Winter colds...

[dinulip]

What do you do when a 10-year-old student shows up sniffing and blowing his/her nose?  That just happened to me last Friday night...  When I asked her if she had a cold, she said 'Yes!  I think that I went though an entire box of Kleenex today in school!!'  Sure enough, i caught her cold, and am forced to teach today, spreading the germs to others...  My daughter, who sometimes replaces me, has caught the cold from me, and feels pretty rotten herself right now...

What is your approach to this somewhat 'delicate' problem?  I am thinking of e-mailing a notice to all parents, asking them to keep their sick child at home, out of respect for his/her teacher and fellow students.

Makes sense - or not?

[quantum]

Personally, I'd send the student home.  It is not worth the potential risk to the teacher or other students.  A cold may be an annoyance for many, but for others it could become a very serious condition.  One must think of the potential consequences outside of ones immediate circle.  

Put a clause into your studio policy that instructs students to say home if they are sick, and that they will be sent home if they arrive to the studio showing symptoms. 

[timothy42b]

But, fair is fair.

If a student shouldn't come to a lesson sick, to avoid infecting others, shouldn't the same apply to the teacher? 

[dinulip]

But, fair is fair.

If a student shouldn't come to a lesson sick, to avoid infecting others, shouldn't the same apply to the teacher? 

There is a difference, though.  Those young students are exposed day in day out to all sorts of cold viruses that run through the school system.  It has become a way of life for them.  What difference does it make if they catch from me, instead of a boy or girl who sits next them in school??

By cancelling one work day, I would lose approximately $200!  It ain't nothin'... 

[sucom]

This thread caught my eye because it is similar to a question I asked myself a couple of years ago.  When I was younger  a cold never bothered me beyond being a minor inconvenience so I never gave the subject much thought.  However, this is not the case anymore as a cold tends to aggravate another health problem I developed a couple of years ago and I gradually became a little resentful about students turning up with colds. 

For this reason, I began asking students not to come to their lesson if suffering from a cold. Some took notice but many did not.  It used to really get my goat when a student would turn up announcing that laryngitis had kept them off school that day and yet they would also consider it perfectly ok to come to their piano lesson where they would be sitting right next to me in a small room.  "Oh, it's only a minor cold!" I remember one student telling me.   One student cancelling one lesson is a small amount compared to me having to cancel many more lessons over two or three days.  It dawned on me that I really couldn't afford to teach people with colds!

So I added a section in my policy which reminds students that it is not fair to me, them or my other students if they attend with a cold.  Most took my request on board although a couple ignored it and turned up as usual.  My response was to call the parent to request that they come back to pick them up.  I realise this may have caused some surprise on their part but at least I no longer have to risk catching every darned cold that's running rampant around my local area.  My students come from quite a large area and several different schools in different towns and I remember one winter where I must have spent nearly three months with one cold after another.  Far too many different viruses for one person to deal with!

Cleaning the piano keys at the end of every teaching session and no more contagious students has allowed me to remain almost completely cold free for the last couple of years.  I'm so glad I put my foot down about this!  Interestingly, on  the odd occasion when I have caught a minor cold, I have found that if I phone students to offer the opportunity to cancel their lesson because I have a cold, they all cancel!  And these are the very same students who have brought their cold to me!  But I do believe it is only right that if the teacher exercises their right to cancel students for having a contagious illness, they should respect the right of students to cancel when or if the teacher is in a similar position. 

[quantum]

There is a difference, though.  Those young students are exposed day in day out to all sorts of cold viruses that run through the school system.  It has become a way of life for them.  What difference does it make if they catch from me, instead of a boy or girl who sits next them in school??

By cancelling one work day, I would lose approximately $200!  It ain't nothin'... 

Health is wealth.  Money ain't going to do you any good if you are sick. 

I would agree with the others above, if the teacher is sick and contagious lessons should be cancelled.