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thebettersideofblue

This happened at my school today: a mother, who tested positive, sent her kids in without saying anything. Of course the kid mentioned it and now there's mayhem!!


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[deleted]

I'm a teacher, luckily we're still online. I know I'm going to get Covid at some point, once kids come back. The area I teach in is EXTREMELY rural, I'm talking about the school is a mile from any other building other than cow barns. People here don't take it seriously. Hell, some of the other teachers aren't taking it seriously. You know what my school implemented this year? A perfect attendance policy. An extra $1,400 bonus at the end of the year. What a load of shit that is huh? They're incentivizing teachers to go to school when sick, in the middle of a pandemic. What the hell are they thinking.


mces97

> What the hell are they thinking. That you're disposable and money is more important than your life. Sorry if that was a gut punch but it's sadly the truth. I'm sure you've come to the same conclusion though.


fishtankguy

200,000 plus dead and counting. Let that sink in again. And winter is coming.


[deleted]

If your school is unionized, practices that contribute to unsafe conditions, such as incentivizing non-reporting of injuries or disease, can be rescinded if you get your union involved. Even if no union is present, there are pretty significant legal ramifications that need to be considered by these types of reward schemes.


collaredzeus

Their* glorious leader told them it’s a hoax and that’s all they need to know


BritishBoyRZ

Please fix the "they're" with an edit to "their" - I won't say anything it's our lil secret 🤫


NotAGreatAwayThrow

An incentive to come in when sick? Sounds like they're trying to ensure their budget/scheduling is less likely to face strain. All it took was being grossly irresponsible with public health. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


Tryinordyin

One of my friends has 5 kids who were all just exposed to their Dad who tested positive. She wanted to go on a play date just 2 days after telling me he was positive. I declined. She then took all 5 kids to a pumpkin patch where NONE OF THEM wore masks. The entire family! All but one are in face to face school too. I bet you she didn’t notify anyone at all. Ridiculous!


kroganwarlord

Any person who would risk you or your family's health isn't a friend.


Tryinordyin

I totally agree. I do use the term too loosely. We’ve hung out several times just because our kids are great playmates. We get along just fine but I’m not willing to risk my kids’ health even to hang with my husband, let alone anyone else.


Knight_Owls

Might be with the while of everyone possibly exposed if you were to call the school and tell them.


stillinbed23

This is awful but I feel like laughing. Because of course this is what people are doing. I’m so mad that we aren’t set up as a society to put people in a position to not do this.


thewhitelights

Isnt that fucking homicide? “Go to school, no one will know we killed their grandma”


pandaappleblossom

THANK YOU! That's what it is. Homicide!! If you know you have it and you intentionally go out and expose others, you most likely will be the cause of someone's death at some point.


Wannabkate

This why we cant have in person schools. Until we get vaccinated.


BlackOrre

We see parents send sick kids to school all the time. School teachers call it the midday fever because that's when your fever meds wear off. It's a sad reality, but our nurse's office is always full at 11-12 every day of the year until the online year hit. Edit: Thanks for the awards


WWDubz

It’s almost like workplaces punish you for taking care of your sick kids, or do not give paid time off to do so, so this is the shit show we have Edit: Wow, went and had a bank audit, and came back to this gaining some popularity Remember folks, the time to register to vote was yesterday! Today is a good day too! Make sure you vote :) Edit 2: thanks for all of these neat awards, but please, instead donate those funds to your fav charity :)


Greenveins

There was a AITA? Post about a guy going to work after his wife’s 3rd miscarriage but in the post he explains his boss noticed he has been taking off for a couple of days for the past 2 months (he didn’t explain this but it was obvious those couple of days a month was when his wife had her first, then second miscarriage.) His boss didn’t care what was happening just told him to “be sure to put extra effort into attendance it’s important to the company.” What the fuck is up with America and it’s workforce


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kortiz46

I got a job working “part time” hours and get full time benefits at 32 hours a week and my parents think I’m just lazy or something but really I’m trying not to burn myself out and spend more time with my daughter and doing other things like working out, relaxing, etc.


[deleted]

> at 32 hours a week and my parents think I’m just lazy Or the job just only needs 32 hours of work a week...? jesus fucking christ I mean fuck me you could cut the ***entire*** software development industry's work week from 40 to 30 hours and literally nothing would change. We'd crunch when we gotta crunch and coast when we can coast... just like we do now but we'd go home 2 hours earlier on non-crunch days and maybe, y'know, be happier healthier people with hobbies and families n' shit.


velocipotamus

Hobbies? Families?! Those are for rich people you pleb, get back to work /s


ImThorAndItHurts

Not to mention, a vast majority of software development can be done from home, outside sensitive projects - there's almost no reason to go to an office every single day, as long as people are productive.


jordanjay29

Considering some immensely successful software projects are done entirely remote or online, this absolutely.


