Parents sending their kids to school with coughs

[Brownbananabandana]

Our kids have been back at school for a week. We missed the induction day the week before they went back as one came home from childcare with a cough so we took them both out of childcare and got the child with the cough tested (which was not pleasant... they’re 5), waited for the negative result before we sent them back to childcare. We thought that’s what we were supposed to do as responsible adults and parents, meant I had a shit couple of days working from home as I’ve just started a new contract and it was really stressful, but surely that was the only sensible option?

Roll on this week though and twice already I’ve personally experienced parents in my childrens schools sending primary aged kids in with coughs. One child the parent actually told me in the playground after drop off that her child had a cough ‘but it didn’t seem that bad’. Another child today in the playground when I said good morning and asked how she was blurted out ‘I’ve got a cough’.... which isn’t a normal thing for a child to announce and smacks to me of a discussion having been had at home and a decision being made to send them regardless. I’m seriously not impressed, I know it’s tough having to keep them home, and before anyone jumps in with excuses for the parents, I know both sets. The first child’s parent wasn’t working on the day they sent them in with a cough, they told me! And the second child was being dropped in by a grandparent so could have stayed with the grandparent... they’d already picked them up and sat in the car with them etc! And if the parents were too concerned to let a grandparent look after them for fear of them catching covid then surely they shouldn’t be in school potentially passing it on anyway, so take the bloody day off and get the test!

How are we meant to control this if people blatantly don’t want to be personally inconvenienced?

And yes I’ve name changed as I don’t want outed... I’m fully prepared to be flames for judging, but I am judging! I don’t want to be stuck at home in the middle of a massive new project with kids who’ve picked up endless bugs because of other people’s selfish actions.

[quote MrsMcMuffins]@Lockdownseperation don’t be ridiculous. No one is going to test their snotty kids on a weekly basis.[/quote]
And this is why corona virus is going to spread and kill people.

So people aren't going to keep kids with coughs home...

Is it a wonder the schools with covid are rising 🤦‍♀️

A mew cough is a covid symptom. You don't need another symptom fgs.

It's not all coughs though, is it - it's new, persistent ones. So the one saying it's 'not bad' could actually have meant it's 'not persistent'.

'You should be directing your anger at the shit mess this government has allowed, rather than parents who are struggling and juggling.' This. Absolutely this.

@Gooseygoosey12345 We did get ours tested even though we thought it was a cold, because he is already struggling badly with his reading and would get extremely upset, and more behind, after two weeks off. I'm hopeless at teaching him myself, I don't really understand how they teach phonics. His teacher in reception arranged extra help for him which I don't think I'd be able to recreate. Bit off topic but basically it sucks.

I direct plenty of anger at the government for their shit show, doesn’t absolve individuals of taking personal responsibility though... two wrongs don’t make a right, just because the government is shot doesn’t mean you sending you kid out coughing doesn’t mean they’re not going to spread the infection

I’m a parent who has sent their child to school with a cough, but I called the school to ask what the protocol was. My DC had an intermittent cough due to a snotty nose. The school advised if the cough was not continuous then it was fine to send a child in. They also advised that they had other parents who also called and received the same advice. I was not expecting that advice (and had actually been trying to book a test as I assumed the school would advise on isolation due to the cough). However there advice was as above.

Coughs are tricky. If a parent is blatantly just ignoring a bad cough then they are clearly an idiot but I have asthma and I often cough (currently thanks to a trip to a local hay filled farm which I'm regretting). My 2 year old loves to annouce 'I dont feel very well' 'ive got a cough' thanks to a discussion they had a nursery about being unwell. She doesnt have a cough, temp or any symptoms of illness but I'm sure you can imagine how it went down when she started shouting that at the local farm and park.

DD had a cold this week, her head master said she should come to school unless she also has a temperature.

Then came the cough so again I contacted the school. They say as long as there is no temperature she can go to school.

Now reading this thread it seems that schools have very different rules on when to send a child in.

