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School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

nytimes.com

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Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#361

Post by freitzkriesler2 »

earthling8118 wrote: post #157
freitzkriesler2 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how it always was before covid and how it will always be if you send kids to germ factories (aka schools). Get the meds, drink water, go to sleep. Part and parcel of living in modern society.

It doesn't have to be this way. Covid has nothing to do with it. I didn't like it then, and don't like it now.

Then move to the boondocks. You want the benefits of community without the consequences. It's not going to happen and no I'm not going to sequester myself or wear masks for everyone else's benefit.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#362

Post by freitzkriesler2 »

jcpst wrote: post #144
freitzkriesler2 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much this. People keep kids home now for almost any reason at all and you'll get a chorus of replies telling you that your opinion is wrong. People need to toughen up. Not every cold is covid.

Also- getting cold symptoms and simply not acknowledging that it could be covid doesn’t make it not covid.

There are so many cold critters out there that have always existed. Everyone blames covid when it's clearly the season flu, it's nonsense. It's time to move on.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#363

Post by ishopatbakers »

ryandrake wrote: post #265
kube-system wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 think the real issue here is that a subset of people simply have fewer fucks to give about school, and that has been accelerated by the distance and space that COVID created between students/parents and school. Some parents are even giving negative-fucks about school, in other words being actively against public education, teachers, and so on. I know of Facebook groups where parents share tips on how to maximize…

>Just look at the comments in this article dunking on the school system! Education is, for most people, their only shot at achieving the ever-shrinking middle class.

You're equating attending public school with "Education". The two can be mutually exclusive.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#364

Post by xboxnolifes »

usea wrote: post #252
andy99 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Because school is important and not at all irrelevant.

It becomes irrelevant when you're ahead on all of your studies (or if a 6 hour day is completable by you in an hour).

I am in the group that took 1-2 yearly week long vacations in elementary school. Nothing was lost, since I just did the week of required work in half a day after returning from vacation.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#365

Post by seanmcdirmid »

jawns wrote: post #18

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…

Today, it is harder to keep your kid in school if they have a stuffy nose, than it is too justify why you are keeping your kid out of school. Winters are tough: our school nurse will send my kid home if he crosses some line that isn't very clear, even if he is fine otherwise.

I just don't see it as realistic that my kid be 100% healthy to go to school, especially during snotty nose season. But then again I went to school no matter what when I was a kid, it was definitely an extreme in the opposite direction. There must a balance between protecting the school and letting the kid get a good education that isn't interrupted too much (consistency and stability is also important).

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#366

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Jensson wrote: post #349
analognoise wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve noticed that too! So many videos. “We watched a movie today” - what? Is there some catalog of how many videos and things are watched during school hours, because I never remember that as a kid. Yes it would have been a VCR rolled out and all that, but if I wanted them to just watch a movie I could do that from home. So weird.

> Is there some catalog of how many videos and things are watched during school hours I remember watching video 4 times in school total. At the time teachers didn't know how to start the video player so a kid always did that, the teachers weren't used to showing videos in class at all.

I remember video weeks at school, it was definitely a thing in the late 80s/early 90s. But then we also had study hall in Mississippi, where you spent one or two periods a day just sitting in a room doing absolutely nothing. The year I left, they wanted to make it mandatory (with the excuse that kids weren't getting enough time to do their homework, but it was really about saving money).

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#367

Post by seanmcdirmid »

vundercind wrote: post #344
seneca wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard this from so many people, all over the country. I've heard many parents saying they're getting repeatedly sick as their kids bring diseases home. Has anyone seen any actual research into why this is? It seems pretty serious.

We didn’t have so much as a sniffle in our house for 2+ years. Masking, distancing, and not going to restaurants—we just did not get sick. Even after the kids went back to school—we had them in a school with heavy-duty air filters in every room and high masking compliance, at the time. Now we’re sick constantly, it seems. It’s so much worse than before. I think our immune systems are doing some catching up. [edit] fo…

It totally makes sense though right? While we had zero tolerance, our immune systems didn't get any work out, and vaccines can only take you so far and doesn't cover many nasty RSVs anyways. Now we are back, and our immune systems are simply not in shape.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#368

Post by elboru »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #367
vundercind wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We didn’t have so much as a sniffle in our house for 2+ years. Masking, distancing, and not going to restaurants—we just did not get sick. Even after the kids went back to school—we had them in a school with heavy-duty air filters in every room and high masking compliance, at the time. Now we’re sick constantly, it seems. It’s so much worse than before. I think our immune systems are doing some catching up. [edit] fo…

It totally makes sense though right? While we had zero tolerance, our immune systems didn't get any work out, and vaccines can only take you so far and doesn't cover many nasty RSVs anyways. Now we are back, and our immune systems are simply not in shape.

I’ve also heard that because of lockdown only the stronger variants of different viruses made it. So we’re dealing with them now. But I haven’t heard of any study about it yet.

Re: School absences have ‘exploded’ almost everywhere

#369

Post by lolinder »

taeric wrote: post #322
lolinder wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, what? What does lack of empathy have to do with taking time out from school to go visit Grandma on her 95th birthday?

Lack of empathy for the how hard it is to run school. This place is dominated by people that know how things should be done and how things should be run. At large, they are wrong. I'm open to the idea that I'm wrong on this, of course. Just peruse the top posts and you will see all sorts of assertions about how this isn't actually a problem. There are more than a few pointing out that schooling is irrelevant. Again,…

Sorry, I'm still lost. The GP was talking about all the reasons why their specific child might need to be somewhere other than in class on specific days. What does that have to do with empathy for how hard it is to run a school?
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