A mom on Reddit was upset after her 6-year-old came home from school with an interesting story. According to her post, the boy said he fell asleep in class that day and was so groggy that his classmates had to wake him up.
When his mother asked why he was so tired, he told her that he'd gone to the nurse earlier that day, was given a pill, and sent back to class afterward. But his mom said she was never contacted about the visit to the school nurse or that he was given medicine.
The boy said he went to the nurse that day when he started feeling itchy
This wasn't too out of the norm since his mom says he has food and environmental allergies. She said that her son has Benadryl at school if needed, but if it's ever administered, she is always notified.
On this particular day, however, that didn't happen.
"The nurse gave him Benadryl and sent him on his way," the mom explained in her post. "They didn’t call and tell me or send a note home. In the past I’ve been told."
The mom was especially upset after learning she wasn't made aware
Still, she insisted that her main issue wasn't so much that he'd been given the medicine, but more about the circumstances surrounding it.
"My concern is not being aware of the time of day it was given, in case we had decided to give him some for any reason," she explained.
So, she decided to say something
"I contacted his teacher and the school secretary," the mother recalled. "The teacher had no clue he’d been given medicine. The secretary tracked the nurse down and found out yes he’d been given Benadryl … "
Apparently, the regular school nurse was out on maternity leave and an interim nurse was filling in, which could've explained why certain procedures were overlooked.
"She then said I never asked to be notified, so that’s why they didn’t notify me," the mom relayed.
"I let her know I’ve always been notified in the past and yes, I need to be notified if my child is given medicine; even an email or text is fine," she wrote.
She's planning on taking action
The mom now wants to make a formal complaint.
"I feel like it’s necessary to send a letter to the principal and the school board," the mother shared, before admitting that her own spouse says she's "blowing it out of proportion."
Quite a few people were equally shocked by the story
And although it was later taken down by Reddit moderators, the comments are still public to read. The original story is still cached, however.
"Should be general procedure to notify parents and classroom teacher [when] a child has had medication!!" one person wrote.
"It's surprising they wouldn't even tell the teacher," another person added. "The side effects of Benadryl are pretty well known."
Others were not so quick to take sides with the mom
"Guarantee that you signed something at the beginning of the year saying the nurse could administer basic OTC meds," one person told her.
"This," someone else added. "You likely signed a form at the time the child was enrolled. Also, there is likely a list of medications that does not require parent notification. Just call the school nurse. No need to bring it to the Superintendent at this point."
The mom did follow-up and admitted that she "definitely" filled out a form allowing medicine to be given to her son if needed, and even provided them herself.
Even so, she insists she'd been told every single time they'd been given, and took that to be standard protocol.
"He has many severe allergies; some resulting in anaphylaxis," she explained. "Benadryl is a first line of defense. If he came home and got hives again and I gave him more, we risk 1) giving him too much because I don’t know when the school gave it and 2) not using the epipen in time because we didn’t know Benadryl was already given."
The mom does make some fair points here
Despite her anger, the mom faced some backlash from people commenting on the post.
"Sending a letter to the principal and school board is an overreaction," one person told her. "You should have been notified, and you have now made it clear to the current nurse that if it happens again, she is to notify you. If it were me, I might send a short email to the principal as well saying 'Hey, this is what happened, if there are any new/substitute nurses can you please ensure they know to notify a parent if a PRN med is given? … Going to the school board is definitely unnecessary."
"It depends what you want your end goal to be," another person countered. "Do you want the new nurse to notify you if/when she gives your son medicine? Then ask her to do that. Do you want her to get in trouble? Then go to the principal. Do you want to look like a total Karen and feel like you’re putting her job in jeopardy … ? Then go to the school board. They will likely just refer you to the principal to resolve."
