To be annoyed about the goverment illness policies?

[ComfortFoodCafe]

ds9 has type one diabetes, and while it doesnt make him immunocompromised when his blood sugars are out of whack (which is common for a diabetic child due to numerous reasons) hes way more susceptible to illnesses & bugs.

Since the goverment has been pushing send your child into school with colds, flu, tummy aches etc hes been catching even more bugs (as parents used to keep them off but now i guess worry they will end up fined or a attendance officer coming over!) which in turn makes my son very poorly.
Hes been back two weeks & caught a bug already, and is now very unwell with ketones.

aibu to think the governent doesnt give a shit about kids with low immune systems & gladly puts them at risk for the sake of having “better attendance” in their schools overall? Im so sick of them pushing for kids to go to school when they’re clearly not fit too many times ive seen kids coming out of their classrooms being picked up complaining of tummy aches, fevers and feeling sick. Surely it should be the parents decision if they think their child is well enough?

Many companies are just the same, with regard to rigid office attendance policies rather than WFH if you have something like a cold where you are well enough to work, but infectious.

Parents are the ones choosing to send their kids to school not the schools. Ultimately the parent makes the decision to keep the kids off and most don’t want to take the time off work to care for a sick child. We have a presentee society now where you’re meant to get up off your death bed to go to work, where better to start enforcing these policies as the norm than childhood. It raises generations of just keep at it workers who will do whatever is necessary to keep going to work.

unfortunately for your son and other vulnerable people we’re now told to just suck it up and suffer and that the responsibility not to catch illness is our own.

you’ll have a ton of people coming along to say how unreasonable you’re being but in a decent society you’re not. We just don’t live in a decent society anymore

It’s not the government that’s doing it, it’s everyone’s lifestyle now. Most of us are working, we have no choice but to send them in if they’re not too unwell. I take enough time off work when our DCs are properly unwell, I can’t take more time off when they have a cold or a tummy ache but are well enough to go in. If I had to take time off every time that happened I’d lose my job.

It is the parents’ decision if their child is well enough. If a child is off occasionally for some viruses, nothing will happen. It is specifically against gov policy to mark absence for illness as unauthorised, and it is also stated that schools shouldn’t ask for any medical evidence unless they have good grounds to disbelieve the parents. Schools act like parents might get fined because they say they want evidence in order to mark it as authorised, but they are overstepping. And they are being stupid, because an ill child will spread their illness, making it more likely more children will be off, lowering their attendance stats further.

I will keep my DD off if I feel she is too ill to go, and I have no interest in her attendance %. As it happens, she has 100% attendance because the sickness bug she had made her sick Friday evening, and she was fine and 48 hrs sickness free by Monday morning. But really, I’m not going to keep her off with a mild cold (I would if she was feeling rough, or if she had a temperature).

i agree. I keep my child off when they’re unwell and don’t rush them back in. If it was good enough in Covid to do this I will do it now, when they’re actually unwell

If you don’t have to worry about working and you don’t think your child is well enough then stay home.

YANBU.
It seems really counter-intuitive. It’s especially awful for people with vulnerabilities or who live with people with vulnerabilities. Ironically, many people are developing conditions as a result of viruses like covid. Kids have no choice at all, which makes this policy especially awful.

Funny you said that my son actually caught covid from school and thats what basically killed his beta cells and caused type one diabetes. Diabetes type one becoming more & more common since covid.
Just makes me angry obviously he cant get it again, but hes been quite poorly the past few days his blood sugars are high no matter what we do.
But things will never change I guess parents need to work & the government will keep sending out those stupid info leaflets about it being fine to be in school with illnesses.

I hate the government policy. If my child is sick they stay home, I don't care if I get in trouble. I told my daughter if she throws up at school to call me from the toilets as her school won't send kids home who throw up. I would go there and demand they release her if this happened. Luckily it hasn't yet.

I am a teacher in Scotland and I am always gobsmacked by the obsession with attendance in England when people talk about it on here!

In Scotland if you have had any sickness/diarrhea you should be off for 48 hours from from the last incident. Colds fine to go in but shouldn't have a temperature.

Saying that's germs still spread quickly as the schools are not cleaned properly and also parents will send their child in sometimes regardless.

I’m sorry for your son but I think you are being unreasonable. I know far too many parents who let their kids stay off at the drop of a hat and the push to get children going into schools when they just have a cold is entirely reasonable in my opinion. And there are still rules about 48 hours after a stomach bug so I don’t know why everyone thinks this has changed, it hasn’t. As adults in the real word, we can’t drop everything every time we feel under the weather and I don’t think kids should either. At the risk of sounding heartless I think we have to do what’s best for the majority of children which is to encourage them into school whenever possible. It obviously builds up their immune systems too. That doesn’t mean I don’t have sympathy for your son but unfortunately that’s how it needs to be.

@Holdonforsummerwholeheartedly agree

Sickness policy is the same in England as Scotland.

Yeah but all schools still have the 48 hour rule for sickness? You wouldn’t get in trouble

What, that seems mad! Still have 48 hour rule here (Yorkshire)

The issue is that isn't what is best for society. What's best for society is taking care of each other and not sharing illness

If it's for same it's certainly implemented differently that's for sure!

I’m sorry. I don’t understand why people are so flippant about it. The research is pretty damning and risks increase with reinfections. The rise in sickness is shown in both increasing presenteeism rates and sick days, yet there seems this push to ignore that. I’m really sorry and it makes me angry too.

I don’t keep my children home for a cold. Not because I worry about a fine but because their education is important.

In your position I would look at home educating.