Pregnant teacher told sick kids stay home

Lisha

Afternoon all,

I was rang today to have someone collect my child from school as she had the vomiting bug. I couldn't contact the babysitter and any I didn't want her bringing bug to their house. So I left work early to collect her.

When I collected her she was in great form looked really well and not sick. I was a bit stunned and teacher said a few kids had gone home and mine hadn't eaten her lunch, so she asked was child ok. Child said I'm ok not very hungry and I a bit sick when I was coughing last night. I said yes that was phlegm you don't have a bug.
Child said I know. The inhaler helped me.

That was ok I figured my child had spotted an pppertunity when others went home and who would blame her.

Them later she told me that ms xx asked the class who felt unwell and a few raised their hand. She then told them that she had a baby in her tummy and if she got sick her baby would too and that that would be bad for the baby. 'We don't want baby to be sick do we?'
She told them to stay at home if they felt unwell.
This was to a class of junior and senior infants .

I think this was unfair to small children.

What do you think?

I have every sympathy pregnant person navigating a veritable germ factory but surely the children wouldn't be held responsible for anything that may occur.

emo72

If the teacher wants to avoid bugs, she should live in a plastic bubble. Just to be safe like.

uck51js9zml2yt

If she suspects a child has a vomiting bug then she did right, not only for herself but for the other kids as well.

If they just have a cold..that's another story.
A chat with the principal would be in order to clarify the matter.

Gatling

Nancy Many Birch wrote: »

If she suspects a child has a vomiting bug then she did right, not only for herself but for the other kids as well.

Totally agree on this my kids school gets the vomiting every year for the last 2 and the common denominator is parents sending kids in while they have the bug which spreads like wildfire

BrianBoru00

If a child is sick and contagious then it is the responsible and right thing to do. Its selfish otherwise.
Now that said - if they've the sniffles I don't think its a really big deal - there has to be a certain amount of "hardiness" built up.

If that was the teachers words I would think they are a little self absorbed more than anything else but as stated it is the correct approach to ask (parents) to keep sick children at home.

heldel00

I have two children in my class, with very serious conditions, that would become very sick if they got a bug like this. I would never ever single these children out by saying "stay at home if you're not well in case X gets it" but I might come up with some other scenario that that age group would understand.

I got DEVOURED a few years ago by a parent because I didn't send home her "sick" child. She was obviously only wanting to go home because she had seen her genuinely sick friend being sent home. If a child tells me now they are not well I immediately ring parents. There is enough going on in a classroom without this.

Lisha

Gatling wrote: »

Totally agree on this my kids school gets the vomiting every year for the last 2 and the common denominator is parents sendingw kids in while they have the bug which spreads like wildfire

While I agree with this, my child did not have any bug. I simply would not have sent my child to either her school or babysitter if I had any concern that she had a bug.
TBH I was more concerned about her telling the class of juniors and seniors that they would cause her unborn baby to be sick.

Also if you ask each child individually do they need to go home then a certain few will always see the chance to get home.

My child just didn't eat her lunch, which would be very normal for her.

Lisha

heldel00 wrote: »

I have two children in my class, with very serious conditions, that would become very sick if they got a bug like this. I would never ever single these children out by saying "stay at home if you're not well in case X gets it" but I might come up with some other scenario that that age group would understand.

I got DEVOURED a few years ago by a parent because I didn't send home her "sick" child. She was obviously only wanting to go home because she had seen her genuinely sick friend being sent home. If a child tells me now they are not well I immediately ring parents. There is enough going on in a classroom without this.

Yes I agree parents can be a nightmare to deal with. Which is why I posted here instead of giving out to teacher or principal. I know she did what was best with the info she had on the day. I'm just uneasy about the baby bring brought in it.

Lisha

BrianBoru00 wrote: »

If a child is sick and contagious then it is the responsible and right thing to do. Its selfish otherwise.
Now that said - if they've the sniffles I don't think its a really big deal - there has to be a certain amount of "hardiness" built up.

