When too Much Concern is Simply too Much!

I was in a meeting this morning when I received a call from DH. He sounded rather "kancheong" when he told me that he received a call from YJ's school asking him to pick YJ from school. Apparently, YJ was SICK and deemed as "unfit" to be in school.

I was shocked. You see, with all the hu-has about the Infuenza A (H1N1) going on, I make sure that I take my lil' heroes temperature EVERY morning before they go to school. I am definitely not THAT INSANE to send my lil' heroes to school if I know that they are not well.

YJ has been coughing rather badly for about a month. He had visited his paediatrician about four or five times last month. This kid has a history of having a prolonged coughing period once he catches the cough bug (or whatever they call it) and the longest record was of two solid months last year. This time around, his paediatrician diagnosed him for having an asthmatic cough, at first. Then, it persisted due to nose allergy.

Let's check out what had actually happened this morning: A teacher was sent to relieve YJ's Moral teacher who was on medical leave this morning. He brought the whole class to the library and started to single out those who were coughing or having runny nose. By the way...Cikgu, selsema ada beza, ya...mungkin sebab dia sejuk (common cold), mungkin sebab dia demam selsema (flu) atau pun mungkin sebab dia ada alahan (allergy). He sent all NINE of them to the admin office and the clerk was asked to contact the parents of these students (YJ was one of them) so that these students can go home.

YJ told me that all these nine students were not allowed to sit in the library or return to their classroom after that. Instead, they were asked to sit OUTSIDE of the library while waiting for their parent or guardian to pick them home. These boys MISSED their other lessons and they did nothing but to wait outside of the library. How immediate can the parents go there to pick their kids under such sudden notice? YJ missed two lessons: English & Maths! He missed his two lessons all because of his COUGH! Cikgu...my son wasn't even having any fever at all. When he reached home, his body temperature was NORMAL.

I seriously wonder how some CIKGUS can be so ignorant. Please go read up on the Influenza A (H1N1). DO NOT chase the students home just because they cough or have runny nose! It is good to be concerned (Thank you, Cikgu), but to raise a false alarm and to send NINE students home from 1 class is PLAIN STOOOPID! Honestly, I feel like going to see this one particular CIKGU in one particular school and shove his one particular part with a thermometer!

I called up one mommy of the another boy who was also deemed as "unfit" to be in school. The mommy told me that the security guard at the school informed her hubby that about 40 students were sent home yesterday. I'm not sure if that figure is true or if it is just an exaggeration, but I'm not surprised if it IS true.

I was so upset that I called up the Headmaster and complained about this issue. Apparently, he wasn't aware of this incident. I also asked him if a student like my son who is suffering from cough due to nose allergy, need to go to school with a letter certified by a paediatrician confirming that he is FIT to attend school.

Like what I had mentioned earlier, as parents, we are grateful and thankful that the school is trying to do its best to prevent the spread of Infuenza A (H1N1). Unfortunately, chasing the students home blindly is definitely a big NO! If this similar incident were to happen again tomorrow, I'm gonna march to school, arm with a thermometer. And I'll let your imagination go wild with what I'd do to the teacher with the termometer...