Unusually cranky and sneezing a bit with a runny nose. I'm taking him into the doctor today just to be safe. My other 2 kids seem fine.

I've been having stomach aches this morning with a runny nose and sneezing. If I get any other symptoms, I'm going to go see my doctor too.

I doubt it is swine flu but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

reply to post by marg6043


Thank you, Yes, if he starts throwing up, he'll be at the ER in 5 mins. flat. That was the first thing he said this morning, "my stomach feels so bad, I'm going to vomit". He hasn't yet, but I'm keeping an eye on him. He's sleeping now.

Thank you for your kind words.

A_L

P.S. I think it's our job to watch our children and know what's best for them, not the government. My son's teacher is also a Counselor for Children in Crisis. Scary that they work for the Gov., then work for the Gov.

We're gonna see this thing explode today! The doctors have been closed all weekend. People that have been feeling bad are gonna pack into the docs. today get tested and I bet we're gonna see hundreds test positive today and tomorrow.

My plan... Watch and wait- once we start getting cases in Maryland or in Virginia or Delware then I am going to pull my kids and they can stay in the house where we will remain under quarentine. I can work from home by partner can not so he may be isolated in the backyard away from us cause he works with the public and if someone is going to be exposed it will be him... Sorry dude tent for you! My kids range in age from 17 to 2 so they can fend for them selves as long as they have food and water. We still need to work that is going to be the hard part!

i am in the U.K and i also insisted both my children were not going to school today (monday) they will not return until i deem it safe.

suprisingly the wife agreed.... i think she has been looking over my shoulder at ATS a while now..

Better be safe and undergo a small amount of ridicule than mourn two dead children! i will see how this all pans out , i also did not go to work today as i visit people all over the u.k ...

Originally posted by kupoliveson
Sorry dude tent for you!

LOL.. I feel the same way.. I've warned everyone in our family that I am taking this seriously. I'm not going out and my child is not going to school until I feel we are clear. If other people want to venture out and expose themselves they can not come into my house. If this all turns out to be a false pandemic at least I got to try my emergency plan out!

My daughter has been complaining all day long about missing school and is trying to convince me that she should be allowed to go in tomorrow. My 2 younger sons aren't complaining and are happy to have a day off.

So far, in Spain, we have 1 confirmed case and 20 more suspected but thankfully none are near us.

Another concern is that it's coming up for ferria season! Our local ferria starts this Wednesday but who knows which town they will have been in before and which one they will move on to.

I think I'll let them go to school tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday and then they have school holidays on Friday and Monday. It will be pointless keeping my daughter at home if she's going to go off to the ferria anyway! Obviously, if I put my foot down she'd stay home but I'd never hear the end of it and it could well be that I'm just being paranoid over nothing. I just don't know.

My daugher has now spoken to several friends online and none of them, or their families, even knew about this flu! That was my main concern - a lot of people may not have watched the news yesterday evening and therefore just went about business as usual, today. I wanted to see how things panned out today and there aren't any reports of more suspected cases so I think I'll just have to be brave and unwrap their cotton wool and let them go to school. I will be keeping a close eye on the situation though.

It's great to be able to come here and find I'm not the only mum that's concerned about this. I feel a bit like a paranoid fruitcake but it's good to know I'm not alone

So Timmy misses school because mommy is scared. Timmy brags to Johnny, so Johnny tells his mommy causing her to become paranoid as well. Johnny tells Jenny, Jenny tells Tammy, etc etc. Eventually nobody is showing up to school, and we're denying EVEN MORE education to these poor children. 10,000+ children miss 1+ week(s) of school over something that won't even efftect 99% of them.

I'm not sure I agree, but I definately wish my mom would've been like you when I was in school. My mom said, "if you aint pukin' or bleedin' get your ### on the bus!"



- Strype





[edit on 27-4-2009 by Strype]

reply to post by Strype


Timmy's mom has good reason to be scared, this could kill Timmy, and the rest of the family. She needs not worry what other parents may or may not do.

As for Johnny, Jenny, Tammy,etc well their parents must decide for theirselves what's best for their children.

Most moms also tell their children, just because your friend jumps off of a bridge doesn't mean you should do it.