Sick or tired? When ill kids come to school anyway
When my daughter rose last year to accept the third-grade perfect attendance award, my husband and I looked at each other in surprise.
We weren’t aware that she hadn’t missed a day that year for illness. (Forgive us — with four kids, it’s sometimes hard to keep track.) I’ve never been a fan of perfect attendance awards, coming down on the side of critics who contend that such public tributes encourage kids to show up at school sick.
But in May, my daughter told me that she was determined to stay healthy because she was just two weeks away from again snagging the perfect attendance award. I was even more surprised when her twin brother piped up, lamenting that his one sick day disqualified him.
Somehow, this award has become important to them, in part because it’s presented at a school-wide assembly and in part because so few kids earn it.
I tried to make my twins understand that while they ought to be happy to be healthy, there’s no shame in missing a day of class because they are not well.
In fact, as President Obama noted in his speech last week to schoolchildren, children should stay home when they’re ill, especially given the dangers of the H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu. “Stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter,” Obama said.
“As the mother of two young children, I am astounded by the number of parents who send their children to school when they are sick,” says DeKalb parent Dori Kleber. “Even more unbelievable to me is that schools continue to encourage this irresponsible behavior by giving out awards for perfect attendance.”
A a 2004 study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research that found the average child misses four days of school per year for health reasons. The media are often complicit in encouraging perfect attendance, producing sunny stories about the high school graduate who never missed a single day. One recent story described a motivated young woman from Atlanta who never missed a school day in 13 years. The girl’s mother admitted that to achieve that remarkable record, she had to send her daughter to school even when she wasn’t feeling well, going so far as to come to school to sit with her ailing child to make her feel better and to feed her medications.
A lot of parents don’t deliberately send sick children to school. But it’s easy to see how a working parent without another child-care option could chose to overlook signs of sickness. The child’s complaints of a stomach ache may be only gas. Lethargy could be the aftereffect of a grueling soccer practice.
It can be a challenge to distinguish the truly ill from the merely tired, especially once students reach adolescence.
In his senior year, my teenager complained at least once a month that he was under the weather when the truth was he had stayed up too late working on his various musical projects. I would come home from work, expecting to see him under the covers, only to find him full of vim and vigor and wondering if he could have $10 for a burrito.
Kleber thinks schools should put an end to perfect attendance programs and “and send a clear message to parents and students that a sick child’s place is at home, not in the classroom.”
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31 comments Add your comment
DB
September 13th, 2009
6:56 pm
We were never much for the perfect attendance award stuff. I think both of mine got one or two over the course of their 13 years, but it was never a goal. I think my daughter was actually surprised when she got one! Our school nurse was pretty vigilant about keeping kids out of the general population if they came to her office sick, and we got routine updates from the health office with things that were going around, etc. Yay for school nurses!
I do think that it’s mostly parents without alternative child care arrangements that are the ones sending their child off to school. Which is a shame, because, honestly, most of them wouldn’t be supported by their employers if they called in “child sick”, or they are docked pay — in these economic times, what an awful place for a parent to be — “lose my job or keep my child home from school?” And employers don’t have to be sympathetic — they have a stack of job applications a mile high on their desk, they can replace an employee in ten minutes flat.
It’s the ones that send ‘em to school because they don’t want to miss their tennis game that are the ones that frost me. Yeah, right, my child should be sick, miss school. spend a week making up work because YOU couldn’t miss a tennis match. GRRRRRR.
Reality 2
September 13th, 2009
7:04 pm
I’m not in favor of rewarding people for doing what they are supposed to do. Recognizing a perfect attendance is like recognizing someone for not getting any moving traffic violation. How stupid is that?
Maureen's accountability metric
September 13th, 2009
7:34 pm
One has to ask, before delving into this topic, if Maureen is writing with “a single lens focus on what’s best for Georgia students” why is she writing about a superintendent’s choice of guest speakers in Texas, and not following up on superintendents with ongoing scandals that affect the education of students in Georgia?
Seems like that lens may be getting a little cloudy. Unless LensCrafters is selling a new line of disingenuous lenses.
Mr. Irrelevant
September 13th, 2009
8:42 pm
Which issue do you have in mind? Incompetent teachers? Teachers who abuse their students? Superintendents who hire only his relatives? Too many free lunches? Too many tests? ??????
Reality Mom
September 13th, 2009
8:43 pm
Keeping kids home who are really sick is always for the best, but do you keep them home for the sniffles? Adults don’t get to stay home beccause the are under the weather. Take some ADVIL, cold medicine and your box of tissue to work.
Gail
September 13th, 2009
10:24 pm
My kids are out of elementary school now but the one they attended awarded perfect attendance for each 9 weeks which made it more achievable, and then for the entire year. I agree there are kids who go to school sick and that is wrong.
