Schools Start H1N1 Vaccinations

Is it specifically the school’s job (which I think is what you meant)? Maybe, but probably not.

Yep, that's what I meant.

I have a follow-up post coming later about school responsibility. It's pretty astonishing.

Well, when it comes to kids I do think we as a society have a responsibility to make sure that children are fed and have counseling if they need it. Is it specifically the school's job (which I think is what you meant)? Maybe, but probably not. I think when you get down to logistics the school is the best place to administer a lot of these things because that's where kids are going to be every day.

And when it comes down to it I think most school administrators just don't care about the larger questions of what government should be providing or not. They're just trying to do their job. It's kind of like cops. They're trying to stop crime first and foremost. In doing so they may take actions that violate the 4th amendment. I don't think that's a good thing, just reality.

Going back to the H1N1 vaccine for a second, if I was a teacher in a school during flu season I would sleep a lot better if the hundreds of kids I was around on a daily basis got a flu shot. Kids are disease traps.

They can’t rely on parents always preparing their children for learning.

*smacks self in head*

While I understand the implications of a student not being prepared for learning, how much of it is society's responsibility? How much do we need to take over from parents?

Schools went from educating them to feeding them, entertaining them, counseling them, giving them playtime, and giving them the kind of assistance kids used to have to get professionals to help them with, and maybe... Just maybe... If there's enough time... We might teach you how to read.

It's no coincidence that the more services schools provide, the more high schoolers are graduating without the ability to read. It's all well and good to say "if we don't give kids a meal and counseling they won't learn," but can we really say for sure that with all these things in place these kids are learning anyway?

"Just be schools and stop worrying about breakfast, lunch, after school programs, social work, and counseling, and just make with the teaching."

*One thing that stops teachers from teaching is when all of the kids are sick, either in school, at home or in a hospital.
*Hunger has been linked to poor performance in school.
*After school programs are great ways to supplement learning of the arts and physical fitness.
*Problems at home certainly lead to kids being distracted at school and therefore unable to learn.

None of these things are the school's job per se but doing them may be necessary if they want to accomplish the job of teaching. They can't rely on parents always preparing their children for learning.