If that was the teachers words I would think they are a little self absorbed more than anything else but as stated it is the correct approach to ask (parents) to keep sick children at home.

I agree totally. Trouble is the sniffles can escalate during the day I suppose.

emo72

I agree that it's obviously right not to send sick kids to school. But a lot of virus and nasty bugs aren't noticeable until well after infection. So I dunno, it's like bolting the door after the horse has done a runner. The teacher putting it to the kids about not letting her baby be harmed? Not really fair though is it?

heldel00

In fairness though I often speak about husband and baby to my class. Mr. Heldel nearly dropped when he called in one day and they were able to say hello to him by name!
I would also regularly remind them to "catch their coughs and sneezes" in their elbow or wash their hands after the toilet because "I don't want to bring home bug to little Heldel".
I think maybe the teacher in question was just bringing it back to basics which is sometimes needed with this age group. If not then it was a bizzare thing to say!

Lisha

iFundraise.ie wrote: »

Obviously, everyone (teachers & parents) do what they consider right with the information they have at any given point. It often reads much worse that what actually happened.
If kids were to stay at home with a sniffle, there would be no schools.
Getting out helps build up the immune system towards making the kid stronger for the next sniffle.

As I've said my issue is with the teacher telling them, 'if you are sick in school, then I might be sick too, and if I'm sick then the baby in my tummy will be sick and we wouldn't want that now would we?'

I was told today that she has told the children that if they need to cough they should go to the hallway or toilet to cough.

uck51js9zml2yt

Lisha wrote: »

As I've said my issue is with the teacher telling them, 'if you are sick in school, then I might be sick too, and if I'm sick then the baby in my tummy will be sick and we wouldn't want that now would we?'

I was told today that she has told the children that if they need to cough they should go to the hallway or toilet to cough.

Clarify it with the teacher and then have a word with the principal. If true, she's over the top!

AndrewJRenko

As a parent, it seems strange that this is something the teacher would push with students, especially infant students.

If there is a school or class policy, it should be going direct to the parents, not to students.

Mendoza

Nancy Many Birch wrote: »

If she suspects a child has a vomiting bug then she did right, not only for herself but for the other kids as well.

If they just have a cold..that's another story.
A chat with the principal would be in order to clarify the matter.

Yeah totally right on this one. Parents are always sending in genuinely sick kids and that's not fair too.

I'd say talk to the teacher first. Considering your saying your child might have been clued in enough to try a pull a sickie you don't trust everything out of their mouth.

If you're not satisfied with the teachers explanation then I'd talk to the principal.
Mod Snip

heldel00

That's a RIDICULOUS statement Mendoza.
I was nodding here to myself in agreement with your post until I read that last bit and my jaw nearly hit the floor!

Mendoza

Merely a joke. Riduclous is right as it was intended to be absurd and not worth making an issue. Sorry I said it. In any case that's a totally different issue and I don't want to detract from the threads issue.

So to reiterate,

Parent should talk to teacher and appraise the situation for themselves. That should be any parents first port of call. If they feel the teacher was rash or acted out of accordance with the schools policy on ill students then maybe talk to the principal.

Sounds like Lisha has a lot of cop on, considering she has a babysitter and thought I'd not let my child spread their illness to their home. However, Lisha's consideration is not something held by all parents who seem to see schools as babysitting services and don't mind their babysitters kids getting sick.

Sleeper12

Sick kids are supposed to stay away from school. Some parents ignore this because they have no babysitter.

Stealthfins

Exactly,when I was a kid I'd give anything to get off school.

I'd even pretend to have a cough if it helped.

Was I a good biy maybe,maybe not but I wasn't the academic type,more interested in the walk home to be honest....

heldel00

Sorry Mendoza for jumping on ya there.
Sure you know yourself that there are some people on this site that prowl forums looking for "ammo" that will spark the whole Catholic school debate.

Just to completely derail the OP'S thread!!! -
I had a parent ring today to request that I keep her Senior infant at school until 3pm because she was, to use her exact words, "dosed to the eyeballs"