Thursday, November 05, 2009

Flu = Plague, says the principal

Yesterday the following newsletter came home from my younger kids' school:

Today we celebrate and honor St. Charles Borromeo, who lived in Italy during the time of the Protestant Reformation. St. Charles was very instrumental in bringing reform to the church. St. Charles, although born to affluence, became a role model for all. St. Charles was willing to serve others in many ways. One was by administering to those afflicted with the plague in Milan.
The local public school district has invited all students in our school, whether they reside in the district or not, to be included in the distribution of the H1N1 vaccination.


Hello? Did the principal of the school just equate the Swine Flu with the Plague? Way to give in to the panic! Let's scare the parents into making sure our kids get the vaccine. Yeah, that'll work.

There is one good thing about the "pandemic" Swine Flu right now. Many parents are keeping sick kids home (where sick kids belong). At the school library today, some kids announced that a certain child was sick with the Swine Flu. The librarian informed them that yes, the boy was home sick, but we don't know if it's the Swine Flu or not. I decided to seize the moment and informed the first-graders that whatever this child has, he's right to stay home, and that he should eat some chicken soup and have some orange juice so he can get healthy faster. That derailed them into a discussion about healthy things to eat and got them off the topic of who's got what disease.

Speaking of getting derailed...I was saying that parents are keeping kids home who are sick, whether it's the flu or not. And that's the best way to keep everyone else healthy, including your sick child, who's vulnerable to other sick children's different germs if he's in school. That's why Middle Sister was home the past 2 days, though she hasn't had a fever--she's clearly sick, and I don't want her spreading whatever that is to others, or catching what others are spreading around.

And now I have until Monday to decide if I want my children vaccinated for H1N1. Thoughts?

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