Irresponsible Parents?

After reading this article in Asiaone, it sparked off the urge to air my views. Maybe its pretty much in relation to me, as a mum?

The article talks about some parents whom despite the fact that their children might or already have HFMD, are still bringing their kids to school, thereby causing a rise in this scary disease. It states in the article that "However, there is an appalling lack of social responsibility and civic-mindedness on the parents' part." This statement is pretty interesting to debate on...

When i was first introduced to this abbreviation, little did I know that it would be one of the most talked about, read about and discussed about term. Pictures of the infection scare me and got me a little paranoid, especially since the HFMD is pretty and commonly widespread.

Sending Daryl to school means having a round of checks on his tongues and limbs and of cos, the temperature. I do think such measures are good, because they not only allows the school and parents to have their peace of mind, knowing that their kids are safe from the germs, they also create slight "tension" amongst the kids, creating the need for the kids to learn about having good hygience habits.

I always practised having son going on MCs when he has the following symptons:

1) Sore Eyes (aka Red Eyes)

2) Cough (over 3 days)

3) Rashes (just becos we cant determine if its normal rash or HFMD)

4) Asthmatic attacks

I am simply just worried that it may cause son lotsa discomforts when he goes school with such symptoms. Worst still, what if his classmates catch the germs too? The parents would probably be coming after me (or us?) with . . . ?? But of cos, I am also guilty of thinkin that he should be in school to catch up his schoolwork, rather than to be at home nursing his illness.

Well, the debate-able issue here is that are parents who send their kids to school even though knowing that their kids might have contracted the HFMD lacking social responsibilities and not being civic-minded enough? Note that I italicised (is there such a word?) the word "might". Naturally, those who are aware that their kids have confirmed contracted the diease and still send their kids to school, are well, quite darn huh? But that's that not aiming at parents who are unaware of the kids with the germs.

Sometimes, i doubt these parents are not exactly without civic minds, but perhaps its a case of kiasu-ism at work. Afterall, when we talk about isolation, we are not talking about a 24hours "Away from human" kinda isolation. Its a minimum of 3days isolation. That means not having education for the 3 days. Just think about the losses? Being unable to catch up with the rest of the classmates is a major concern for the Kiasu parents.

Its a coin with 2 sides. Either way, its for the good of the children. Its only how we see it. Hopefully parents are able to assess the seriousness of having HFMD kids in schools or public places. Once the schools are bacteria-free, it makes learning a happy process for the kids, right?