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Originally posted elsewhere on April 7, 2011. I thought it might be appropriate to repost it now, as TJ has already missed two days of school due to strep throat! Poor kid had only been in class for three days when it happened…
A few weeks ago, TJ missed his first school days of the year when we went to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I felt bad because my conference took away his chance at perfect attendance.
Of course, TJ is home sick today. Poor kid has been coughing and sniffling for a few days now – the same sort of cold symptoms I’ve been nursing. But you don’t keep kids home from school for a cold, or else they’d never go to school. So when he was coughing up a storm yesterday and didn’t eat much of his lunch, he still went to school. And he did fine in class… But he threw up on the bus coming home.
So he couldn’t go to school today. The school district has a rule that says you can’t send a child to school if they have vomited within 24 hours of the school day. This is what I actually want to discuss. Obviously, the school knows that TJ got sick yesterday because it happened on one of their school buses and the poor driver had to get it cleaned up. But if the school didn’t know about it?
I have to confess to sending TJ to school before, a day after he got sick. Because he has a tendency to make himself throw up when he gets very angry or upset, and I think that goes against the spirit of the school’s rule. I understand that the school doesn’t want kids spreading germs – particularly the nasty stomach bugs – so they want parents to keep them home. I think that if a kid overeats or makes themselves throw up due to strong emotions, they aren’t going to get other kids sick if you send them to school.
What do you think? Am I wrong for the times when I’ve sent TJ to school in opposition to the school rule, or do you think it’s okay to go with the “spirit of the law?” Have there been any times when you’ve ignored your school’s “keep your sick kid home” rules for any reason? Let me know!
That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
I say your child needs a better diet and much more vitamin C. 5k mg a day is what I put my children on if they start to sniffle, which is very rare. Elderberry syrup also keeps colds at bay. But a diet of little to no sugar and no processed/refined foods will boost your childs immune system and you won’t have to even deal with this problem at all.