This bothers me so much. I am in schools twice a week to supervise field students and student teachers. I also am starting (this week) a new medication that is going to destroy my immune system because I have an auto-immune disorder and my body is attacking itself. Before I started the new med, I got my COVID, flu, and pneumonia vaccines (the only ones I was eligible for) in hopes that I wouldn't be as sick as I was last year with COVID and flu. If I pick up those infections after starting the new medication, there's a relatively good chance I will end up in the hospital. If I'm in schools to do my job and there are a number of unvaccinated young children who haven't yet learned to cover their coughs and sneezes (and trust me, there are a lot that I see who haven't learned it yet), I'm going to have to risk my health to do my job. Of course, I will wear a mask, use hand sanitizer (or hanitizer as the kindergartners call it) like it's going out of style, and keep a good distance from everyone as much as possible, but it's still a big risk.
Ahhh, Jane. Thanks for the connection to the real world. We dang well ought to be teaching kids to cover their coughs-sneezes, but it would surely be beneficial for those around them and the kids themselves if their coughs-sneezes didn’t spew highly infectious material into their environment.
To be fair, the older students, say 4th grade and up, pretty consistently use tissues, cover their coughs/sneezes, wash their hands, etc. But the younger crowd, especially the pre-schoolers, just haven't gotten the hang of it all yet. One little one wanted me to play Play-Doh with him one time; I told him I'd be there as soon as I finished writing a couple things down. I watched him completely sneeze all over the Play-Doh and suddenly "a meeting" came up that I had completely forgotten about and I couldn't stay to play. How do you even sanitize Play-Doh?!
This bothers me so much. I am in schools twice a week to supervise field students and student teachers. I also am starting (this week) a new medication that is going to destroy my immune system because I have an auto-immune disorder and my body is attacking itself. Before I started the new med, I got my COVID, flu, and pneumonia vaccines (the only ones I was eligible for) in hopes that I wouldn't be as sick as I was last year with COVID and flu. If I pick up those infections after starting the new medication, there's a relatively good chance I will end up in the hospital. If I'm in schools to do my job and there are a number of unvaccinated young children who haven't yet learned to cover their coughs and sneezes (and trust me, there are a lot that I see who haven't learned it yet), I'm going to have to risk my health to do my job. Of course, I will wear a mask, use hand sanitizer (or hanitizer as the kindergartners call it) like it's going out of style, and keep a good distance from everyone as much as possible, but it's still a big risk.
Ahhh, Jane. Thanks for the connection to the real world. We dang well ought to be teaching kids to cover their coughs-sneezes, but it would surely be beneficial for those around them and the kids themselves if their coughs-sneezes didn’t spew highly infectious material into their environment.
Please stay well. I’m glad you’re taking appropriate precautions.
To be fair, the older students, say 4th grade and up, pretty consistently use tissues, cover their coughs/sneezes, wash their hands, etc. But the younger crowd, especially the pre-schoolers, just haven't gotten the hang of it all yet. One little one wanted me to play Play-Doh with him one time; I told him I'd be there as soon as I finished writing a couple things down. I watched him completely sneeze all over the Play-Doh and suddenly "a meeting" came up that I had completely forgotten about and I couldn't stay to play. How do you even sanitize Play-Doh?!
Hah! Good one.
I'll bring a hug with me for the next time we see each other IRL. And, I'll use "hanitizer" before I deliver it.
Awww thanks!!