I feel like everyone I know has a vivid story of that time they got sick in school. Most stories involve throwing up in the classroom or on the playground. Some are bathroom accidents. Some are serious injuries or broken bones. But what really sticks with these people is how they were treated afterward. Were they comforted? Taken seriously? Or were they shamed and punished?
I remember once in third grade I got an actual concussion after a kid fell on my head during recess (don’t ask). When I told the teacher I felt dizzy and my head hurt, she basically said, oh well! No nurse, no anything. What was going on in the 80s?
One Redditor shared her outrage and incredulity about an incident that happened with her daughter in second grade and wondered if she was an a**hole for pulling her daughter out of school and then basically giving her the best two days ever.
Guess what? She is not. This woman is clearly a hero and should be an inspiration to parents everywhere.
“My daughter was in second grade. She was in class and suddenly felt like she was going to vomit so she tried to run to the bathroom. She didn’t make it and vomited in the hallway. However she was sent to the office for running out of class without permission. The principal called me about this and I had to come in. He told me that she was being punished and was losing her privileges to go on the field trip the next week. I told him that was insane considering she did it because she was trying to keep from making a mess and she’s 7! She made a snap judgement that I think most people would make,” the OP writes.
“On top of that, they sent her to the principal instead of the nurse. He refused to change the decision so I took my daughter out of school for the last 2 days of the week. Since she was missing the field trip I wanted her to have as much fun as possible so we went to an amusement park, the movies, and to paint pottery. She told her father about this during his visitation time and he got very angry at me for undermining the principal.”
I love that she gave her daughter an amazing two days of fun. This kid needs all the good times after having to deal with what sounds like a horrible teacher and principal and a spineless dad. Redditors wholeheartedly agreed.
“They sent a 7 yo to the principal for puking instead of the nurse and then doubled down when you called them out on their lunacy? Hell no, OP. You are NTA,” said NotEvenSureLOLcry.
“You’ve just taught her that you’ll have her back when someone mistreats her. That’s a lesson that she’ll remember and when she needs help she’ll come to you. You’re a great mom,” explained borgcubecubed.
“I’m a teacher and I have a bathroom in my classroom. On the first day of school, I tell the kids (5th grade) that they don’t need to ask, just get up and use it. But some kids aren’t comfortable using the in-classroom one if they are having stomach issues or if the girls have their periods. So I tell them they can use the one in the hallway at any time, just give me a wave before leaving the room. I would never in a million years punish a kid for leaving the room to get sick. As someone who grew up with IBS, access to bathrooms was a big thing for me and I’d never deprive a kid of that. I’ve never had a kid abuse my policy either,” said Alpacalypsenoww.
“NTA holy shit I would be speaking to the school board about a principal that’s such a BLATANT sociopath. Holy fucking shit I would have LOST IT on that fuckwad,” Elyon113 said.
“No one should be punishing a child for feeling ill. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of educators who dismiss the needs of students, or just think they’re faking. When I was in Kindergarten, I was sent back and forth between my classroom and the nurse’s office multiple times before they finally called my mom because I wouldn’t stop complaining (and maybe crying). We later found out I had broken my wrist on the playground during recess, but the nurse didn’t believe anything was wrong, so she kept sending me back to class,” explained emmmmme_in_wien.
“Punishing a child for trying to make it to a bathroom before barfing is ridiculous,” said NUTmeSHELL.
What would you do? Hopefully take your kid out for ice cream at the very least!