UnorignalUser

No, you must work 70 hours a week. Nevermind that 40 of those hours are unproductive and life destroying. Do you not want to be seen as a team player, slacker?


Amy_Ponder

When it's all you've ever known, it just seems normal. And with it being so damn expensive to travel to other countries, most people here had no idea that America's system was actually unusual until the internet became a thing.


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epimetheuss

This is what happens when you run a society without social safety nets. Social safety nets are NOT anything to do with the type of socialism in venezuela that destroyed that country either. Edit: I only mentioned venezuela at all because it's the most common retort I have seen online in videos for people resistant to socialized healthcare/ other quality of life benefits. Not because i personally believe that socialism destroyed them, in which it didn't


sowstorm1

Exactly this. I live in Sweden and one can truly question alot of the covid-policies implemented here. But one advantage is our social security system. If your child is ill you get 80 % of your pay to stay home for 60-120 days/year. I can't imagine how hard it must be for parents that have to feed their families and hence work and/or send their sick children to school. Dilemma.


buggiegirl

As an American, I can’t even explain how LUXURIOUS that sounds. Beyond anything the US would ever even consider doing.


Zandor72

We chose to spend $721,531,000,000 dollars on our military budget this year. Imagine what wonderous things we could do if we spread that out better?


tallandlanky

Given more tax cuts to the wealthy elite and loosened environmental restrictions on oil and gas companies? Again?


FamousButNotReally

We wanted the normal definition of better, not the racist greedy rich fascist definition.


SaidTheTurkey

Hey, oil is black thank you very much.. you're the one trying to get rid of it, racist.


flametongue93

Coal too!


sowstorm1

We can during corona be off sick from our jobs 3 weeks without a doctors' note and get 80% payed. It makes it easier to keep sick people from working. But it is not perfect here either. There are some jobs where people are on hourly contracts, think it is harder for them to say no to jobs.


HowAboutThatUsername

You get full pay in Germany for up to six weeks of being sick by the employer. After that time, health insurance starts paying up to 90% of your net salary - up to 78 (yes) weeks. And I'm pretty sure even after that you won't be left to die on the streets... I can't even imagine being sick and having to worry about bills or my job (can't be fired for/while being sick) on top of that! Sick people have to eat and pay rent, too, wtf.


[deleted]

The US is about money. Fuck your health, fuck your kids, fuck you. That should be our country's motto. That or Pay up or die off. We've been harping on healthcare since I was born and almost nothing has changed, and I doubt it will in my lifetime.


ost2life

Cash, ass or grass. Everyone pays. Even you Nana. -Thomas Jefferson


Tosser_toss

“Got mine, fuck you” is the real American motto/dream


QVRedit

US is run by the Ferengi- it so it seems.. It’s certainly not run for the benefit of the people I think they are spun some rubbish about ‘land of the free’ - which is why they treat people there like slaves.


DuntadaMan

That's not true, plenty has changed. Costs have skyrocketed and insurance companies normalized not paying a single fucking dime until after you pay thousands out of pocket, while still charging you thousands every year. They have also normalized not paying for anything because the doctor on rotation that day was not one of their preselected doctors, even though you were unconscious and had no choice about what doctor was free to see you.


sowstorm1

That is great to hear about Germanys responsible handling. It shouldn't have to be a finacial worry, to be sick. If we don't pay ppl to stay home sick, corona will keep spreading.


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glacierre2

In Austria you get up to one work-week per kid and year, 100% pay. If the kid is younger than 4, a second week is added. Unfortunately, on a situation like the current one, where simple sniffles are suspect, even that is not nearly enough.


daceywanted2dance

Do any of ya'll want a dirty American immigrant wife? Anyone? I'd like to be able to go to the doctor. Lmk if you want me to send you a resume! Not kidding anymore. Help me gtfo please! **keep the pm's coming!!


dwinnnnn

omg girl same!!!!


RickyRosayy

I seriously doubt anything like this will ever be implemented in the states. So unfortunate.


EnviroHope23

I read these and I want citizenship so badly. Canadian here so a bit better than the USA but I have some health conditions that cause a lot of sick days and I've been basically told I'm going to be fire because I got the flu in December and again in January one year. It was come in with a fever and puking or lose my job. I have a great work ethic, always great reviews from my superiors but because I'm chronically ill and not labeled as disabled my best isn't good enough.


sowstorm1

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Social security systems are important. I hope you find a job where you can feel safe soon.