MomOf2Girls
September 14th, 2009
8:03 am
I’m glad my kids’ school doesn’t do this silly award. My older daughter is one of those who never misses school because of illness (amazing immune system), and my younger daughter, while she doesn’t get sick often, has missed a couple of days (I think 1 per year). It would be a miserable time in my house if girl 1 won an award just because she had the good fortune to be blessed with a stronger immune system. I’ll deal with the tears and hysteria if the award was for something she actually put effort into, but don’t condemn me to misery by awarding one kid and not the other for something that’s basically out of their control.
Vince
September 14th, 2009
8:10 am
Maureen…Perhaps you can do something about No Child Left Behind. Schools are caught in between a rock and a hard place. We must encourage good attendance so we can make AYP, even though we know having sick children at school is a bad idea. Secondly, there are many more times we have sick children at school and parents will not, or cannot, come get them because they are at work than we have incidences where sick children are here trying to “make perfect attendance.”
Vince
September 14th, 2009
8:12 am
MAM…. Maureen doesn’t bother delving into the imagined topics of people with vendettas.
oldtimer
September 14th, 2009
8:37 am
I have had girls miss days eerymonth because they are on a period. Or headachs, some miss because of a headache to the tune of 20 days a year.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
9:52 am
Little people realize that schools give this award in order to make sure that their governement funds are consistant. School districts get money per child based on attendance. This is why there is such a fuss made about it. Perfect attendance does not ensure learning. Parents who provide learning opportunities for their children or lack there of is where the difference lies. When a child or adult is sick, they should stay home and recuperate. If an adult can not stay home and take care of themselves for fear of being fired, then it is time to get a new profession. It is very selfish to come to work or school contageous and spread your illness around.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
9:57 am
Vince. Why didn’t people take their time and march on Washington about No Child Left Behind? Why don’t people do that now? Why is education put to the side so often in our society? Do teachers, administrators, and school districts have the child’s best interest in mind anymore or is it about money now more so than ever?
G U N N . . . Y
September 14th, 2009
10:05 am
oldtimer: Learn to spell correctly on that Blackberry.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
10:08 am
Lying and teaching towards the tests have become the staple of school approaches as a result of No Child Left Behind. Teaching towards the tests do not build a child’s capacity to learn it allows them to achieve good scores on the tests. Learning and achievement are two entirely different things. If more adults with children took more time to read research and understand the findings and decipher information, No Child Left Behind would have been done away with before it even started. I believe that teachers know it is ineffective and has caused children to be left behind. Why has nothing happened? Are they speaking up or are they afraid?
MadMomToMax
September 14th, 2009
10:12 am
My son has a teacher in DeKalb who blogs all the time in class when he should be teaching. What can I do about this? He seems to be fixated on blogging…while he should be teaching. He gives teachers a bad reputation.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
10:17 am
The educational system needs to be reformed. We need individuals who will pay attention to the classics and learn more about differentiation when it comes to learning and teaching to the child’s strengths. Many teachers do not create lessons that incorporate activities that will address the different ways of learning. Instead they do what is comfortable for them. When the children are not understanding what is going on, the school tries to label them learning difficient and not examine how the teachers are teaching. If a child is having trouble with math, you don’t add more math classes. Instead you idenfify where the child’s difficulty is coming from and change how you do things. Guess what? Schools will say, “We don’t have the time to do this.” Failure on the school by failing the child. Schools are too caught up in what they do instead of changing how things are done. Superficial changes that don’t make a difference in order to satisfy the constituents who funnel the money.
Lisa B (jim d's sister)
September 14th, 2009
10:32 am
jim and I understand education. The rest of you guys are idiots.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
10:36 am
Lisa B. Explain yourself and justify your calling others idiots or are you just trolling and posting just to see yourself type.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
10:51 am
Please pay attention to me. I use many, many different names each day. I am Georgia’s expert on education, and I blog while I should be teaching. Lisa B., please pay attention to me.
Lisa B. (jim d's sister)
September 14th, 2009
11:06 am
Many kids are sent to school when they are sick simply because the parents can’t get off of work to keep them at home…especially in today’s economy. It is simply a matter of economics. If a family has five or six kids who are school-aged, then the likelihood of the sniffles keeping the parent(s) home from work is high. So, when in doubt, you just send the child to school with the sniffles and hope for the best.
Ovenbaked, you need some help. I can’t help you.
Zachs Mom
September 14th, 2009
1:20 pm
Have to agree with Lisa B. The sniffles are not a reason to stay home. We would all like to take a day off when we get sick but as another poster said “employers have stacks of resumes of people looking for a job” and not everyone can afford to lose their job. We used to be able to take sick days easier but then the lay offs came and there is no one to cover your job if you can’t be there.