My DD will cough from October to March like many other children. Where are the clear instructions for children like this? They can't be tested every single week!

Kids passing coughs and colds around in school is part of childhood. It helps build a healthy immune system. Immune systems need challenge to get strong. This virus isn't going anywhere. Sooner or later it will pass into the realms of just another virus. All we are doing by overprotecting the kids is pushing this out longer.

The answer would have been a local schools covid healthcare team team and local testing . As it is parents are all arguing with each other and there is the added problem of social media . On my local gossip board a parent said she had quizzed her son as to who was off , all this could be spread around to other parents and may or may not even be correct . It feels like no one is properly in charge .

@Brownbananabandana but then parents have to be off work to look after their kids. And what if the child's test came back negative but then a sibling develops a cough, the parent/s would have to be off work even longer. If they were off say every other week with a new cough and needing a test every time those parents would no doubt be very frowned upon in work and may even end up facing disciplinary action. I couldn't take week after next off work if my child gets another new cough or I'd end up losing my job if it was a continuous thing.

My 5yo today announced that he has a cough. Actually, it was a one off cough after his drink went down the wrong way. There was absolutely no discussion about it at home, but it he remembers it because it’s something that rarely happens and I imagine it would be something that he would bring up if someone asked him how he was today!

Parents might have heard mine cough this morning,what they might not know is she had a negative covid test yesterday.

I agree kids need to be kept off while they have a cough.
I kept my ds off school Monday and Tuesday as he developed a cough Sunday night. He has winter asthma and the minute the weather turns colder he is coughing for the next 6 months.
I got in under control with his inhalers and he went back to school yesterday. His gp and school are aware of the situation and it's a possibility he could still cough during school hours. School are fine with this as they know the reason.
I didnt feel the need to send a message out to the rest of the parents though to let them know!

My DSC have been back at school a week and already they’ve caught colds.

The main thing I’m taking from this is quite how pointless all the Covid measures being taken at their school probably are. If they can catch a cold at school, then they can almost certainly catch and pass on almost any virus.

It was pretty much inevitable they’d catch colds as soon as they were back at school.

Ds has a reflux cough and an asthma cough. They alternate... with random vomiting. This Winter is going to be a fucking nightmare.

Kids get coughs and bugs and colds. My child cane gone with a cold. Snotty sneezy nose, occasional cough that is associated with being bunged up. . Not dry, not continuous cough, no temperature It is a cold. She went to school.

Honestly my take away message from this thread is that we’re all fucked....

seems like the majority of parents think their kids going to school with ‘just a cough’ is absolutely fine, that they can’t take the time off and kids get colds anyway so what’s the big deal...

Well I have to be at work too Along with the rest of the country... but I’ll have to take a lot more time off because of idiots who send their kids in with colds and don’t give a crap about the wider implications on society.

Asthma cough here so if they have to stay off for a cough she's never going in. What she doesn't have is a new continuous cough, she only every coughs over night or on chilly damp mornings like today but yes she may have been heard coughing by other parents

Ds had a cold that developed into a cough. Spoke to nhs corona dr and they said as it started as a cold and no temp it was really really unlikely to be corona no need to test unless temp went above 38. No need to self isolate for anyone else in house either. So spoke to school who were happy to take him back when he felt better. However DP has been sent home from work who wont have him back till he gets a negative test despite not having any symptoms himself.

I think more awareness of what a ‘new continuous/persistent’ cough is, might help? The occasional cough at night due to phlegm does not fall under the definition.

Gov website says: “ a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)“

@Brownbananabandana
I really hope that any child with symptoms is kept off, and tested. I hope that if there are 'hmmm possibly' symptoms, parents are on the side of caution and keep their child off. My ds is medically vulnerable and has been shielding...I am terrified of him catching it.

...but your op was about hearing other childten cough, or saying they had a cough, and so my post was in relation to that - if you saw ds walk past he would be running his nose constantly (It's a tic), and doing a dry cough or a gagging cough (because he has chronic reflux and asthma and between them he coughs a lot).