Schools expect a lot out of children. From waking up at extremely early times to an array of required state tests, their little minds are constantly working overtime. Tennessee apparently didn’t get the memo. Case in point: it’s perfectly normal for children to fall ill. Now, Republican lawmakers have pushed a law to no longer accept doctor’s note as legitimate excuses. Wouldn’t sending a sick kid to school only cause more absents? Well, you can try and understand the logic, but Republican lawmakers just don’t like kids.
TikToker Jill (@just.chill.jill) posted a video with the caption, “They are going after sick children.” She explains that a doctor’s note is no longer an acceptable excuse for children to use at school. Funny enough, Tennessee lawmakers passed the law right before school starts for the year. She goes on to reveal if a nurse sends a child home due to illness, it is a “tardy” for the rest of the day. If the child misses an entire day, even with a doctor’s note, it will be marked as an “unexcused day.”
Where is the sense in this law? Do we really want sick kids spreading sickness? In the video, Jill makes it clear, “According to lawmakers, it’s because they want children to learn that sometimes you need to push through sickness and have a good work ethic so that when they get into the workforce, they know that sickness is not an excuse for not working.” She also noted a lot of schools have become stricter with lunchtime, limiting children to 20-minute lunches. Jill sees this as “punishing” the children for being sick or needing time to eat a proper lunch.
As Jill mentions, laws like these prove people don’t really care about children once they’re born. (George Carlin proving us right from grave.) This is especially true with Republican lawmakers, who have recently pushed to make cuts to children’s health insurance and cuts to disadvantaged schools, worsening children’s education.
A commenter pointed out, “They want good, little worker bees for the future. Not students. They want to condition them to take this abuse so they can roll back workers rights.” Another person pointed out, “Those politicians should lead by example and cut their vacation time.”
But I know that’ll never happen. Just like they’d never reduce their own lunch break time, but because it involves children, they can’t have that. Schools are looking more and more like correctional institutions every single day, and it’s not a good look.
