Sneezing in School

Dear Principal X:

My daughter came home from school with some shocking news. One of her classmates sneezed! That's right, in the middle of the instructional day, without asking permission, one student sneezed. Not only that, when the teacher asked who had sneezed, the sneaky sneezer refused to own up to it. Nobody would raise their hand and admit to being the one who sneezed.

Sneezing is getting out of hand in schools these days. With the flu season fast approaching, just imagine how much instructional time will be taken up with sneezing. I am glad my daughter's teacher, Mrs. X, is on top of the situation.

Fortunately, this take-charge teacher took firm control of the situation. She immediately stopped teaching and ordered all heads down on the desks. For the rest of the class period there was utter silence.

Obviously, this was the best way to handle the situation, since my daughter tells me there was no more sneezing in the classroom that day.

I want to commend Mrs. X and her zero tolerance for sneezing. True, the students didn't learn any math that day, but the strong stand against sneezing is important. I don't like my kids picking up bad habits at school and the anti-sneezing campaign in the classroom is very important to me!

Next year, I would like to strongly recommend that teachers not include Kleenex in the back-to-school supply lists. By asking for Kleenex, it seems to imply an acceptance of sneezing. Next thing you know, kids will be blowing their noses and even coughing. Who knows where this could lead? There is no end to the possible disruptions.

When you really think about it, school is no place for bodily functions. If we can eliminate all bodily functions in school we could use the bathrooms and lunchroom for science laboratories and extra library shelving. Just think what this could do for our standardized test scores!

It's great to know my kids are in such good hands all day at school! Thanks!

SandraY
thanks for your reply.
I had to lol, good points.
I will be letting the board know
how I handle this and the out come.
Please keep the comments comming & sugg.
You gottta love this site
Synthia

I am laughing at Sandra's reply as well. I think you should c/p that into a word doc or email and send off immediatly.

Ridiculous, send in that letter Synthia.

When my DD was in first grade she wrote backwards, she could also read since she was three and was brilliant! The teacher told me DD could write backwards till third grade and it meant nothing.

Two years DS, same teacher, is being kept in from recess to learn to write forwards and is being sent home with tons of work he could not finish in class. I finally found out and went BALLISTIC.

Poor little DS with his ear infections, tonsillitis, learning problems and PA being kept in for the same reason his sister was being applauded two years earlier.

That woman made his 1st grade experience Hell. I had to sit on her an entire year.

I still do not speak to that teacher and she is a neighbor.

Peg

I think what I was trying to say is if we don't stand up for our children and become the mother bears we were born to be then who will?
Peggy

Sandra, too perfect!!!! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

LOL, Sandra.

Synthia, clearly, as Sandra so entertainingly pointed out, this was rediculous.

I had a whacky nun for my first Spanish class in HS who would totally ditract the class from the lesson at hand to humiliate a given student who might have been performing badly. What's the point? Not quite the same either, but still just some people are simply not wired properly.

I do think Sandra's letter makes so clear how rediculous the situation was. I would register a complaint about the time lost from class over sneezing, for goodness sake! becca

Just out of curiosity, was it a "real" sneeze, or a "sneezing game"? [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/tongue.gif[/img]

MommaBear

I was told by two different kids it was
real sneezing.
Love this site
Synthia

Sandra - tooooo funnnnnny!

How old are these criminal sneezers?

Only sneezing problem I had between me and a teacher was when my son was in grade 8 and for the first time in his life he was [b]always[/b] sick. I found out he was sitting across from a boy who in grade 8 had not yet learned how to cover his mouth when he sneezed. I insisted my son (or the other boy) be moved.

I however failed to suggest she punish the entire class or such messy sneezing. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img]

Sandra - I loved the letter!! Too funny! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

AnnaMarie

DD is 71/2yo and in second grade

I know the district is making changes in the school's.And awareness is in certain areas.

I see the changes,but I do think this teacher has gone just a little to far.

Love this site
Synthia

Synthia, any sneezing going on in that school of yours today? Just wondering what you ended up doing about this.