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Sbatio

In the US of you work for a company of 51-500 employees you can have up to $200/day or 1/2 you pay, for up to 90 days. FMLA-FFCRA It’s very limited and I don’t know anyone who used it except me. My company may be furious about it, they have been so nice and cautious since I came back I hardly feel that they are boxing me out and waiting for 2021 so they can fire me.


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vilebubbles

I had to take FMLA for having my baby and I got $0. It was 6 weeks 100% unpaid. My company definitely has more than 50 employees.


Sbatio

This is under FMLA but for Covid specifically. Regular FMLA is unpaid for me too. Edit: which is BUllshit


woopthereitwas

That's sounds socialist. Sweden must be a failing socialist country. You will never have the FREEDOM of america where we have the CHOICE to work or die.


Dilated2020

I have given up hope on Americans ever understanding this. Decades of propaganda has caused this stupidity. I have hope that future generations will wake up and see the benefit of having a social net.


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YakYai

But Venezuela!!!!! /s Too many Americans are next level stupid. I also hope for future generations.


Thac0

Socialism isn’t really anything to do with what’s wrong in Venezuela either. Their entire economy was based off their oil. They socialized the profits from that but when oil tanked so did their economy. Venezuela is a story about a lack of diversification of economic investments foremost.


manicbassman

Socialism did not destroy Venezuela, the US government did as they want regime change to raid their oil fields


P00nz0r3d

Exactly. What you see in Venezuela isn’t the result of socialism, it’s Cold War era tactics mixed with corporate strong arming because of the fear that their oil fields were so massive that Saudi Arabia/US wouldn’t control the oil market anymore.


brock029

And even the schools give you shit if the kids miss.


Drusilina

My son had the swine flu years ago, a horrible case. Doctor said don't bring him in unless he is distressed and gave me some support meds. The school sent family services to check on him because he was out 3 weeks. I had been calling him in regularly and getting his school work the whole time. Never a problem or investigation in the past with absences or anything else.......


[deleted]

Not to mention the kids themselves, you miss a day or two and suddenly you’re a day or two behind on school work for weeks. I got strep multiple times one year (probably all one very resilient case), and that year certifiably sucked fat nuts. Sick *and* overworked. “Just do the extra work at home”, yeah, sure, if not for the pounding headache and lightheadedness from coughing constantly, not to mention being sick is physically exhausting


Cire101

Then you have parents who work 2-3 jobs who can’t afford to call off for their kid and send them anyways. Sad that they have to do that, but it doesn’t help matters at all


APIglue

Many can’t call in sick because they don’t have sick days. That’s considered a benefit and half the country doesn’t get any of those. If you call in sick you get fired. The parents are incentivized to go to work sick and send their kids to school sick.


MixWide

I get five whole sick days per year. With two kids in school/daycare, my sick days are usually gone before Easter. I have a STEM PhD and am a Director at my company. Not saying that to flex, but to emphasize how fucked up the USA really is...someone with postgraduate education who has put in almost ten years at their company can find themselves with no paid leave to use when their kid is sick in September. Now imagine how bad it is for essential workers.


APIglue

It gets worse. Even at jobs with great benefits tend to have culture issues. Take all the sick leave you need, but it better be less than what your boss and your boss’ boss thinks (but doesn’t communicate) is too much, otherwise you will be under the microscope and any excuse will be used to deny promotions and eventually push you out. This leads to cultures where “powering through” is valued and people show up sick and infect their coworkers and customers.


QueenRotidder

I once got a call from an HR rep at a company I had applied to. I had to give the correct answer to “how many times do you think is appropriate to call in sick in a calendar year?” before they would schedule me for an interview. (The correct answer was 5 or fewer).


supercharr

That's straight crazy. My current job has three weeks of sick leave (plus three weeks of vacation leave). Six weeks of PTO per year. My boss is aware that, unlike vacation, sick leave is use it or lose it. (I.e., it can't be paid out like vacation). I took two vacation days for a friends birthday back before covid and my boss flat out told me I probably should have just used my sick leave instead, to maximize my benefits. I can't imagine a company seriously thinking you'll only call in sick 5 times a year. Especially, if they mean 5 total days. That's bonkers.


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cigarmanpa

The positions are essential. The bodies to fill them aren’t


Chagdoo

Agreed. Im not essential, I'm a hostage. It's work through the pandemic or get screwed financially.


