NO WONDER PEOPLE SEND THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL SICK!

[true2theword]

@redeemed20300 god, it seems like everything down there is a catch-22 designed to keep you under control and poor. i was reading someone else's comment about her 6 year old being summoned to court because of 8 absences. can you imagine if you didn't get to have the parental autonomy to decide if your kid gets to stay home sick?

 

[eternityondemand]

@redeemed20300 Yeah I’m Canadian too and never heard of this either. Can you imagine your kids school giving a shit if you kept your 5 year old home sick???

We really try to keep ourselves and our kids out of doctors offices unless it’s totally necessary for our own good as well as the collective good.

Not to mention these kinds of practices are going to make the whole Coronavirus situation so much worse in the US. It’s awful and scary!

 

[saisigh]

@dman12323 Omg I hate this. Don't send them to school sick but we are going to report you to the sharriffs review board if they miss more than 10days in a school year. I get this threat every year. I got it for every one of my kids, every year. My daughter was just sick and I told my husband the school is going to be threatening us again. He said I don't care I will go and deal with them. Our daughter is 17, and on the dean list. She is a Jr. I think he is old enough to know when she is sick.

 

[curious12]

@saisigh This happened to us when we took Son out of school in 6th grade for a weekend trip. We left on Friday (so he was out that day) and he was back in school on Tuesday. We STILL got a letter in the mail going "Any more absences and you'll be reported for truancy." and I was like "WTF? He hasn't been absent ONCE this year. WTF is this shit?"

Had a friend when her oldest two were in kindy and first get sent a letter about truancy when the school KNEW the kids were GOING to be out. Their dad had JUST returned from overseas (Army medic) and they were taking the three off them (her youngest was only a few months old) to WDW for a week while Dad was home on leave. Like, WTF? Y'all KNEW they were going to be gone and they still gave them shit. D:

 

[emwu]

@curious12 I just don’t understand this at all. I’m a teacher and have had kids (7-8 years old) miss an entire term, so 10 weeks of school, to go traveling with their family. And I’m like cool, get them to practice using money and reading maps, writing in a journal once a week and make sure they’re reading most days. Because you know, valuable learning happens outside of the school as well.

 

[marides]

@emwu I just had to say - that sounds something like the dream! Being able to travel, and having a teacher being understanding and practical about it!

I had to fight my Uni’s attendance requirements to attend a summer school (at a top-tier university in another country) in my subject area - so travel sounds impossible!

 

[emwu]

@marides Yeah I worked in a fairly affluent area and some of those kids lived a charmed life! I remember the mum of this family coming to me to ask me about when I thought the best time to go would be. The only thing I recommended was that she didn’t go when her youngest was in (first year of school) because they miss too many of the foundational stuff, especially socially and school-structure wise.

 

[jasper724]

@emwu Can I ask which country you teach in?

I live in Canada, and my kids have had some really great teachers that were very supportive of my children’s needs. Like an especially wonderful teacher who reached out to help us find accommodations that helped my son when he was diagnosed with hypo sensitivity, or the teachers that spent years working with my daughter that has dyslexia and dyscalculia, but to find a teacher supportive of taking a semester away from formal education is interesting

 

[endtimesseer]

@curious12 I bet it was the school district. I used to get letters all the time for my preschooler because I didn’t have in in school all day every day. The school knew and didn’t care and he was in PRESCHOOL which is not a required thing and the school district used to send me all sorts of letters about how he was missing too much school. I homeschool now.

 

[saisigh]

@curious12 I am taking my daughter to tour a college next week and she will miss Mon and tues then wed she has her appointment at the pre diabetes clinic. We know we are going to get a letter and referred to the review board for it.

 

[dman12323]

THIRD OF ALL I DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP THEM HOME

 

[zeminta]

@dman12323 Oh I love that. I’ve had jobs that do that to me too. Like... people get sick. Getting an appointment with the doctor same day (or even same week) is nearly impossible and not everything needs a damned doctor.

Like... I’ve got four kids. The two girls share a room and the two boys share a room. And they’re kids so you know they nasty. So when one gets sick, usually everyone does. I’m not trying to figure out FOUR doctors visits for a cold. I’m just not. Get fucked.

And then like... my eldest girl has been struggling a lot with depression and anxiety and self harm. School got involved. Insisted she go inpatient (and I agreed), but then they still sent me the shitty letter making threats over the absences. Uhhh... she was in the hospital, which you requested, so... it’s not like she’s playing hooky to smoke pot. She is getting treatment. And she’s getting more absences for her psych appointments. They made it clear they would involve the state if I didn’t do what they said (which again, I was already going to...), but now that I have they want to get on my ass about truancy.

I’m just so fucking done with schooling in this country.

 

[cadenny]

@dman12323 I never understood needing a doctors note for a sick child. Like, I don’t need to bring them to the doctor every time they are sick. Sometimes they just aren’t feeling well enough to go to school.

My sons (5) school doesn’t require doctors notes, so it just boggles my mind that other schools do.

ETA: the walk in clinic should hopefully be able to at least give you a note excusing your child until they’re well enough to return to school.

 

[mrmoris]

@dman12323 Last time my kid was out for an extended sickness, I asked for an excuse that stated he was excused "until he's been fever free, unmedicated, for 24 hours." You know, like the school district asks/requires.

I was thrilled to get that wording in the note, because it was our fourth doctors visit for that particular round of illness (2x pink eye, 2x cough/fever). I'm sure they were as happy to not have us germing up the place as we were to stay home.

Honestly, it should be standard. There's no reason to keep heading into the office for the same shit if conditions are slowly slowly slowly improving. The school might have called in to verify the note was written that way, but they didn't hassle me about it.

 

[claireb]

@mrmoris Taking notes. My daughter is still in daycare (where they actively monitor & send them home) but this is beyond ridiculous that they send them home and it's not excused.

 

[dman12323]

@mrmoris Ohhh! Will request this next time! Thanks!!

 

[twinmama85]

@dman12323 These policies is why coronavirus will spread among school populations and result in widespread closures. I am lucky in that our district allows 5 absences per marking period that do not require a note. Or I just use the magic word: "She's itching a lot, we're going to treat for head lice due to an abundance of caution." They always excuse lice, whether they want to or not.

 

[jimmyjh92]

@dman12323 If you call the walk in they should issue an excuse. Depends on where you went. My kid got sick over Mardi Gras break too (and got me sick RIGHT BEFORE A MARDI GRAS BALL I SPENT WAY TOO MUCH ON A DRESS AND TICKETS FOR THANK YOU VERY MUCH) and the walk in we went to gave me one when I called them for it.

 

[dman12323]

@jimmyjh92 I did that and since he was seen on Saturday, they refused. I had taken my girl before MG and they VERY reluctantly gave me one but asked that I not tell because they don't give them. Same walk-in, different practitioner. I guess that's the deciding factor.

 

[jimmyjh92]

@dman12323 Weird. I’m not sure what walk in you went to but I will say that the Minute Clinics around town (we seem to be in the same area, but idk for sure) is who accommodated my kiddo.