Sandras letter was GREAT! I would love to see what would happen if a principal received that letter. How funny!

See, this is just one more reason I think I'll homeschool, I don't want my kids to pick up that sneezing thing. Good thing that teacher seems to be on top of things. (lol) I have honestly never heard of anything like that. I'd be curious to know what her reasoning is.

Here's the letter that went to the teacher's
and principal today.

It has come to our attention that during science class last Friday (9/26/03), one of the students sneezed, and when the teacher asked who had sneezed, no one "confessed" or "tattled". As we understand (and please correct us if we're wrong, though we've already got the same info from other parents), all of the students in the class that period were "punished" by not only the loss of their volcano project (they were looking forward to), but were made to "put their heads on their desks" and do nothing for the entire class period.

As we understand, the person who sneezed "confessed" midway through the period, but the punishment continued for the entire period.

While we understand the need for discipline in the school environment, we disagree with the form of "punishment" implemented in this case. We would have better understood silent reading assignments, or some other educational form of reprimand applied. We feel that the entire period of "doing nothing" is a massive waste of educational resources just to punish the class for not admitting to the sneeze or telling on the one who sneezed. We feel that withholding curriculum or education should be the extreme last form of reprimand used for only the worst offenses.

If hygiene is the motive behind this punishment, might we suggest that all students should have lined up for hand washing or maybe each child should be given a tissue and told to wipe their nose.

Another thought comes to mind in this matter as well, if the children in the class are afraid to "confess" to sneezing, and feel the need to "protect" each other by not telling, then we may want to examine why our kids sense such hostility in this class so as to become so defensive. I thought that the teachers were supposed to be the people that the children could "always go to ..." and not be "afraid of speaking to...".

Do you think the kids will be more likely to speak up in the future after this kind of treatment in the past, or once again be afraid to say anything at all? Did this solve anything?

Thank-you for taking the time to hear our views,

Love this site
Synthia

Synthia, I think the letter is great. I especialy like how you didn't fixate on the reason(a simple natural sneeze) but on the bigger picture. As if any discipline, like even making every student wipe their nose, would be needed.

It will leave the administration scratching their heads and searching for the real story themselves. A good approach, and not inflammatory. becca

Quote:Originally posted by synthia:
[b]
Another thought comes to mind in this matter as well, if the children in the class are afraid to "confess" to sneezing, and feel the need to "protect" each other by not telling, then we may want to examine why our kids sense such hostility in this class so as to become so defensive. I thought that the teachers were supposed to be the people that the children could "always go to ..." and not be "afraid of speaking to..."[/b]

Sylvia, I think your entire letter is great. But this paragraph is the best.

becca,AnnaMarie
I must give the credit to dh as he wrote the letter last week, and I had spoke to dd home room teacher and was waiting for his response.

The response from the homeroom teacher was what I expected,so we made the decision to follow up with the letter.

We wanted to voice our concern.

DH want's to thank everyone for there support in this matter.

Love this site
Synthia

hope nobody gets an itch.

Can't believe the story/scenario, love Sandra Y.'s response! LOL! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

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ATM I can't believe it happed either "story/scenario" but it did.

The twins sneeze all the time if the school keeps this up dt's won't get a education.

As of today I have not heard from the school,but then again I am not sure I will.

A call would be nice.
Love this site
Synthia

Just a update

A student snezzed in class last week,
I asked dd what happen and she said
the student went up and got a tissue and
wiped his nose.And the class continued
to do ther project.

Love this site
Synthia

:0

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Love this site
Synthia

[This message has been edited by synthia (edited March 25, 2005).]

weeellllll! Since you want to laugh here - I've come up with another suggestion (just in case the teacher starts this again - you know everyone has colds right now [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img] ).

If there is another unknown sneezer - stuff everyone's nose with cotton. Then, (unbeknownst to the teacher) on a silent signal - EVERYONE SNEEZE. She'll be bombarded with little fluffballs.