Parents (or at least this parent) of a child with Type 1 Diabetes fear school for many reasons. Sure homework, tests, and attendance give all parents the jitters. Add in the concern about high sugars, low sugars, and mistreatment of your child’s health and it’s a wonder how any parent of a child with T1 makes it past the first week.
We are new to full day school. In our school district there is 1/2 day Kindergarten, so as we embark on 1st grade, we are also getting ready for our first full day of school. That means there are bus rides to and from school that I need to worry about my son’s blood sugar levels. That also means lunch, snack, recess and gym are more specific times that I need to worry about my son’s blood sugar levels.
More importantly I need to be concerned if my son is being treated as if he were at home. No I don’t mean treating him like he is the king of the household, what I mean by this is I have to wonder if there is any way his diabetes management can come close to his diabetes management when he is with me, his mom.
While I understand that this is public school and there are literally hundreds (over 800) of other children in the school, there are some things that need to be done to keep my son safe at school that go above and beyond how the other children are kept safe.
Since some awful school shooting tragedies in recent history many public schools have instituted ‘lockdown’ procedures that would protect the students if there were to be a shooter in the building or on campus. During these ‘lockdown’ drills I also have to be concerned that someone that is locked down with my son also knows how to work his blood glucose meter, identify and treat a low blood sugar, identify and treat a high blood glucose, administer glucagon in case of severe low blood glucose.
May not seem like a big deal, as lockdown drills are not often, but what if it’s the real thing? Yes, protect the children from the shooter, but please don’t forget my son in the meantime. I know as his mom, I would protect him from the shooter and manage his diabetes. It’s what I do.
That may be too extreme for some people. Let’s bring it down a little closer to home. Every child has to use the bathroom in school. In our home we have an open door policy. I have two little children at home, all doors have an open door policy. But really because of diabetes, I will always have to have this policy. I cannot let my son shower, even when he is 16, with the door locked because if his sugar goes dangerously low while showering I will have to get in there somehow. Sure I can break the door down, but just seems easier to keep the door unlocked.
Schools don’t have an open door policy for their bathrooms, and believe me as a former teacher I am grateful for that. But what about the one time my son goes into the stall and his teacher forgets that she excused him to go to the bathroom? What if that is the one time that he goes dangerously low while in the bathroom stall?
It’s the ‘what ifs’ that worry me about the upcoming school year. There is no way any staff member can run through these ‘what ifs’ unless they live it like me. They will snicker behind my back (probably like you are) when I bring these ‘what ifs’ to their attention.
But I am a mom of a child with T1, bringing up the ‘what ifs’ and trying to catch them before they become a teachable moment is my job.