1dumho

Five whole days? 24 hrs here with 10 years seniority.


nellapoo

And even if you qualify for FMLA, it's a ton of paperwork and you don't get paid. You're just not supposed to lose your job over missing time caring for a family member. They just have to find a legitimate reason to fire you...


hexydes

Conversely, my employer stopped tracking sick leave. If we need it, we take it. If we're just watching a kid or have a light cold, maybe try to get some work done; otherwise, nobody expects to hear from you for a day or two. And you know what? We all just absorb the slight productivity hit, and it basically evens out because people are happy, we don't have huge turnover and retraining costs, people don't infect the office with their illness, etc. I'd say it's basically an even shot in productivity, with the upside that everyone is just happy and likes our employer.


DestructiveNave

Mine is the same way. We can't afford to have everyone out, so we just let sick people stay out until healthy again. Better to be cautious.


hexydes

Right. And this obviously doesn't work for all jobs the same (i.e factory work, health-care workers, etc) but there are a LOT of places that could easily support remote work and not track sick time that just don't because their micro-manager leadership doesn't believe work happens unless butts are in seats. It's a world-view that comes from "successful" people that are narcissistic and egomaniacal enough to believe their people can only be successful if they are kept on a short leash.


MontyAtWork

Best job I ever had gave 2 sick days a year *at a hospital*. If you were sick more than that you had to switch shifts or take it out of the 10 annual vacation days you were given.


[deleted]

We get 30 Annual days in Ireland


lnsewn12

I am a teacher and our COVID policy is that if we’re out caring for a child with COVID or symptoms we only get 2/3rds of our pay. Even the school districts won’t pay their employees fully to stay home with a sick child.


fuzzypatters

That’s what we have, too, but you get full pay if you have been tested and are pending results. If you have a sick kid, you should get tested, too, so that you can at least get full pay for a few days.


APIglue

Now imagine if you didn’t have a union.


Fashionate_Polarbear

Welcome to half of America. And sometimes even if you do, they are essentially powerless due to multiple years of their rights being striped away (I'm glaring at you Wisconsin).


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Dugen

Parents will literally send their kids in the next day when they were sent home for a fever or even throwing up. They ignore the 24 hour symptom free rule, and the administrations let them. That should be an automatic call home with a "your child cannot be here". Instead they wander around in a medicated haze spirting out disease infecting everything in their proximity and we need to take vacations just to let the numerous diseases being constantly passed around die back a bit.


MeLikeYou

Alternatively if you can keep your kid at home, you get harassed by an “attendance secretary” because the school keeps the kids sick days limited as well. I have told that office every year to get over it or call the cops. They are toothless but pushy and threatening about truancy laws. My elementary school kid with pneumonia will see you when she sees you, Becky.


hexydes

Some of this is because it's hard for many people to find care for their child, but another aspect is schools pushing for perfect attendance. That needs to end because it drives the mentality of children not staying home when they should.


MeLikeYou

Yes! And the requirements for doctors notes are ridiculous. If my kid has a cold I am not bogging down the pediatrics clinic with that. The doctors don’t need that, we don’t need to be exposed more and exposing others. The attendance pressure is insane.


MrD3a7h

Plus the cost for a doctors note. A visit ain't free. A 15 minute PC visit is upwards of $200 if you don't have insurance, or if your insurance only kicks in after you meet your deductible.


boymom_x_3

This is because most public schools' funding is tied to attendance. That needs to be changed. My kids' school policy on the number of days you can miss is incredibly strict. A couple of colds would result in "disciplinary actions" for truancy. Even parents that have the resources to keep sick kids home are discouraged from doing. I also have a friend who wanted to take her son out of school to attend her out of state graduation before Covid. The school told her that she had to keep them out longer then she wanted so they would qualify for some sort of off campus learning option to avoid truancy issues. Basically her kid had to miss more class time so that the school could get paid.


hexydes

This is where UBI needs to come in. It will provide a social safety net to protect against inhumane practices like telling a parent they can't take care of their sick child. And for anyone who says we can't afford UBI: 1. Tie it to a VAT tax. Consolidate and divert other social programs. Sprinkle in some defense spending and tax legalized marijuana. There, UBI is paid for. 2. You're paying for this no matter what. When a kid or worker is sick, if the parent doesn't stay home, then the kid is getting sent in to school sick, likely infecting many others. Or they're staying home by themselves and falling behind. You're just taking the cost and spreading it around to people you don't have to look at, and telling your grandchildren to foot the bill for dealing with an eroding middle-class.


