<p>There is a word for folks who attend when they are sick, “Presenteeism.” This has a significant cost to society – especially when others are infected and have to miss work or be less productive. It is especially a problem for the most vulnerable among us, those with a weakened immune system, pregnant, or with chronic health condition.</p>
<p>My kids each had to miss many, many days of school (each missed > 1/2 the school year) due to chronic health conditions and would only go to school when they were strong and healthy enough, only to be infected by a classmate who chose to attend school while ill. This would cause the sick kid to just be “under the weather” briefly, while it would make my kids bedbound for weeks or longer.</p>
<p>"There is a word for folks who attend when they are sick, “Presenteeism.”"This has a significant cost to society –</p>
<p>Love you to …death… HImom, but that’s pretty sweeping. Seems like it would depend on what " sick " means. Lots of things aren’t contagious. Lot of things are contagious before you even realize your “sick”. Some folks waited weeks or months to get an appointment with me or my colleagues. They took time off from work, kids off from school. Nobody to see them, or reschedule with for weeks or months if appointment got canceled. Maybe that’s not true for students, or in many lines of work, but that was how I came to think about my responsibility. (And my son seems to feel that way, about showing up for a soccer game, or to do some editing, when he said he would as well). One of my only co-workers who didn’t leave me holding the bag had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It’s not contagious. Came to work in a wheelchair when she had to. I came with sarcoidosis. I coughed a lot, but wasn’t contagious.</p>
<p>Again, not saying this makes me a good… or happy person. Just saying I’m not a danger to myself or others.</p>
<p>Hope this doesn’t look like the edit looks…</p>
<p>Yep, I know that many things aren’t contagious but I know of many folks who insist on sending kids (or themselves) to work/school when ill and consider themselves very virtuous for it, despite the risk they pose to others. They know who they are–they dose their kids up so they can send them off to school, only to have the school nurse call them at work to pick them up as soon as the meds wear off & the kid is feverish & miserable in the school health room, after infecting everyone they encountered. I know that some have no other “childcare” and can’t take sick days, but it still is tough especially for the vulnerable folks like kids with reduced immune systems. The school nurses know both types of these families well.</p>
<p>I am NOT talking about people who have allergies or other conditions that are not contagious, only those who ARE knowingly sick and expose others without considering the serious risk they pose to others they encounter. I have never considered people who have non-contagious conditions to pose a danger to others by their presence.</p>
<p>I think many have come to a point where they no longer respect what our bodies are telling us. Neither of my children ever received perfect attendance awards. My D has “pushed through” when she wasn’t feeling her best because she didn’t want to miss a lab day or a Calc class. Yes, there have been mental health days here and there too. I think to a law firm I used to work at where taking a sick day was a sign of weakness. I worry that awarding perfect attendance creates this expectation that people should push through everything without regard for the impact on others. Contagious? Stay home. Please.</p>
<p>We are close to areas with Swine Flu. The school has sent out messages — please please please – if you think your child has symptons, do not send him or her to school. Do not take a chance. The school and the teachers will do everything necessary to see that work is sent home.</p>
<p>LOL. Within two weeks of when I started at my law firm, my mentor came into my office and said, “Don’t take your sick days when you’re sick. Just come into the office and be in a bad mood.”</p>
<p>Someone at my school had TB and came to school anyways (well, before he realized he had it, he just knew he was sick at the time). He didn’t want to risk his exam exemptions which is what you are rewarded for missing less than a certain number of days. He got tested because he knew that he was sick and didn’t know what he had, but he was stubborn about not losing those exam exemptions so he refused to miss school despite the fact he was very sick. Then he finally was absent once his test results showed he had TB. My school should not require nearly perfect attendance for exam exemptions.</p>
<p>Your school can still have exam exemptions but instead of “perfect attendance” it could stiupulate no "unexcused absences which is what many schools with senior spring exam exemptions do in our area.</p>
