Why Can't People Keep Their Kids Home When They Are Sick?

Question

I work in a PreSchool. I am sick and tired of parents bringing their children to school with contagious colds. Now, I am ill and will probably be ill for a few days. That means I can't go into work. When I am ill, the school is short of staff. This makes it harder to look after the children. Why are parents afraid to keep their kid home. Is their job more important then their kid's health?

I have children. Health is more important than a job. People do not get fired for staying home with their children when they are ill. It's just a fear people have.

I can't afford to take off work either(physically nor financially). The truth is that if people would take care of themselves and their loved ones, one wouldn't have this problem. Plus, people wouldn't have so many health problems. In the long run, it is better when people take off work to care for themselves and their loved ones. It our values in our society that make money more important than health.

Answer 1

Even if your school has a sick child policy, most parents try to cover it up or make you believe it is not bad. After years in the same boat as you, I agree, it sucks. When my kids are sick I keep them home and snuggle and make sure they get better. These people are too busy to be bothered with illness- you would not believe how many parents I have called because of a fever or vomiting and they say they only have a few hours left in the day- can we take care of them?? SOmething wrong in the brain.... sorry you are sick. Boost your immune system with vitamins and lots of vitamin c during this time of year- it is the worst! Take care.

Answer 2

Unfortunately people do get fired for taking off a certain number of times. Before you can judge, you have to know the rules of each and every employer. If my child was sick, I would do my best to find a relative or friend that she could stay with. If she is really ill, I will take off. Some children are sick a lot, especially those that are around other children. Many jobs, like mine, have an attendance policy that give occurences. They don't rate your reason for taking off as to whether or not you get one. If you are out because you/your child is sick...an occurence. If you out because your house burned down....an occurence. If you have a flat and are late on the way to work...one half occurence. You may get 12 occurences you can accumulate in one year. That is why you have to decide when it is really necessary that you get one. That is a tough situation for parents as unfair to you and the child as it may seem. Sometimes you have to look at the severity of the illness (slight cold they probably picked up there anyway versus getting fired), I think I would drop mine off also. We need jobs to be able to take care of the children. Many of us hate when our babies are sick and would love to stay home and cuddle with them.
Be blessed that you have a job that allows you to call in and be off when necessary. I work at a hospital facility where we have more than 35,000 employees. They have to set guidelines or else risking the chance on being understaffed. We all know what problems can come from that. You have a right to express concern but also try to be understanding. You can tell the difference when neglect is involved or if they truly need to be at work.

Answer 3

I can understand why you'd be upset about this - nobody likes being sick, but the sad fact is that in today's economy, both parents have to work, a lot of parents simply can't afford to take time off - with the job market the way it is, it's too easy to lose your job for missing work.

If you think about it, when do people take time off? The summertime. That's when people do their family fun vacation stuff. When do kids get sick? The fall/winter time. That also happens to coincide with the same time parents are running out of vacation time. Another aspect of the sagging economy is the diluted benefits packages offered by companies these days. People are having to work longer and harder for less money and benefits.

And don't forget: Preschool is fu@king expensive and if I stay home with my kid, I still have to pay YOU whether my kid goes to school or not AND lose a day of pay.

I've never seen anybody die from a cold. I think you should have been aware of the risks of a job dealing with other people's snot-nose kids. You're GOING to get exposed to that kind of stuff.

And ask yourself this: Do you sanitize all the toys every week? Do you do everything you can to keep the area you are responsible for clean and as germ free as possible? Sorry you got ill, but I WISH I had your problems.

- Hard Working Parent

Answer 4

It is wrong to bring a sick child to Pre-school not only for the teachers but also for the other children as well as the sick child...
But in the parent's defense, perhaps they are fearing getting in trouble missing too much work. Not all work places are lenient with matters involving the employees children. If a parent thinks they might lost their job (and then face problems feeding and caring for the children) they might try to get away with bringing their kids to pre-school. There should be more job security for parents, and especially for single parent families.

Answer 5

If they don't work, they don't earn money. Some jobs will fire employees for taking sick days when an employee's family member is sick, not the employee.

On top of that, some people don't respect anyone outside of their little circle of family and friends and don't understand why someone like you would be angry (like you are less than human). Why would they care about you or other people's kids? Sure it's ignorant and rude for them to pawn off their sick kids on you, but they were born clueless and will remain clueless until it hurts them. Some people have to learn the hard way.

Answer 6

Children are little incubators of germs. Good and frequent hand washing and use of hand cleansing gels can go a long way in allaying the spread of colds. As a nurse, I get coughed on a lot by folks who don't cover their mouths. The good news is that I have developed a resistance to the bugs and only get sick about once a year. Perhaps your immunity will get better as time goes on. Wishing you the best.

Answer 7

The answer, of course, is that the school system requires parents to push their kids into going to school even if they are not feeling well. If a child misses "too many" day then the parents are accused with being bad parents and often theatened with legal action in they don't get their children into school! Parents are damned either way.

Answer 8

Welcome to the way America works. All the parents' bosses care about is employee productivity and they do not care if the kids are sick so since the parents need their jobs, they have no other option but to go to work & keep bringing their kids to daycare or preschool.

Answer 9

Its a cold - not a fever -- and you wouldn't have a job if parents didn't need to work to support their family. YOU obviously do not have children!

Answer 10

Unfortunately to the majority of americans today, yes there is (though I find it inexcuasable as well). Most people are chasing a dollar bill these days, therefore they cannot "afford" to miss a day of work. So though I find it digusting as well, the majority of people are putting finances before thier own family. As sick as it sounds, it is a fact.