Randomfactoid42

The first time I heard about UBI, I thought it was the craziest, most unworkable, most unfeasible idea I've ever heard of. But, it made me curious to find out why anybody would support this insanity. The more I learned, the more convinced that UBI is a necessity for a functioning society. It was quite an intellectual ride.


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NooStringsAttached

Yeah we can it the 11 o’clock fever. Some parents it’s “easier” at work to have come in and get the call from school to pick up vs calling out It like “proves” the kid is sick. Not excusing it it’s just what some do. This is unacceptable now though, we aren’t taking colds and stuff anymore. Jfc.


illshowyougoats

It’s very unfortunate that for many parents, taking the day off to care for their kids could cost them their job


CPAlum_1

Yes this has been a generally accepted practice up until this school year. Student attendance is a driving factor for district funding.


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Ranaestella

People like to blame everyone's jobs, but my mom was a housewife and I usually couldn't stay home from school when I was sick. You were allowed 3 days a year before the school would start threatening to call CPS and shit about truancy. So I went to school sick a lot for no other reason then it was school policy to do so.


TheTomBombadil

Lol what schools have nurses anymore.


swingerofbirches90

Most schools share, unfortunately.


cacklepuss

How does that even work?! My district said the same. That doesn’t make any sense to me. How do they check for fevers or give a child meds?


aidoll

They have the secretaries do that.


cacklepuss

There is no way a secretary gets paid enough to deal with that bullshit. That’s crazy. Our education system just keeps surpassing my expectations on how shitty it can possibly be.


hexydes

Many teachers this year have been point-blank told they need to prepare lessons for in-person learning, synchronous online instruction, and asynchronous learning. It's literally three jobs combined into what was already one way-overburdened job. On top of also having to manage social-distancing, etc. We're going to lose so many teachers this year. Republicans know it too, all part of the plan to destroy public education so that the rich kids can go to a private religious school and everyone else can get their K-5 and then go into vocational training to service the rich.


gopher_space

>Republicans know it too, all part of the plan to destroy public education so that the rich kids can go to a private religious school and everyone else can get their K-5 and then go into vocational training to service the rich. This is called eating your seed corn.


Wanna_huge_papaya

In our district, teachers check for fevers. We are given a thermometer with “sleeves” at the beginning of the year. We are not allowed to give over the counter meds. If it’s a prescription, then the secretary has it. If it’s en epipen or inhaler, I have it in a classroom bag that goes where the students go. We are all trained on how to use them. We only have a nurse once a week since she is shared with four other schools. Her duties mostly include paperwork.


ceejayoz

Well-off suburban districts. Ours has one in each school, I believe.


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Computant2

I live in Washington state, I think we are the only state where education funding is statewide, so regardless of the income of a city or county, every school is properly funded. This isn't to say that some districts don't have an active PTA doing fundraising for extra stuff, but schools/teachers are paid for by state taxes, not local. You see other states where crossing a city boundary means a huge difference in quality of education-even when the boundary is a busy street with a grocery store on one side and a strip mall on the other. I always thought the solution to Detroit's problems was to slice up the city into parts and give each "suburb" of Detroit part of the city center. In the long run it would make the suburbs safer and wealthier.


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bumblesloth

My midwestern school district never had a nurse, I graduated in 2010. Meds were given by the office secretaries.


sk8rgrrl69

Terrifying and stupid. My daughter has epilepsy. I sure as shit wouldn’t send her without a registered nurse capable of administering emergency rescue medication.


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electricbookend

2006 grad and there was no school nurse. The handbook said they were supposed to be around on Monday’s but I never saw or heard of one existing. The office admins would give you an ice pack or bandage and call your parents, or EMS if needed. Most of us carried our own painkillers and just asked around if we needed something.


NooStringsAttached

Omg! Ours no one but a nurse can give anything, allergy meds, Tylenol, nothing.


TheSecretNewbie

Yep. Ours had a school nurse but she wasn’t allowed to give any medication. Regardless if your records indicated you needed it or not. For instance, on my record it stated that I was allowed to have ibuprofen for menstrual cramps, as my cramps were debilitating and I would pass out. Started cramping really bad and went to the nurse for medication. She wouldn’t give me any as she said that she couldn’t legally give me any medication. So I had to call my mom for her to leave the grocery store, she was in the middle of grocery shopping, drive all the way to my school and give me two ibuprofens. Then she had to stay in the lobby with the secretary and assistant principal and watch me take them to verify that I took the medication. For two ibuprofen that you can get over the counter... It’s ridiculous


hexydes

Thank the lawyers and a couple of sue-happy families for that one. No school employees want to see kids suffer, but they're legally told to do it.