<p>My math teacher is very proud of having never missed a day of school in his career. One day this year, he came to school with a migraine headache and a 102º fever, and many people were proud of how resolute he was. I, on the other hand, thought he was being inconsiderate and unreasonable. This girl is to be commended for not playing hookie, but I think that a sick day or a “personal health” day is actually a positive influence on a student’s learning and well-being. I’m sure there are many other students who only missed a day or two a year because of genuine illness, and I don’t think this girl is any better than them.</p>
That is part of it’s policy, but you can still only miss up to four days and with each day you miss, the number of exams you can exempt is reduced and many students rely on exempting all four classes they are allowed and are therefore very hesitant to miss any school at all. The guy with TB, he wanted to exempt his two AP classes and two of his honor classes, that is why he stayed in school while sick.</p>
<p>SharkObsesses, your TB guy should be all the proof your school administration needs that their policies need to be revised. An absence with a doctor’s note should not count against anyone - neither should attendance at a funeral.</p>
<p>On the flipside, as someone who had very few absences throughout high school, I can say that even of the few days I did stay home, only two were really necessary, and that’s from kindergarten through senior year. It does not take a “super immune system” to have perfect or near-perfect attendance. Just from my own experience, far fewer that half of high school absences (at least at my school) are legitimate. (btw, ‘mental health days’ are bogus and wasteful, why not save your sick days for when you legitimately are too sick to go to school, or you actually have something important going on outside of school. Sitting at home on a weekday when all of your friends are in school is pretty boring anyway.)</p>
<p>There are people who have VERY legitimate reasons to be home ill. As is evident from this post, perfect - or near perfect - attendance in school is not necessarily something to be proud of. </p>
<p>The workplace is different. In “my day” (back at the dawn of time…) - if I went into work not quite up to snuff - I could “hide” in my office and get work done with minimal impact on others. That is not possible with students. And sometimes “mental health days” are just that - a day to sit at home ALONE and regroup. It’s well worth it for some people. </p>
<p>If you have not had to take sick days - then you are either very lucky (with a good immune system) or very selfish (with no thoughts toward your fellow students). Going to school sick is NOT a good thing to do.</p>
<p>My younger son has a friend fighting a long-term battle with leukemia. With the swine flu threat in our area - he has been out of school for over 8 weeks because he has no immune system. The school has been fabulous about working with him thru all the turmoil.</p>
<p>A friend of mine has a daughter who had knee surgery during spring break. She had complications and spent over 10 days in the hospital and another 10 at home before the doc would even allow her to go back to school on a limited schedule.</p>
<p>You have NO WAY of knowing what is happening with people - so you have no right to make sweeping judgments.</p>
I don’t know about you guys, but this is what worries me!!! Perfectionism like this? Robs creativity. This kid will have to relax in college, or will end up hospitalized for depression…</p>
<p>I am glad that many are able to retain friendships even while schools & others harrass kids who have chronic health issues which necessitate frequent and prolonged absences. Kids who have these health issues already have so many challenges–being penalized by the school only adds to the pain they bear.</p>
<p>I am so proud of kids (& adults) who are able to overcome advserity but wish schools and others encouraged more tolerance of differences among individuals, including differing immune systems and health. Promoting “perfect” attendance just reinforces the hardhips folks with chronic health issues have to deal with. Many of them are extremely bright and have to try twice or three times as hard, learning while trying to keep their head from swimming, missing out on nearly all the fun and socialization that is considered a “normal” part of HS. They mostly have to learn independently or with tutors or on-line and don’t benefit from much of the classroom experience or interactions since they aren’t there.</p>
<p>I think special awards and acknowlegments should be given for these very resiliant kids, but that so rarely happens, more’s the pity.</p>
<p>Perfect attendance is a ridiculous thing to give an award for, and not only because it encourages students to come to school when ill. It also discourages them from participating in worthwhile activities that may require an occasional school absence.</p>
<p>My two kids have never been late for school, but there have been days when they didn’t go because of sickness (and no, they’ve never skipped so as not to be late).</p>