So very angry right now!!

barbiedoll

Sadly, you're not going to be able to shield your daughter from this type of thing forever, there will be hospital dramas, newspaper reports, school lessons, posters in GP's surgeries and so on and so on, to remind her of her ordeal for the rest of her life. She will get through this, although she may have suffered a setback now, it will help her to deal with her emotions the next time she has to face anything that brings back bad memories of her dad and her last time with him.

Have a word with the school but realistically, you can't expect them to take it into account at every lesson, especially after four years. Instead, talk to your daughter and let her express her emotions, it's perfectly natural for her to be upset by this but she should let it all out and then let it go. And you should tell her that her dad wouldn't want her to suffer because of this, I'm sure it's the last thing that he would have wanted.

Blue_Elephant

meritaten wrote: »

I dont really see the need for schools to teach about specific illnesses? are they preparing pupils for medical degrees?
a general first aid course - then yes, teach them the basics! but why would diabetes be covered? is Asthma? what about MS or Cancer? sorry but I dont see why they need to be taught about ONE specific condition.

They teach about a lot of the "common" diseases. It's not about medical degrees per se, it's about teaching how the body works and sometimes doesn't. What happens to the body when things go wrong, and how to prevent preventable stuff - Type 2 diabetes, lung cancer/emphysema/bronchitis through smoking, cardiac diseases through a better diet etc. Cancer, MS and Asthma were all touched on IIRC and this was over 10 years ago.

I remember one specific lesson where a cigarette was lit then placed in a sealed tube and air pulled through cotton wool just to show what your very absorbent lung was retaining every time someone smoked. Wish I'd spent less time chatting at the back of the class...

It's not designed to upset pupils, it's about teaching children about life.

/cross posted with thegirlintheattic

Tiddlywinks

meritaten wrote: »

I dont really see the need for schools to teach about specific illnesses? are they preparing pupils for medical degrees?
a general first aid course - then yes, teach them the basics! but why would diabetes be covered? is Asthma? what about MS or Cancer? sorry but I dont see why they need to be taught about ONE specific condition.

There can be lifestyle factors related to diabetes and it is a fact that as a nation we are eating too much processed food and are getting heavier. We are also taking less exercise.

I agree with this subject being covered fully - the same should go for cancer, strokes and any other disease where lifestyle factors come into play so that kids know what they may be doing to themselves when choosing to eat rubbish and take up smoking.

Back to the OP - has your DD had counselling to help her work through her emotions? This wasn't *just* the death of her father, she watched him die and probably felt afraid and helpless. She may even harbour feelings of guilt that she couldn't / didn't do more. Talk to her about it and ask if she needs to talk to someone now - after 4 years this really shouldn't be so raw.

meritaten

joeblack - sorry to derail the thread - how is DD now? she still upset? let her talk it out hun if you or she can. best if she can articulate how she feels - or if she cant then tell her its ok to throw things or scream or give her something to smash up!
and perhaps you should do some anger letting out too?

Blue_Elephant

meritaten wrote: »

or if she cant then tell her its ok to throw things or scream or give her something to smash up!
and perhaps you should do some anger letting out too?

*finds a hat to put on just so I can take it off*

THIS.

borkid

meritaten wrote: »

I dont really see the need for schools to teach about specific illnesses? are they preparing pupils for medical degrees?
a general first aid course - then yes, teach them the basics! but why would diabetes be covered? is Asthma? what about MS or Cancer? sorry but I dont see why they need to be taught about ONE specific condition.

Her daughter would be 14 therefore following a GCSE course which contains work on different diseases as part of the syllabus. I have pupils learning about asthma, Huntingdons, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia and heart disease. The previous syllabus I taught had work on diabetes as well although not in great detail.

I once had a boy in my class ask to go out during a lesson. I could see he was upset so let him go into another room. Later when I spoke to him I discovered his gran had been taken into hospital having had a heart attack and he wasn't sure if she would live. She had been his main carer as both his parents worked long hours and he only really went home to sleep. The lesson had been on ageing so had been talking about the effect on older people. I hope his talking to me about his gran helped him in some small way.

emsywoo123

borkid wrote: »

Her daughter would be 14 t

I'm so thick. I read the Op that her DD was 10 NOW.....I thought diabetes was a bit of a biggie for a 10 year old to be covering in Biology :rotfl:

joeblack066

C_Mababejive wrote: »

She'll no doubt have a lot worse than that to deal with in her life.

Its a school,not fairy tale La La land.

Excuse me..? How very rude.

joeblack066

charlieann wrote: »

Although I agree with the other posters that the school is not to blame in this instance, if you feel your daughter may be affected by this for a while after it would be worth contacting the pastoral team within the school so they can monitor and support your daughter.

Well she was receiving this till it just tailed off, and even a letter from her GP has failed to get any further help.

joeblack066

Personally, I wonder if it might be best for teachers to ask if students know of people with different diseases/illnesses etc before they start talking about them. That way they can keep in mind that some people might react suddenly/strangely. This doesn't mean that they will hold back information, just possibly be a bit more tactful - of course in some cases, if enough time has lapsed, it might be a good opportunity for students to ask questions so they can fully understand what happened to particular people who suffered from these illnesses.[/QUOTE]
This would have been what I would have hoped for tbh.