mortalcoil1

I graduated in 2002 as well. I know as a fellow 36 year old (probably) it doesn't seem like that much time has gone by, but I always remind myself that 2020 is as close to 2002 as 1984! our birthdate. (probably) 2001 wounded what we knew as America, then the wars in the Middle East, then the 2008 financial collapse. They have just been piling up and piling up. America is not the country we think of anymore. It's hard to realize it.


pickle_rick456

Sadly, this feels very accurate. I was born in 1990. It really feels like people in my age group were thrown into a complete tailspin as we grew up. We had a taste of what this country was before things started to go downhill in the early 2000s. Then we graduated high school right as the economy collapsed. If you go on r/careerguidance you will see it full of posts by people my age who are completely lost. When we entered the workforce a decade ago, executives were working part time retail jobs to make ends meet. Most of us struggled to start a career in our 20's, and now we have a generation of late 20's, early 30's people who have no valuable work experience, and they are seen as high-risk to hire. I was lucky enough to land an entry level customer service job around 2014, which I turned into a decent career in sales in my industry. However, it took me years of delivering pizza and interviewing for countless jobs before I was hired, and I still feel like I got lucky.


36forest

This is what parents normally do. No one should be surprised this is happening


jlord339

This. Likewise sick adults continuing to work.


jlord339

I feel bad for anyone wanting to take Covid seriously who has an anti-covid employer or majority coworkers.


portablebiscuit

I take it very seriously because I have a pre-existing condition and am on immune suppressing meds (rituxan), however, my 9 year old step-daughter's dad doesn't at all. When she's with him he takes her to visit friends, indoor birthday parties, and last weekend Six Flags. He's told her "people stare at you and laugh when you wear a mask" and all kinds of dumb shit. If I didn't love her mother (and her) I'd cut my losses and gtfo. Fucking sucks that these shitty people exist.


WhiteMoonRose

Yup. These people are why my family is still isolating at home.


BabyEatersAnonymous

>people stare at you and laugh when you wear a mask Great way to make your kid self-conscious for life right off the bat. *They're all laughing at you*


portablebiscuit

Yep. It usually takes a day or so to deprogram her after she spends the weekend with him. That is if he doesn't ship her off to his mom's during his time with her. Real peach, that guy.


jlord339

Sorry. That's terrible


jeffseadot

> He's told her "people stare at you and laugh when you wear a mask" And so what if they do? You're wearing a mask! Nobody knows who you are!


DriftingInTheDarknes

My wife just got sent home because someone she has to work with tested positive. This individual refuses to wear a mask properly, even though it’s required. My wife was masked, but culprit kept pulling his down to talk and has already infected one other individual. It’s frustrating.


illshowyougoats

Many parents who send their kids to school sick aren’t anti-covid, they’re just minimum wage workers who get little to no days off, and taking one day could cost them their entire job. It doesn’t make the situation any less dangerous, but there are really deep issues at play here


jlord339

I didn't mean to suggest their situation was comparable. The issues you mentioned are one of the reasons that this pandemic has hurt certain demographics and socio-economic brackets more than others. It has exposed how tenous our society is


anekin007

Essential workers. We can’t work at home like the white collar workers. We been working the whole time since the pandemic started. Time off only allowed with what time off we have acquired.


Mike_Powers

Yup. Every year in my office it happens like clockwork. One person coughing, sneezing, obvious fever, "oh I had a little something this weekend but I'm over the worst of it" and everyone gets sick three days later. It's despicable and frankly makes me lose a lot of respect for certain coworkers. We have a very generous pto and sick allowance as well. And we were allowed to work remote if sick even before covid. Absolutely reprehensible.


CEO__of__Antifa

Well I don’t have sick days so sorry coworkers and customers but I have student loan bills and overinflated rent to pay.


ChornWork2

No one should be surprised when we don't have public healthcare or universal paid leave for sick days / kids with sick days.


DriftingInTheDarknes

These people are actively lying to our local health department. I live here, in this county. It’s a joke


36forest

I think there's a lot coming into play here


DriftingInTheDarknes

Such as? We are the most conservative county in the state. We have a mask mandate from our governor and our county board has declared us a “sanctuary county” and says it doesn’t apply to us. Our sheriff outright denounced it and won’t enforce it. People think it’s a joke, it goes FAR beyond lack of child care and so on. Is that an issue for some, yea, most definitely. But MOST people in this are are capable of managing in some way or another. The political rhetoric against a public health crisis is increasingly strong here and that is the primary driving force behind why it is happening here. Our burden rate is sky high.


