Schools, in my area at least, have been allowing fewer days for leave for sickness and becoming more strict on how and when those days are used. This is to encourage "perfect attendance" and it is harmful to the child in more than one way.
- The child is pressured into attending school even when sick, further suppressing an immune system that is already stressed by environmental factors. This can lead to a number of complications for the child, both short and long term, from leaving them susceptible to secondary infection, to the development of autoimmune disorders. If the child is taught to take proper care of their health and to heal when they are ill, then they will be better off in both regards.
- The child is being conditioned to work ill. The future can never change to allow for better work conditions if the next generation does not progress beyond what the previous has. From a young age, American children are taught they must suck it up and work through it. Studies have shown that if a worker is given a generous sick leave, not only does the productivity go up but the medical cost goes down because the chances of serious illnesses are reduced. Workers can afford to stay home when they are sick. Our students are taught that working ill is what is expected of them and not only is it expected but most schools are tightening the noose and making it harder for the children to take leave when necessary. By the time an adult emerges from the school, they are used to "shaking it off."
- The financial burden that is placed on a family because of policy change requiring doctors notes when insurance is not widely affordable, nor is a visit to a local doctor exactly cheap. A same-day visit to a local urgent care can easily run two hundred to three hundred dollars. This is also coupled with the hit already being taken by a parent that is missing work and may or may not have paid leave to do so. If a note is not returned to the school from a local doctor, at the very least the absence is unexcused and counts against the child, affecting everything from grades to driver licenses. In more strict counties and municipalities, a child can be counted truant without the doctor's note. Policies like these are ill-guided and do not produce the results desired. They impact grades and performance in a negative manner and hurt the morale of both parent and student.
Unfortunately, in today's world, schools influence our children more than we can ever realize. They shape much of their rationale and critical thinking skills that will follow them for the rest of their lives. As parents, it is up to each of us, to be active in trying to shape the policy that governs the school system.