by Valarie Juntunen

Created on: September 01, 2009

Parents are faced with three questions when deciding whether or not to send a sick child to school. Will sending them worsen their condition? Is the child's illness contagious? Will my child be able to concentrate and learn in their current state of health? The answers to these questions must then be balanced against the need to teach responsibility, the value of an education, and the availability of care during school hours.

In adulthood there is only so much time one can take off of work before doing so begins to endanger their income source. Just as missing work can harm your career; missing school can negatively impact your child's academic career. Catching up on the work done during the absence can be very difficult, especially if that absence covers several days.

In addition to academics, schools teach responsibility - the responsibility to be on time, to be prepared, to attend to the matters at hand, and to make plans for the future. All of these concepts will carry over into your child's future. By teaching that sometimes responsibility comes before comfort, you can give them yet one more valuable lesson in life.

Today it is common for both parents to work while the children attend school and if your child is too sick to attend school, it is likely they are too sick to be left home alone. Therefore, a sick day for your child will often mean a missed day of work for a parent. As cold hearted as it sounds, the availability of care for the child must also be a consideration when deciding whether or not your child can stay home from school.

Schools would prefer that students stay home whenever they are contagious. Unfortunately, without medical training, recognizing a contagious illness is difficult. As a nurse, I recommend keeping your child home any time they are running a fever over 101, producing copious amounts of phlegm, have a rash that has not been identified, or are weeping fluids (such as yellow drainage from the eyes that is often associated with conjunctivitis). If your child has a rash that is spreading or drainage from the eyes, have your child evaluated by a physician.

Parents are typically more concerned about whether sending their child to school may make the illness worse. Luckily, a child's immune system is typically very good at fighting illnesses in almost any setting. However if your child seems genuinely weak, has had trouble keeping food and fluids down for more than one day, appears dehydrated (dry skin, mouth, or eyes), or is

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