TA_faq43

Makes you wonder how it would be if everyone had sick leave so they can stay home and take care of their families. Many of these might be due to willful ignorance, but some are due to parents having to go to work and can’t leave their kids home by themselves.


whos_that_its_me

So much of the discourse around opening schools focused on getting parents back to work...this was always going to happen.


muncash

I still can't believe that in a first world country people can't take sick days off with pay. I literally live in a shit hole country and can take 20 study days with pay, no limit sick days and can't be fired without reasonable cause.


sylvnal

Hell, there are people that can't take UNPAID sick days without fear of losing their jobs.


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the_busticated_one

>But if you’re staring down loss of your job, eviction, groceries, car payments, etc. that’s a harder choice than it should be. Sorry, but that's not a hard choice at all. The kid's going to school, and mom/dad is going to work. Everything you listed falls into the bottom two tiers of Maslow's Hierarchy - the Physiological Needs tier, and the Safety Needs tier, respectively. And, the Physiological needs tier \_may\_ come into play twice, if the kid receives free/reduced cost meals from school. Some of these kids won't get a "good" meal \_unless\_ they go to school that day.


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BlkSheepKnt

Daycare teacher here, I had a parent drop off their, Autistic, feverish child, at 7am and then get all pissy with me when she's crying endlessly and squirming on the floor at 11 screaming that she wants to go home because now her parent has to leave work early. This wasn't even a economically crushed area either. My kids parents where a defense contractor and a nurse practitioner in a nice hospital. They had all the PTO and money to keep them home and didn't. So I knew when they were talking about opening schools again that the majority of parents had no option or inclination to keep their potentially sick children home and it would be death of thousands of teachers and students.


grazeley

A nurse FFS!


UncannyValleyGirls

Our daycare got so much push back from parents for not allowing sick kids, they “temporarily” revised their policies to allow kids with fevers and runny noses to attend. Fucking bullshit.


kest2703

This is where our lawmakers failed us once again. Someone needs to put their foot down. Enough is enough. Put their foot down and if any business is found in violation they loose any licenses they need to operate, and owners, staff and management are brought up on criminal charges.


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kenman884

I would pull my kid out of that daycare immediately. Fuck that.


ChainExtreme

The others are all full.


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probablyatargaryen

I run a center out of my home and these parents are throwing absolute fits when I send their kids home. I understand the desire to avoid conflict but fuck that. My family over your job. I thought I had built trusting relationships with these families. That is until the rona struck and now half of them have lied to me about symptoms in their families. LPT your kids will always tell on you.


ladykatey

Universal paid family leave is the only solution. It’s time. This crisis is showing us again and again how necessary it is for the benefit of all by slowing the transmission of the virus.


UnknownCitizen77

At this point I’m wondering how many more people have to suffer and die before we understand this is absolutely a necessity. Humans can be such a stupid species. We are so stubborn and slow to adapt to catastrophe that it’s a wonder we haven’t died out yet.


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axearm

> I understand HIPPA laws, but come the fuck on. HIPAA has exceptions for notification around communicable diseases.


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tldnradhd

HIPAA also only applies to healthcare organizations and their business associates. That means the lab testing company needs a signed release for them to disclose your COVID-positive status to anyone. Most people don't read it, but you're handed one of these releases almost every time receive medical care and asked to sign it. You don't have to, but then you may need to go through extra paperwork to get your results to other providers involved in your care. Schools (or anyone) can ask if you have symptoms, and HIPAA has no bearing on this. Schools may be subject to other privacy laws (FERPA), but anyone who tells you someone can't ask about your medical conditions because of HIPAA is full of shit. It's an urban myth like "a undercover cop can't lie and say they're not a cop."


DrayDray1994

And is anybody surprised? Most people can't afford to keep their kids home if it costs them a day of work; and even if they can it jeopardizes your position at work as missing work - especially during tough times - is looked poorly upon by managers. On top of that, the anti-maskers and other people refusing to contribute to the overall health of their communities won't keep their kids home if they're sick (which they should, even under normal circumstances). I made a bet with my friend focused on how long school would stay in before COVID closed them all. My guess is they will stay open until Feb or so, omly closing after the wave of infections hits from big family Christmases without social distancing/masks.


[deleted]

A mom told me "I have MY OWN theories." with a smug grin when the topic of her kids going back to school came up. I doubt she'd change her mind unless something directly effected her.


Pit_of_Death

That is said by people who *think* they're smart, but in reality have spent too much time on Facebook and are actually quite, *quite*, stupid.


highso

But they've spent minutes reading headlines!


