What to Know
The big thing to remember when you’re a parent scrolling through social media is that it can feel nearly impossible to win. You might feel like you did the right thing for your kids and family and the next thing you know, you find another mom’s story on social media and she’s dragging your actions through the mud. Speaking of dragging, one influencer mom has taken to her TikTok account to lecture moms who are guilty of sending their kids to school when they know they’re sick and need to stay home. Honestly, we totally get it. It sucks to spread sickness around, but there are some moms in the comments who are not in the mood for having her extreme judgments thrown their way!
One influencer mom does not hold back in her TikTok about “Karens” who send their kids to school sick.
Sometimes one’s message can get a little lost, especially when they approach the subject matter from a rather aggressive standpoint. A UK influencer mom is facing some backlash after posting a TikTok where she stands ten toes down for who she calls “Calpol Karens.” Just in case it doesn’t quite translate, Calpol is a well-known Tylenol-style type of medicine that a lot of parents in the UK use to help bring down their kids’ fevers when they’re sick.
Carla Hoskins took to social media to vent about how one of her children is sick for the fourth time in a very short period and she’s putting “100%” of the blame on fellow parents who are bringing their kids places where her child is when they’re ill and should be at home getting well.
Okay, this kind of message seems completely fair, but perhaps it’s her language that’s not exactly connecting with some parents, because she calls these types of parents “selfish f–king b-stards” and “disgusting.” Not to mention the lowly C-word. Yeah, it’s pretty safe to say why your overall message wasn’t met with an abundance of smiles and hugs!
Some parents totally agree with this mom while others aren’t that sympathetic to her overall messaging.
The comments section of this TikTok video is a very interesting place to be, especially if you’re the parent of a school-aged child. A lot of parents are in full agreement with the idea that sick kids need to be at home recovering from their illness rather than being at school spreading their germs to their classmates. One individual wrote, “Absolutely agree. It drives me insane. If your child is ill, keep them home. Sending them into school or childcare just spreads [their sickness] and then makes others ill.” Such a fair point.
Another mom sounds off in the comments about how having sick children and still needing to go to work is like being between a rock and a hard place. She said, “Sometimes u have no choice when u have to go 2 work [because work will only allow you to] take so many days off.”
Another parent explained that “sorry, but if my daughter was out of school everytime she was ill, guess what? I would have fines and CPS on my doorstep.” If you’re a working parent who has ever had a sick kid, you can likely see the validity in these statements.
It’s also interesting to think about if there are other forces at work here that should take at least some of the blame?
As a parent, does the entire system seem a little broken to you? Frustrated parents chime in.
In this type of situation, you really can’t help but appreciate the ones who speak up for parents who are trying their best while working within a system that doesn’t actually function to the best of its ability. For instance, one individual in the comments wrote, “How about instead of calling parents selfish c–ts … maybe take on the government who are on your case for keeping kids home and say to send kids in.” Yeah, it doesn’t sound like there’s any sort of proper infection mitigations happening in most schools!
Another parent explains that “schools are a nightmare now. I rang in to say my son wouldn’t be in, and they told me to just give him Calpol and said they’d give him more if he needed it.” There are oodles of other comments on this video almost exactly like this that suggest that school systems don’t really care if your child is sick, it’s their attendance that’s the bigger deal.
Is it just us or does this all seem incredibly backwards? Your child’s education is designed to better their life, but if they’re continually getting sick on a vicious loop while in attendance, is that actually good for them?
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