Is teacher correct regarding inhaler?

[wibbles]

I am more appalled that the parent of a 5 year old child thinks that it's acceptable to give their child unrestricted use of a prescribed drug that could kill them if used incorrectly.

 

Really??..you're appalled?..how about disgusted, shocked, enraged or any other disproportionate reaction.

 

Shock horror. Parent trusts child to administer own medication. Ring Childline immediately.

 

It's ok though...Davens done a survey, he's down with the kids and knows the ability of all 5 year olds..or was it a ridiculous generalisation??....

[nexusdee]

I digress slightly with a different example. My child has regular ear problems and suffers with earaches, nothing to keep her off school for but enough to give pain relief for on occasion.

 

At my childs school she is not allowed to take anything unless prescribed. This is slightly OTT in my view as if I can sign a form to allow her to take prescribed medication then surely I should be able to sign a form for her to take iburpofen or paracetomol.

 

Example 1: taken her into school with mild earache after given her some medicine in the morning and went to see the teacher. Said she had medicine and could give it herself after dinner. Told that she couldnt have it as not prescribed. Got a call about 2.30 to pick her up as in severe pain and crying.

 

Example 2: same scenario but this time gave her two packets of ibuprofen in her lunch box. Not said anything to anyone but she took them after dinner. Result - no phone call and no pain for my daughter.

Again you have to see this from the schools point of view. You are asking the school to give your child a drug that has not been prescribed by a Doctor. The school only has your word that your child has taken it before & therefore has no adverse reaction to it (not saying you would but some parents are known to lie) now as for your child keeping it in her bag who do you think would have been blamed if the tablets had been stolen & misused? You who had deliberately hidden the pills from the school or the school who unknowlingly had allowed the pills in school? The school has to think of any possible outcome & do as much as possible to safeguard themselves. Also & I'm not sure about this but I think schools can get into serious trouble for allowing children unprescribed drugs in school.

Remember it's not the schools to blame, the blame lies on those who trip over their own feet & are on the phone to a solicitor

[jonnybegood1]

OP i see ya point, n everyone elses point aswel but, come on some of you, who do ya think you are??? half of you must think ya on a power trip or wana be in court or somert?????

example, davens coment (I am assuming that you are talking about a Ventolin inhaler ?

In the wrong hands it can cause a rapid heart rate and death.

I am baffled as to why you think it is acceptable to allow a 5 year old child to be responsible for a prescribed drug.) obviously the child knows its for them an it can save there live, i doubt the op is gona say go let everyone av a toot an try an kill them!! omg god people grow up, if my kid needed it at school an knew he/she knew wen to take it an to not let others use it, i wouldnt av a problem doin the same as the op. most of you need to get a life instead of sittin on here tryin to stick ya neb into other peoples lifes to make ya feel useful cos YA NOT!!!!

[truman]

most of you need to get a life instead of sittin on here tryin to stick ya neb into other peoples lifes to make ya feel useful cos YA NOT!!!!

 

If you don't want people knowing about your life then an open forum isn't really the place to write about it...

[The Chavs]

Again you have to see this from the schools point of view. You are asking the school to give your child a drug that has not been prescribed by a Doctor. The school only has your word that your child has taken it before & therefore has no adverse reaction to it (not saying you would but some parents are known to lie) now as for your child keeping it in her bag who do you think would have been blamed if the tablets had been stolen & misused? You who had deliberately hidden the pills from the school or the school who unknowlingly had allowed the pills in school? The school has to think of any possible outcome & do as much as possible to safeguard themselves. Also & I'm not sure about this but I think schools can get into serious trouble for allowing children unprescribed drugs in school.

Remember it's not the schools to blame, the blame lies on those who trip over their own feet & are on the phone to a solicitor

 

I see your points. However, I dont need to school to give it to her. She can give it to herself. I have to fill in a double A4 sheet when they give her prescribed medicine so surely there could be a form devised that absolves responsibility for the administration of medicine if unprescribed.

 

In my case, its a regular ear problem and Im faced with three choices. Either:

a) keep her off school due to mild ear ache, means I cant go to work and she misses school on a regular basis.

b) take her to school and take a chance she will be ok, knowing that I will most probably get a call mid afternoon after she had been suffering badly for about an hour and have to take her out.

c) take my chance and give her responsibility to take it herself.