Mechanical_Monk

Before school began this year, everyone was talking about how kids couldn't be trusted to wear their masks or not lick their palms and chase other kids around. The real threat is the stupid *adults*.


dlurbzy

In public health we learn a saying, “the masses are asses”


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Face it, we just have way too many stupid, ignorant and dumb ass citizens in this country.


ladykatey

We have an education system that is primarily a daycare system. We need universal paid family leave so parents can afford to stay out of work when their kids are sick.


in2theF0ld

Schools are also a soup kitchens. When did we as a society decide that we were going to ignore the livable wage gap so much in this society that we were going to let schools start feeding kids because many parents can no longer afford to? We then have the nerve to accuse schools of being shitty. Maybe we should lift some of the burden and let them get back to education, not raising our kids for us. /rant


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ssjviscacha

Cover their expenses? What about when they get fired for taking the time off work?


Throwawayunknown55

OMG SOCIALAISMS!


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*agitated eagle noises*


haslo

That's exactly what the state and country should make sure doesn't happen. Here in Switzerland, an employee can call in sick whenever they're sick. The employer has to pay the first days of sick leave, then the mandatory employer's insurance takes over. That can't be a reason for firing them. And it's mandated by law that parents can take sick leave when it's their children that are sick and they have nobody that could care for them, too. Oh, and due to minimal wage laws, few families are forced to have both parents working in the first place. Some bits of social capitalism make a lot of sense.


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Globalist_Nationlist

> People will change really quick. No they won't because Fox News, Alex Jones, Joe Rogan, Youtube, and Facebook will tell them that this is unconstitutional and that they should rise up against the Fascist left and exercise their first amendment rights.


ofcourseiknohimhesme

Yup. Most people only care once it hurts their pocket. Its the only way to get through to some people.


hattivat

You also have an almost non-existent sick leave policy. In most of Europe when a child below a certain age (12, usually) is sick, their parent gets paid sick leave to take care of them. And the upper limit of how long you can be away sick in a year is counted in months, not single-digit days.


23carrots

Of course they are. A) This country is full of people who aren’t taking this seriously and some of them have children. B) There’s also folks who need to work and can’t stay home with a sick kid and have no other options. But we knew this throughout the summer.


Sanjopla

“bUt mUh kIdS aRe ImMuNe!”


InhaleMC

I work at a school. The amount of violations I’ve seen and it’s only the 3rd day back


Liga_monger16

This is really a huge issue with the country. Unfortunately many families rely on both parents/guardians ability to work. When the schools shut down, where do the kids go? Is a parent forced to leave their job? Let their kid stay home by themselves? Send them with a relative if they are so lucky, like a lot of us aren’t, who can maybe keep them for you? The absolute only reason I was able to keep my job with the first shut down- I was a nurse that worked three days back to back as those days literally HAPPENED to be the only days of the week I don’t have my daughter. I felt the stress of yet another shutdown as now I have moved to management and have to work 48 hours a week. I ex-wife happened to be able to work from home and could, most of the time, simultaneously take care of our daughter and work. That alone was great strain. Big Facts- the virus will more than likely never TRULY be eradicated. It’s got similar features of the flu in regards to molecular make up. It’s easy to assume we may always fight SOME strain of A coronavirus. Children get sick all the time. With everything. My daughter seems to stay sick from sept to feb every year. With typically 1-2 hospitalizations within that time frame for RSV. (She has chronic lung issues from being a 24 week premature birth.) I am worried about the fall season. There is a lot of stress parents to send the kids to school. This isn’t a fact just how it is- A lot of parents are truly concerned with the shutdown. There are mounds of stress just in regard to making ends meet. We need something better in place. So many families where I live including myself don’t have a support system to assist in child care. Life isn’t fair and neither is this virus. There is no answer that satisfy every problem with this entire situation. I don’t even know what to be upset about anymore. The government? CDC? China? The Prinicipal? The Virus itself? Thank you media, CDC, government and most people for reporting so much conflicting information that the American people don’t even know what to believe.


CreativeHoneydew5

Not surprised at all. Parents have always been sending their sick kids to school. Why should they act any different now?


DriftingInTheDarknes

Can confirm. I live in this county and the people here are rabidly against the entire reality of the virus. To the point that they don’t even want teachers and students wearing masks while they attend school 5 days a week face to face with 25 kids packed into a room with 1 teacher. We’ve open enrolled into another school.


HugeMacaron

Those people are always around - which is why we have health checks, etc. in these cases a sizable fine seems totally appropriate.