Keep my kid off school so they don’t catch virus?

[fairylightyy]

My DC touch wood isn’t feeling poorly but kids in his class are dropping like flys catching a flu like virus. Lots of school this week and getting sent home.
aibu to keep him off tomorrow? We have a fun weekend planned that they’re really excited about and would be such a shame to catch it and feel
ill?!

THIS THIS THIS.

You can't do this unless the child is particularly vulnerable i.e on chemo.

YABU. Send the child to school today. Unless they are actually ill then it seems silly keeping them home. If you keep them home just because there is a nasty virus going around then you will be keeping them home most of the school year as there is always something! It also gives the wrong idea to the child. What reason would you tell them for them not going in? If you told the truth you didn't want them catching something maybe they will then think they could use this as an excuse every time. If you said they look tired/like they might be coming down with something they again might get the idea that they can time off whenever they feel that way.
I guess it also depends on your situation as most people who work can't simply keep children off without good reason (being actually ill).

Wow. Even when I have full blown flu I can walk! I think the only time I genuinely couldn't walk was when I had measles when I was eight and very close to being hospitalized.

WTAF. You know school isn’t optional right, or when conditions suit you or when you think you know best?

Would you do the same in an office? Of course not.

You are teaching your kind that you don’t have to follow rules in life when they don’t suit them or when it may not work for them. There is no science that says he will get sick just because others at the whole entire school are ill. And since incubation can be 7-10 days he may already have the illness.

Send your kid to school.

My reaction totally. It’s the feeling of entitlement that people can do what they want when it suits them irrespective of the laws, rules and commitments in society.

School isn’t optional.

Could the mentality of "keeping your children off school just in case" have started in 2020, when some buffoon gave a sermon on the mount saying that school was not only optional, but you were killing granny if you sent your children there, as children are vectors of transmission?

It's not hard to see why children are so anxious these days.

Tempting fate

I’m sure most families have fun weekends planned. If everyone thought like you the teacher would have an empty class.

He’s gone to school so everyone can take a deep breath and calm down

🤣 this must be a joke?

What are your fun weekend plans? Unless they involve staying at home the entire time, your child could just as easily catch a virus during the weekend as at school.

Wow I am a little bit shocked by all the comments here with people almost shaming OP for even thinking that way! I am not in the UK so it’s interesting to learn there are cultural differences in regards to school attendance. I am in the Netherlands and Dutch people are generally of the notion to just suck it up, whether we’re talking school aged kids and workplaces. I personally think going to school/work with flu is irresponsible because you’ll be sick for longer and infect everyone around you. With flu I mean actual influenza, in which case most people cannot actually work.

Imo there is learning discipline by pushing through a minor cold to attend school/work and ignoring your own health and boundaries too often to recognize when you should be taking care of yourself…

If your child has a school friend come down with chickenpox a few days before a flight, chances are your child has already been incubating it for the best part of a week themselves!

and in this case, chances are if children have already been getting ill for the last week, the OP’s child will already have got it or have a strong immune system and not come down with it. The children left at school are the ones who likely have already fought off the virus.

What if there is a stomach bug going round next week? Chicken pox the week after? You can’t keep them at home because they might catch something. Chances are even if they did catch something today they wouldn’t be unwell until after the weekend anyway.

I'm not sure anyone is advocating going to work or school when actually unwell? But that's not what the thread is about. OP was pondering (but has since decided against) whether to keep her child home just in case they got unwell, which is different

@Fizbosshoes
you are right but I was referring to the couple of messages where posters say that they only ever (let their DC) stay home when they can’t walk which sounds a little extreme to me. I also don’t see anything wrong with parents wanting to avoid influenza as this takes so long to recover from in some people. Then again we have had bad luck with my DS having been hospitalized with RSV as a baby and struggles with asthma/bronchitis (still to be determined) every since. So I guess I am a little more cautious, it depends on your experiences I guess!

Whatever it is going round sounds really bad and is clearly very contagious! Around half his class have been off through the week with multiple kids getting sent home throughout the day as they start to feel poorly! Poor things

Socialisation is a respected sociological theory and the process of socialisation to create a certain work ethos via early life schooling is well studied and documented.