211–220 of 401 posts
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This winter has been brutal with kids. One bug after another.
If it were simply that, wouldn't we see a similar effect across socioeconomic backgrounds? Colds don't discriminate.
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Minor sniffles and sneezes should not result in anyone staying home. The pandemic has clearly altered this mentality but it doesn’t seem like a good trajectory. A little cold is barely an inconvenience.
If you're sneezing and sniffling, please for the love of god, do not go to the office. Even before the pandemic we had that policy, and it's a very good default. No, colds are not the end of the world, but they are genuinely miserable, and you will share it. And if money is all somebody cares about, well, colds also diminish work output, so one ne'er-do-well going in sick can screw up an entire department's metrics o…
I see no measurable impact on performance.
Its world wide. In the UK the increase was analysed and its all due to increased sickness. Teachers and students are sick twice as much as they were before the pandemic begun and teachers are the second hardest hit group by Long Covid behind medical staff. The official count of UK children with Long Covid is 68,000 but its likely much higher than that since the NHS is mostly diagnosing Long haulers with anxiety (henc…
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In my area, you get 10 days of unexcused absence per year before parents and kids start receiving fines and possibly a referral to CPS. That number is way too small IMO, and it forces folks to go to the doctor constantly for getting small illnesses excused (school policies are 24 hours without a fever, but they don't take temperatures, it's honor based...), since you want to keep those 10 days for an actual vacation.
Why would you take your kids on a vacation during school? There are plenty of breaks during the year including all of summer.
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I think we do have too little leeway for illnesses for school, but I don't think that's what is going on, at least anecdotally around me. Many parents take their kids out of school for week long vacations, for instance. Also, my son informed me that the day before a big break only half the kids will show up. Plus kids will often just leave because they feel like going home that day. I thought he was exaggerating, but…
In my country taking kids out of school for vacation is illegal and sometimes fined. For illnesses after the 10th day a doctors note is needed in school. Kids can only decide to leave themselves if they are above 18 years old. That seems reasonable to me. How are rules in the US?
Few teachers are going to call the truant police on a high-school aged student who leaves during the day, even though technically they could. Younger students would more likely get the actual police called out of concern for safety, not enforcing school.
Some schools it's so bad that the system just entirely gives up, but doesn't document it - so you have students who have never been to class more than a few days but according to the records, they're always there.
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Why would you prioritize making your kids sit in school over taking them and doing something fun like a vacation, given the option? My first thought reading the headline was that more people are realizing the irrelevance of school and work, and prioritizing other things.
How will people make money to be able to afford to do those things?
We need to stop thinking of "education" as a monolithic school concept that produces worker bees through rote memorization and repetition.
Its world wide. In the UK the increase was analysed and its all due to increased sickness. Teachers and students are sick twice as much as they were before the pandemic begun and teachers are the second hardest hit group by Long Covid behind medical staff. The official count of UK children with Long Covid is 68,000 but its likely much higher than that since the NHS is mostly diagnosing Long haulers with anxiety (henc…
My kids are still playing catchup in terms of illnesses since the pandemic. Our district masked for the first two years. Neither of my kids were sick for those two years. Since then they’ve been playing catchup immunity wise as they’ve been exposed to all the colds and other viruses. Which means they are absent more. I’m hopeful that they are almost caught up in terms of what they have been exposed to and the amount…
this sounds almost like you regret that it couldn't
Is it possible that expectations around attendance have never been reasonable or even safe? In an ideal world, people shouldn't go to work or school when they are sick. Not only does it slow their recovery, but in the case of communicable diseases, it spreads the illness. Yet a lot of schools have released post-pandemic guidance about how students should still come to school with minor illnesses. And most workplaces…
> Chronic absence is typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year, or about 18 days, for any reason. I don't think having a cold or two is going to put many people in this category. Decades ago when I was in public school, the kids who were chronically absent like this were the ones who clearly had some behavioral issues or problems at home. The linked study also demonstrates that the rates are…
I can definitely see how COVID shutdowns unmoored some families from school and the return process made it a generally less compelling experience. If you aren't learning, socializing all happens on your phone, and you'll graduate regardless, then why go?
A tangent thought - I may be out of touch but I am amazed of little the school system changed over time (at least in my country), while in 2024 literally all the knowledge and all there is to learn in school (at least until university) is available on the internet with top quality video or resources. Yet students are expected to show up every day at 8 AM to 5 PM in my country. When I remember my classes in high schoo…
>in 2024 literally all the knowledge and all there is to learn in school (at least until university) is available on the internet with top quality video or resources. It's all mixed up in and endless sea of shit though.