public health and schools - Page 2

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

I can only speak for the schools I know (public grade K-6 schools in Ontario). Volunteers screen for lice after every major holiday - Sept, Xmas, march Break. All kids are screened (unless they are absent )

I'm surprised because I think of Canadians (except for Quebecois) as being more mellow and sane than Americans. Which seems kinda tacky on my part since I'm an American!

I read one time that the leading cause of death of young adults in Quebec is suicide, and now I'm starting to wonder if it's related to to all the head lice checks and forced reading of depressing books!!!!

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

It is not that school screenings are "fine for some kids" it's that you have the resources do these things privately and do not need those services from the school. You could actually think of it as not straining resources for a service that you do not need.

This. I live in a very mixed income school - which I love. I opt out of the public benefits that I don't need - free backpacks and school supplies at the rally, dental screenings, hearing screenings etc. I donate extra for field trips and whatever whenever I can. I volunteer to provide snack, donations, purchase extra school supplies - whatever.

[JL83]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

Would you personally be Ok with people going through your hair (say at your job) looking for lice as part of a mass screening ? I can tell you I would not be! I think lice checks may be appropriate in early grades (and even then I have concerns about it - but that is another post). I do not think it is appropriate with 7th and 8th graders. We need to extend to them the same liberties/respect for their person that we extend to adults


kathy

Since it's not very easy to check my own hair for lice, I would be perfectly fine with someone else doing it. I wouldn't be OK with being held down for it, but I would happily sit there so it could happen. Afterall, I can't check my own teeth, so I get a dentist to do it. I can't check my own cervix for abnormal cells, so I get a doctor to do that.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by JL83

Since it's not very easy to check my own hair for lice, I would be perfectly fine with someone else doing it. I wouldn't be OK with being held down for it, but I would happily sit there so it could happen. Afterall, I can't check my own teeth, so I get a dentist to do it. I can't check my own cervix for abnormal cells, so I get a doctor to do that.

Yeah, but you choose your own doctors and dentist - you also choose when to see them, you have picked care providers who are (hopefully) in line with your beliefs. This is different from a stranger going through your hair at some mass screening they have decided needs to be done.


There is something about screenings that do not sit well with me - it is like - you are doing these screening because you do not trust parents to arrange proper medical services for their children.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

I'm surprised because I think of Canadians (except for Quebecois) as being more mellow and sane than Americans. Which seems kinda tacky on my part since I'm an American!

I read one time that the leading cause of death of young adults in Quebec is suicide, and now I'm starting to wonder if it's related to to all the head lice checks and forced reading of depressing books!!!!

Lol

I grew up in Quebec, and gosh, yes, the books were depressing!

They did not do lice screenings when I was a child in Quebec, but Ontario currently does.

I think (my opinion) Canada is a bit more socialist and concerned with everyones welfare than the States. In many ways this is a good thing. However, it does tend to infiltrate into other areas, areas one might not want it to infiltrate to.

In the final analysis I am a social libertarian - the social part of me likes these type of things if implemented carefully and properly; the libertarian is like - get the government out of my business! I am one confused woman, lol.

[Lisa1970]

I would be worried about the spread of disease over the dental checks and all. I agree with you on the vaccination issue too. I would be against this stuff. If they do a dental check and find cavities, are they going to fill them for free? Or just turn you in to CPS for it? In otherwords....why are they doing this? What will be the end result?

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

There is something about screenings that do not sit well with me - it is like - you are doing these screening because you do not trust parents to arrange proper medical services for their children.

I felt the same way before my kids attended public school and I met some of the children. Our school was VERY diverse. We had many wonderful families that took GREAT care of their kids. And we had families that just didn't. These screenings are for those kids.

There are a few families where the parents just don't care at all, but there were more situations where the family was just overwhelmed. Families in chaotic situations, phenomenal stress, with and no money. It's the kids at the very bottom of the ladder of life, and I now believe this stuff is worth it.

Opt out all you want, but this stuff is provided for the sake of the children who truly wouldn't get care otherwise.

BTW, I've lived in both Dorval and Hawkesbury.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by Linda on the move

BTW, I've lived in both Dorval and Hawkesbury.

I know both extremely well. I lived in Lachute for much of my teen years, which is about 20 minutes from Hawkesbury on the Quebec side. I now live about an hour from Hawkesbury on the Ontario side. Small, small world we live in.

As per opting out of screenings- yes, I think I will. I prefer to choose my own care providers, and, as others have said, I will think of it as freeing up resources for those who do need them.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by Lisa1970

If they do a dental check and find cavities, are they going to fill them for free? Or just turn you in to CPS for it? In otherwords....why are they doing this? What will be the end result?

I would sincerely hope so - or hope they at least put them in touch with agencies that can help with dental costs. Otherwise there is no point.

[One_Girl]

I think public health topics in public schools is just fine. I learned a lot of stuff about health and nutrition as a child that my mother still doesn't know. Don't do drugs and why not to do them is something I am fine with my dd learning. I am also fine with her learning about sex, abstinence, and contraception (though I have to do the contraception piece at home). The hearing screening my brother got made a huge difference in his education because they discovered he had significant hearing loss in one ear and he needed to be placed differently so he could hear what the teacher was saying. They also connect parents with resources in our area so the screenings aren't totally worthless in that aspect either. I am not totally happy with what they teach in school, the viewpoint they teach from sometimes, or the pace. I think it is a good experience though and overall it is worth letting my dd hear different things that I expand on and discuss with my dd when she is at home.

I believe you can opt out of the screenings, in our district these things are offered but not mandatory. All students participating have to have a permission slip and teachers find things for the students not participating to do. The health topics that are required by the state or district standards probably can't be opted out of. If the visits are for the purpose of meeting the standards there is probably not going to be an opt out option. Teachers are required, by law and as the result of some Supreme Court cases, to teach the curricullum they are hired to teach. If you object to something in the standards or are going to try to opt out of those things you may have to go through the principal or the district, put it in writing and release them from any future liability if it the lack of this information should affect her later in life, and you may have to go to the school and occupy her during the times when the teaching on that subject is taking place.

[EFmom]

Originally Posted by One_Girl

... and you may have to go to the school and occupy her during the times when the teaching on that subject is taking place.

This may not be true. DARE, for example, is legally required to be an opt in program, although schools ignore this in spades. The school is required to provide an alternate educational experience during this time.

[rabrog]

I'm cool with most public health things in school, until they cross the threshold carrying a needle.

Our school doesn't have the health department in to do that stuff, though, so I might change my tune if I was in your situation. We don't have dental checks at our school, either, but I can think of at least two schools in our area that might have them or at least where a majority of the kids could benefit from them.

I think another thing is parents are so busy now, it's easy to skip/miss a checkup or just forget to make the appt. And places I've lived (all midwest areas), there were either programs in place to help families with cost for dental care or a dentist or two in town who would do basic dental work for a greatly reduced cost, so it wasn't handing an overwhelmed uninsured parent a letter saying their kid needed fillings. I agree that would stink.

Jenn