I have to save my time for “deathly ill” not sniffles. Sorry.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
4:59 pm
I never said that children should stay at home because of sniffles. If a person is sick with a fever with a viral or bacterial infection that is contageous, should stay home. I am not going to perpetuate the fear aspect of losing a job. If an employer is willing to spend extra money recruiting, hiring, and training someone because you take off because you are sick, then something is wrong with that employer and does not understand the cost of that decision. Those people that you are referring to as “can not take off because they are sick” ( I stand by what I said earlier) still need to find another profession. I refuse to speak towards limitations.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
5:02 pm
Parents with 5 and 6 children and can not take off from work because their children are ill need to really reevaluate their position. Why have that many children if you can not take of them?
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
5:22 pm
“Many kids are sent to school when they are sick simply because the parents can’t get off of work to keep them at home.” Essentially, statements like this make children victims. It is the parents responsibility to take care of their children. This speaks toward the problem we are facing in our society where having children is just a thing to do or an accident and is not planned. The children suffer when parents are not able to take care of them. Children get sick and are prone to being sick. The statement “Many kids are sent to school when they are sick simply because the parents can’t get off of work to keep them at home” illustrates that a child being sick thus becomes inconvenient for their parents right.
Momof2
September 14th, 2009
5:50 pm
Hembree Springs Elementary doesn’t give out awards for perfect attendance, so why should the kids even bother. I remember when I was in school we got sorts of little rewards and incentives. It was nice.
surprised by the comments
September 14th, 2009
6:00 pm
I’m surprised at the vitriol directed towards a perfect attendance award! I see nothing wrong with rewarding perfection – when did we get so hung up on this stuff? Let me say that I do agree sick children shouldn’t be sent to school for the sake of this award. However, if you have a healthy motivated child with a good immune system, well, then, more power to him or her!
@Vince – attendance should never have been used a second indicator for NCLB – nothing like being judged by a metric that schools don’t control.
@Reality2 – “I’m not in favor of rewarding people for doing what they are supposed to do.” Except most people DON’T do it – that’s what makes it special and worthy of attention. I have worked at several jobs that rewarded employees on perfect attendance, too, so it’s not just a “school thing.”
@Reality Mom – “Take some ADVIL, cold medicine and your box of tissue to work.” And stay far AWAY from ME – I don’t want whatever you have! Nothing like promoting reduced productivity and increased diseased-spreading from an ill workforce. You go, girl!
@OvenBaked – while perfect attendance doesn’t ENSURE learning, it certainly doesn’t hurt, particularly when you’re healthy. One of the main tips given by the old “Where There’s a Will, There’s an A” tapes is to simply be present. It’s hard to learn if you’re not there. I agree 100% with your statement “It is very selfish to come to work or school contagious and spread your illness around.” One’s man’s “sniffles” becomes another man’s sinus infection, doctor’s visit, and prescription co-pay.
OvenBaked
September 14th, 2009
8:21 pm
Hard to learn if you are not there? It is the responsibility of the child’s adult to make sure that their children are learning whether present or abscent. If individuals are missing school and work just because, this is an entirely different issue. Then there are those who believe that their profession comes before family. Remember, the business owners are leveraging your time in order to make them money so that they may spend as much time with their families as they like.
surprised by the comments
September 14th, 2009
8:43 pm
Oven Baked – like it or not, a kid is going to miss stuff if they are not in school – is it insurmountable? Of course not – but what about the kid whose parents can’t help? Even if a teacher sits with a child to give them some help after an absence, they won’t cover everything in as much detail or in exactly the same way. Haven’t you ever missed something on a test that was “covered while you were out?” I have, and I was a pretty conscientious student with decent (although not perfect) attendance.
Of course, I also strongly believe that a sick kid in class isn’t learning much anyway – it’s hard to concentrate when your head hurts and your nose is full of snot.
OvenBaked
September 15th, 2009
9:05 am
There are items on CRCT, SAT, ACT, and other tests that are not covered in classrooms yet the expactation is that children know them. How do you account for that “surprised by the comments?” Parents that can’t help?? These parents need to learn how to help. Once again, I am not going to speak towards limitations. Parents have to find a way. It is their duty to their child.
surprised by the comments
September 15th, 2009
7:40 pm
OvenBaked – this is now an older post so you’ll probably never see it, unless you’re looking to a response, but I don’t understand your argument. I think we’re talking apples and oranges. My point is that it’s in anyone’s (from kindergarten to grad school) best interest academically to be present, both mentally and physically, as much as possible. It simply makes learning easier. I didn’t mean to send you off-track with my “parent not being able to help” example. I’m all about working smarter, not harder.
I don’t want your germs though, so stay home if you’re sick!
Berry
October 20th, 2009
9:58 am
The most ridiculous award that I’ve ever heard was a 9-10 year old girl to be recognized for being the “class clown” I grind my teeth in disbelieve and felt actually sorry for her and angry at the teacher. I really felt like smacking and kicking the teacher and principal at the same time