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I have a very sincere question. I am NOT trying to start any debates about the pros or cons of homeschooling vs. public school. It's really just a question. . .
Okay, I am home sick (yuck!) for the second day. I teach first grade, so of course, I am assuming that I picked up a bug from one of my little guys. Tonight, we had plans to have dinner with the neighbors. They moved in last summer and are the NICEST people to have as neighbors! (The husband scraped our driveway after the last snowfall!) They have 3 kids that they homeschool and one cute little baby.
I asked dh to cancel our plans with them today, because I certainly didn't want the kids to get sick, but especially the baby.
Here's where my question comes in: Would their children have been MORE likely to get germs/viruses/bugs than kids in public schools? Do kids in public schools have better immunities due to being around so many other kids and germs?
Again, this is just something that I had wondered. I am NOT trying to start a debate. I really was wondering if anybody knew the answer to it. Thanks to all of the HS moms (or other moms!) for any input you may have. Thanks so much!
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I find that we are exposed to a lot of people through the week even though we homeschool - at karate, church, friends, neighbors, library activities, etc. However, usually, they are not sick people like you would generally find in school or work environments. I've discussed this with our physician. His theory is that my children are actually better prepared to fight an infection whenthey are exposed to it because they are not constantly bombarded with germs. Children who are continually exposed to illnesses sometimes have an impaired immunity system because of the constant stress on them. Our family doctor always laughs and says that he knows it is a bad flu (or whatever) season if any of our family shows up in his office. My neice and nephew were homeschooled and started public school last year. They have had much more illness since starting public school. We could argue that they are exposed to more germs, but they have always had a very active social calendar. I don't know. Just some thoughts. . .
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I gotta agree w/AyeOhKay - just makes sense. DS goes to public school, and he hadn't been exposed to a heck of a lot before school. He doesn't get sick all that often, but "carries" stuff home to his baby sister. We live in a community that has a lot of successful people that travel a lot for business or pleasure, and they carry back home the darndest things! We'll read about an outbreak on the east coast and suddenly it's here. Thanks to our airless airplanes and people exposed to others during travel.
Bottom line: Unless you're a hermit, you're going to get sick.
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I gotta say that today i worked in my son's Kindergarten class and i felt like i needed to come home and take a shower. They were all coughing and sneezing and ewwwww i feel for teachers that have to deal with this five days aweek. I'm honestly surprised that our teacher isn't out sick more often!!!
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Maybe those that are homeschooled may not get sick as often because they are not around all the sickness that is in public school (my 2 are in public school). I believe when your kid is sick, keep him/her home, don't send them to school. If they have a fever, keep them home, don't just give them tylenol and send them on their way. I understand that mom/dad need to work, but how much can a sick child learn at school?
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A word about germs ...
The common cold is caused by a virus. Once we have had a virus, our body develops an immunity to it and we won't get sick from that virus again. Unfortunately, there are millions of viruses out there. Even when people are immunized (ie: the chickenpox vaccine) a variation on the virus can develop and we can get sick from that variation.
So, to answer your question, children who are exposed to lots of viruses have the opportunity to build up the antibodies to those viruses. They don't necessarily have better immune systems - a subtle difference, I know. In effect, there is no telling if someone has already had that virus so there is no way to predict if they would get sick from you or not.
Either way, you were so sick you had to cancel a day of work. You are, therefore, probably too sick to go out to a social engagement even if the other family didn't have children - home schooled or not.
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You are still out and about in social situations and with extra-currics so you are going to catch something, but my kids have never been *seriously* sick, just the common cold.
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I would think it would be just like young children starting daycare for the first time. Right at first they get sick alot because they are exposed to more than they are used to, but they would quickly build up immunities.
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What I was talking about in my earlier post actually goes along with what Cookie2 is saying, if you give it some thought. If your body is continually building antibodies, it gets rundown and eventually it becomes very hard to fight the next virus or whatever is thrown at it. A healthy system can build the antibody and fight the virus much easier - sometimes without the individual even knowing it. We all know adults who are always rundown, stressed, or sick. It's the same principles in children.
It really depends on the overall environment of the school, too. Do you live in area where everyone keeps their children home when they are ill or do they send them to school no matter what? I would say there are several demographic factors at play here as well.
It has just been my personal experience that homeschooled children are generally healthier than those who are not homeschooled, for whatever reason.
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Medically- think about it. If you are in one room all day with thirty other people breathing the same air, you are much more likely to get whatever they have. If genetically you have a weaker immune system, you are going to be sick a whole lot more. It's like being on an airplane- all those people breathing the same recirculated air.
Once you are sick/stressed- compromised immune system- you are more likely to pick up more illnesses. It's hard for a body in an already weakened state and constantly bombarded with bacteria and viruses to recover. In hospitals, often people who go in for one illness wind up getting another "secondary" infection, which can be worse than the first. Or maybe you've had tough winters when you are sick with "one thing after another".
There are a lot of factors involved, but for a child who is constantly sick- is she building her immune system in a good way, or is she just sick an awful lot? It's not normal to be sick all the time. If my kids started getting one thing after another, I would have to take a hard look at their environment.