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Southern New Jersey schools and parents are trying to walk the delicate line between underreacting and overreacting to the threat of H1N1, or swine flu.

Hundreds of schools have been closed nationwide because of an outbreak. Locally, Pilgrim Academy in Galloway Township closed last week after one-fifth of its students were pulled out of school with upper-respiratory conditions. It reopened Monday - the same day Our Lady Star of the Sea in Atlantic City shut down for similar reasons.

And it's still early in the flu season.

Some parents are pulling their children out of school if a classmate has so much as the sniffles. Others are confident in the ability of disinfecting wipes and frequent hand-washing to stave off the virus.

But in many two-income households, parents just are crossing their fingers that the flu doesn't close their school or infect their children, forcing them to stay home from work.

And, that, of course, is part of the problem: the demands of the workplace and the mindset that a day off is a bad thing, even if an employee is sick. That mind-set has likely been ratcheted up a notch by the recession. Employers are doing the same job with fewer employees, increasing the pressure on remaining employees. And in this economic climate, those who have jobs are worried about losing them.

Still, the best way to stop the spread of swine flu - or any communicable disease - is for sick people not to interact with healthy ones. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives this advice: People who have flulike symptoms should stay home and not infect others. Symptoms include fever, aches, stuffy or runny nose, cough and sore throat. And they should stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever subsides.

Last week, Heather Howard, commissioner of the state Department of Health and Senior Services, urged businesses to change their mind-set that perfect attendance is a good thing. She said employees should be encouraged to stay home if they are sick.

Good advice.

And throughout New Jersey, schools are eliminating their perfect-attendance awards this year.

"Having an award could be seen by some students as an incentive to come to school when they are sick," Bridgewater-Raritan Superintendent Michael Schilder told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Southern New Jersey schools that have such awards should take note. And frankly, why not just eliminate these awards entirely? The advice given for the swine flu pertains to every other communicable disease as well: Stay home and avoid contact with others.

1 comment:

• marian (42) posts 7:47 am

  Common sense. For seven years I was a stay at home mom. The best decision I ever made (by force). I didn't have to worry about who would take care of my children when they were sick or worry about time off- although I did take time off when I worked because my kids were more important than my job. Someone in a two parent family has to be concerned about the kids. I also had an excellent child care provider who was a tremendous help (and my children were healthy) But, in the education field, although days off are part of the contract, one person I worked with had a "throw up before 7:00 am" policy for her children because we had to call out sick before 7:00. How many kids went to school and told us they were sick in the morning but their parents sent them to school anyway. We've all been there because we think we need double income families. We also bought the lies about single parenting. I agree- get rid of perfect attendance awards. No one is perfect, but everyone gets sick now and then! Marian

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