 

The school has to think of any possible outcome & do as much as possible to safeguard themselves, I appreciate this. However, I also need to think of any possible outcomes and do as much as possible to safeguard my daughter and ensure she gets the education she needs and not to suffer pain unnecessarily.

 

A blanket policy may mitigate the risk but that doesnt mean it is necessary, expecially if the risk is so small (how many children have an adverse reaction to paracetomol??) Another example, if your child is on a trip with school and get a temperature, earache, hay fever etc then they would call you to drive over to sort out, even if they were miles away!!! I can fill in a form for brownies, scouts and all other clubs that allow them to administer paracetomol etc but cant for a school. Whats the difference I wonder?

[mattleonard]

The general backlash to this seems to be along the lines of the whole 21st century blame culture thing, and the potential risks of the inhaler being abused by the child, or other children - but the more I think about it the more I think that's not the case. As I said earlier, nearly 30 years ago my primary school kept my inhaler locked in a cupboard.

 

Putting myself in the school's position (I don't work in education), if there was a pupil who was asthmatic and used an inhaler, then for their own welfare I would insist that we had guaranteed access to an inhaler, so that should the child suffer an attack then we, other staff, and other pupils would know exactly what to do. I know that I had to visit the school office most days to get my inhaler. There were times when I was out on the playing fields and one of my friends would go to the office to get a member of staff to bring me my inhaler. What wouldn't have been helpful would have been for there to be a big search to find which pocket of which bag in which room I'd left my inhaler in, perhaps only to then discover I'd lost it, forgotten it, or it had run out.

 

If you are really nervous as a parent about whether your child will be able to get their inhaler, or feel that the school is out to deprive your child of medication, then you could give the child a second one for their bag. I seriously don't think a 5-year old having responsibility for carrying and taking a prescription drug (including comparatively-harmless-in-small doses Salbutamol) is at all ideal, nor other children potentially having access to it (when I was at secondary school my friends would take my ventolin from my blazer pocket and pass it round and have a few puffs for curiosity's sake - I don't think primary school aged children would be immune to such curiosity). But like I say this is a secondary issue. I think the school is 100% right to want to take responsibility for an inhaler for the child for the sake of actually dealing with managing their asthma.

[jonnybegood1]

What the hell was that.

 

 

my rant over people who think they are better than others, thinkin they know better. why?? cant a read it???

[nexusdee]

The Chavs. I fully sympathise with you it's tough situation for both parent & school, only suggestion is to get the paracetamol via prescription? I believe it's something to do with Health & Safety (maybe an expert on the matter could comment)

[The Chavs]

The Chavs. I fully sympathise with you it's tough situation for both parent & school, only suggestion is to get the paracetamol via prescription? I believe it's something to do with Health & Safety (maybe an expert on the matter could comment)

 

Thanks. Getting it on prescription may be an idea. I know Ive had this before on prescription and it just says to administer as and when needed etc and the maximum doses per day. Pretty much what it says on the bottle.

 

Just seems daft that at lunch time its considered a problem. They would know she hasnt had any other doses up to that point so no chance of an overdose. The school also know she has problems. Shes had an ear operation in the past and is on long term antibiotics but still suffers from pain. This is easily managed by paracetomol or ibuprofen but if I cant get it into her at dinner then its a case of suffering in the afternoon and I end up leaving work and fetching her home.

 

I will look into it more. I know a couple of weeks ago, she wasnt allowed to self administer what Id sent to school with her and suffered for it. I didnt bother telling them the last time, she took it herself and was fine. Other times, it comes on during the day and I end up fetching her anyway.

 

PS. She has a school trip this year and Im dreading her going without anything should she get earache. If she does get earache then it looks like I would end up being called to drive out and fetch her home which doesnt seem fair when there is a simple/risk free solution that I am willing to sign consent for and to accept all responsibility.

[shortcrust]

Do people even know what 'political correctness' means anymore, or is it just something they spout at random like trained parrots.

 

Kids play with things. Imagine 5 year olds playing with an inhaler! That's why it was locked up, and why the OP should have told the school on the first day that the kid was carrying medicine.