Last week in my Critical Literacies class we began by discussing the Ebola cases in the United States. Specifically considering the second nurse who boarded a flight despite her knowledge that she was displaying symptoms of Ebola (thus making her contagious). Naturally in the course of this conversation someone asked: "What was she thinking risking contracting it to the others on the plane?" we all nodded in agreement when another student responded: "But that is what we do all the time. We come to class sick and contagious." Since this discussion I have been wondering whose responsibility is it to keep others healthy and why do we as students and in the United States rarely consider our societal obligations when we are ill to not get others ill.
What I have concluded is that we are taught that even if we are sick that our obligations to school/ work/ what have you is more important than our own health and the health of others. In fact, we are told as a mild threat that not only will our school work suffer if we remain at home when sick but so will are grades. Something that has been bothering me since my entry into graduate school is the continual reminder that if more than a single class is missed then my grade will suffer and I could possibly even fail the class, unless a doctor's note is provided. Though often professors are often lenient regarding this rule the point is that the threat is still present in the syllabus making me fear even more than I already do (which seems impossible) getting sick and though over the years I have placed a higher value on my own health and maintaining the health of my classmates than attending class while sick this concern is still present.
In our society we seem to instill in children a sense of guilt about remaining home when sick so that instead of resting they drag their barely up to par bodies to school often times so congested and exhausted that they are not even able to pay attention in class. Then they return home sicker than before (since they were using all their energy to stay awake in class and deal with school rather than fighting their illness) and probably having given their illness to at least one other person. This then creates a domino effect, especially in elementary, middle, and high school. For example my first year of high school I got a terrible throat cold the week of finals and since it was finals I refused to stay home because I knew it would be a battle to get the school to allow me to make up my finals (the day of my physics final I was so sick I could barely see straight) so instead I went and since everyone else around me was sick and my immune system was shot I just kept getting sicker and sicker. This achieved nothing and though I passed all of my classes (which I am shocked I passed physics) nothing was gained or learned from going to school so sick.
The point that I am trying to get to with this blog is that we are looking at this woman who made the obviously irresponsible decision to fly while contagious but we are not often taught to act on our social responsibility and remain home (or go to the bleed'n hospital) when we are sick and contagious. We are instead taught to value work and school and whatever else over our health and the health of others and to feel guilty if we choose to nurse ourselves back to health rather than attend that 75 minute class in which we will learn little to nothing because we feel horrible.
So whose responsibility is it not only to teach children to consider their health and the health of others before school or work? As well as whose job is it to teach children the simple rules of how to stay well (wash your hands, don't share anything, cover your cough, ect.)? Obviously at the end of the day it is the individual's responsibility to be able to make the right call but how they make that call and for what reasons can be greatly effect by what they are taught.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I empathize with the concerns voiced, I think there needs to be a perspective balance in understanding the answers to the questions for which you seek answers.
ReplyDeleteWhose responsibility is it? The answer isn't as simple or obvious as saying the individual or in a child's case, their parent. In the escalating and irrational-fear based cases of symptomatic Ebola patients traveling back to their home, I wonder if this nurse wasn't considering her health, primarily, in returning to a place where her care would be far better. Her choosing to travel by plane, doesn't necessarily constitute irresponsibility on her part...and to quote Arthur Caplan, who recently spoke on CNN about Ebola's transmission, "...quarantine is a pretty tough stance to take with Ebola. Look, Ebola's very hard to get. Fear is easy to get....What's our best weapon, trust the health care professionals, in particular, to report their symptoms, take their temperature, be prudent, don't run around. I mean I think we can advise them to, you know, kind of stay home, not like Dr. Spencer who went bowling and so on, even though I'm not worried about that... unless you had sex with him -- at the bowling alley, you aren't going to get Ebola. But let's trust these people to do the right thing."
I think we owe it to the professional judgement of those who have worked and studied these diseases far better than media mania to determine their own course of action. A nurse, who has treated patients abroad should be lauded and praised rather than reprimanded for her return. This is the same sort of hysteria that came to rise in the 80's about HIV and AIDS, but I truly digress....I really want to address sickness at school.
Unfortunately, as I said before, it's not easy, nor can a dichotomous line be drawn--if you are well, go to school, if you are sick, stay home. Here are some thoughts to ponder, and one true story that happened to me as an educator to help garner perspective on a large area of gray. There are some families that literally cannot afford to take off work, sick or not; what does a person living on a non-sustainable hourly wage do in this case? And what about a child whose only meals during the week are provided by a school? How would one expect him/her to actually heal in a home with nothing but mayonnaise and old milk for sustenance, while willing foregoing a hot meal at the sake of compromising another's immunity? How can we even ask a person, burdened by poverty to even think outside of his or her own basic needs being met to "responsibly" consider other's health?
When I was teaching in Mississippi, I had a 2nd grade student defecate in his pants, during class. This student came to my immediate attention and as I asked him about his situation, he was reluctant to talk about needing to go to the bathroom, let alone get a change of clothes. Fast forward to when I called his mother to bring him that change of clothes, and her response was as follows, verbatim: "Ummm, Ms. England, I'm at work right now, and I can't just leave. I don't have time to be dealing with [him] right now..." That, though shocking, was her reality, and my responsibility, as his teacher, became taking care of that situation myself. My teaching assistant took him to the SPED classroom, washed his clothes while he waited in a towel, and when his clothes were clean, we dressed him, and sent him home. As a teacher, what I have learned is that the burden of responsibility isn't something to be passed when it concerns a sick child at school, nor is his/her presence to be questioned. I realize this may be a far cry from the response you were searching for, but we all have to realize that our lives are in constant intersection with others. Our sole responsibility is to ourselves, but that doesn't mean we can judge the actions of others as imprudent if we fail to try to understand the situations that may cause them to take those actions in the first place.
I would have to agree with Lindsey that there is a very fine line that, as adults, we can dance on in terms of being responsible for ourselves (and heaven forbid) responsible or at the very least considerate of those around us. I had a situation when I flew out here last December to find an apartment. The only open spot was in the very back of the plane, which I had no problem with. I took the window seat next to a girl who had already fallen asleep before the plane even took off. Well, about a half hour into the flight it began--non-stop vomiting until the moment we landed in Denver. She told me that she had had the flu for the last few days but "needed" to fly to all of these random locations for the sake of interviews. The kicker: she was flying to these random interview places to find a place to do her residency because she was studying to be doctor! To me that is irresponsible! 1) why the hell would you fly in a very, VERY crowded airplane with recycled air when you can't stop vomiting? 2) Why would you interview while you are non-stop vomiting?
ReplyDeleteBut, when it comes to children/students I could see this being a problem for those lower-income, "at risk" youth who rely on school to feel safe and be fed. I, personally, knew quite a few kids that were on free or reduced lunch and breakfast when I was in Middle School and High School, and I am sure those kids were very grateful for that.
I think as future educators we have the power to not only help students through times of need (like when they are sick or hungry), but to also educate them on how to keep themselves healthy regardless of their situations outside of the school. But we can also learn from those students on situations that we can't personally understand.