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InvisibleSimplepowa
In Pursuit of Knowledge


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 4,310
Robyn Urback: The school does not know best
    #19254561 - 12/10/13 09:51 AM (10 years, 2 months ago)

Robyn Urback | 10/12/13 9:39 AM ET
More from Robyn Urback | @RobynUrback
CNW Group/The Lung Association

Asthma is a frightening disease. An attack can come on suddenly, unprovoked, and the effect can be deadly. Asthma sufferers will tell you there are few experiences more terrifying than an acute loss of breath, even when an inhaler is nearby. The idea of trekking even a few paces to retrieve live-saving medicine is unconscionable to those who live with the disease.

And yet, that was the rule at a school in Straffordville, Ontario, where 12-year-old Ryan Gibbons died on October 9, 2012 after suffering a severe asthma attack. According to his mom, Sandra Gibbons, Ryan told his friends he wasn’t feeling well during recess and probably started panicking when his friends had to carry him to the principal’s office, where his inhaler was locked away. “To this day,” she said, “I really don’t know how exactly the whole day unfolded for him.”

The policy at Ryan’s school was to keep inhalers locked up. According to Gibbons, the school repeatedly confiscated extra inhalers found in Ryan’s possession. “I received many a phone call stating Ryan had taken an inhaler to school and they found it in his bag and would like me to come pick it up because he wasn’t even allowed to bring it home with him,” she said. “There’s supposed to be one in the office and that’s the only one he can have. I didn’t understand why.”

School boards across Ontario vary in their asthma management plans, some of which simply lump rescue inhalers along with all other medication, which must be stored in the principal’s office or elsewhere. At many schools, these policies were made explicit during the 1990s, when administrators saw a surge in kids taking medications for Attention Deficit Disorder and other behavioural afflictions. But there is an obvious difference between Ritalin and Ventolin; the latter is a fast-acting medication that can save a life, particularly when time is of the essence. It is baffling that school administrators should keep both behind the same lock and key.

Ryan’s parents are working with Conservative MPP Jeff Yurek on a private member’s bill that would force standardized asthma management plans on all school boards. “Ryan’s Law” would allow students to carry rescue inhalers on their person and ensure all schools adhere to a comprehensive asthma plan. Education Minister Liz Sandals expressed her support for the bill during its second reading but stressed the need for a broader bill that included other medical conditions such as anaphylaxis. That’s fine, except Ontario already has a law mandating comprehensive anaphylaxis plans on all schools in the province; “Sabrina’s Law,” named for 13-year-old Sabrina Shannon who died after experiencing an anaphylactic reaction at her school in 2003, came into law in Ontario on January 1, 2006.

Once might think that common sense would prevail in the absence of a law, but Ryan’s tragic story seems to prove otherwise. Indeed, it speaks to a certain level of arrogance on the part of school administrators that they should think they know better than parents when it comes their children and their medications. But the story is heard over and over again; an Alberta mother is told her daughter can’t carry an EpiPen into the classroom, a Manitoba mother is fined for not packing an appropriately balanced lunch, and a six-year-old Quebec boy is disqualified from a raffle because his packed lunch isn’t “waste-free.” In each case, the bigger picture is lost in the assumption that the school knows best.

It is likely Yurek’s private member’s bill will pass its final reading and become law. That is a good thing. The danger to other children of an inhaler in the classroom is minimal; a few might take a puff on a whim, inhale improperly, and might feel a little jittery. If and when that happens, teachers can dole out punishment as necessary. But there is no reason to put a child’s life at risk for fear of a mischief or inhaler misuse. The child likely knows the ins and outs of the medication far better than school administrators anyway.

National Post
Robyn Urback • rurback@nationalpost.com

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/12/10/robyn-urback-the-school-does-not-know-best/


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OfflineKonyap

Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
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Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: Simplepowa]
    #19255157 - 12/10/13 12:22 PM (10 years, 2 months ago)

Suuuuuuue! Sue! Sue, sue, sue, sue...


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OfflineLord_McLovin
mad scientist on shrooms
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Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: Simplepowa]
    #19255226 - 12/10/13 12:38 PM (10 years, 2 months ago)

:facepalm:


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Offlinepsyconaught
Chemical Connoisseur


Registered: 11/04/10
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Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: Lord_McLovin]
    #19255250 - 12/10/13 12:42 PM (10 years, 2 months ago)

Quote:

Once might think that common sense would prevail in the absence of a law, but Ryan’s tragic story seems to prove otherwise. Indeed, it speaks to a certain level of arrogance on the part of school administrators that they should think they know better than parents when it comes their children and their medications. But the story is heard over and over again; an Alberta mother is told her daughter can’t carry an EpiPen into the classroom, a Manitoba mother is fined for not packing an appropriately balanced lunch, and a six-year-old Quebec boy is disqualified from a raffle because his packed lunch isn’t “waste-free.” In each case, the bigger picture is lost in the assumption that the school knows best.



This paragraph hits the nail on the head. I graduated high school last year and can attest to how shockingly accurate this is. I left at lunch one day for a dentist appointment and the next day had to talk to the principle because he didn't 'give me permission' to leave. Basically it boiled down to him telling me his authority overruled my fathers. Which obviously did not go over well.


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Invisibletravelleler
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Registered: 08/30/08
Posts: 3,955
Loc: yonder mountains
Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: psyconaught]
    #19255500 - 12/10/13 01:45 PM (10 years, 2 months ago)

so here-- you can have this live saving medicine, but you cant actually have it.  WTF yo  :woah:


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OfflineLittleDaddy
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Registered: 11/20/13
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Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: travelleler]
    #19256531 - 12/10/13 05:32 PM (10 years, 2 months ago)

It's terrible to hear this stuff happen. This must have been a consideration when making the policy - it seems unlikely that one would completely forego this possible scenario. It's disgusting to think that, and if was brought up in conversation for the construction of the policy it is even more appalling.


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InvisiblePastywhyteMDiscord
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Registered: 09/15/12
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Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: LittleDaddy] * 1
    #19257872 - 12/10/13 09:52 PM (10 years, 2 months ago)

Hey its better that a child dies than taking the risk that a few kids catch a buzz. . . I mean we gotta think of the children, even if we gotta kill them to keep them safe :rolleyes:


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InvisibleCidneyIndole
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Registered: 05/16/05
Posts: 4,761
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Re: Robyn Urback: The school does not know best [Re: Pastywhyte]
    #19259466 - 12/11/13 10:27 AM (10 years, 2 months ago)

This shit makes me so unbelievably angry.



Quote:

Pastywhyte said:
Hey its better that a child dies than taking the risk that a few kids catch a buzz. . . I mean we gotta think of the children, even if we gotta kill them to keep them safe :rolleyes:






You hit the nail on the head. Drug policies often end up being far more harmful than what we're trying to protect people from. When are people going to realize this?


And the amount of recent cases I've seen where schools think they have rights superseding the parents', or doctors, as well as police involvement in schools for non-criminal matters is not only absolutely sickening, but a dangerous trend.


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