How To Tell If Your Child Is Too Sick For School Or Just Faking It? Experts Weigh In

Most parents find a hard time figuring out whether a child is too sick to go to school or just faking it in order to skip classes. Making an informed decision will be more difficult especially if the illness is something that cannot be readily detected.

Kj Dell'Antonia, a mother-of-four, shared in her New York Times blog post that deciding whether a child should go to school or stay at home is a tough challenge for parents. She added that this is tougher in her home where she has children with different levels of interest for school.

"As a parent, I find that a challenge as well. My kids are nine, 10, 11 and 14, with varying degrees of enthusiasm about school attendance," Dell'Antonia wrote. "When one of my children didn't get enough sleep and insists that he or she doesn't feel well at the 6:20 Monday morning wake-up, it's probably true, but is a 'rest day' warranted?"

According to Dr. James Fortenberry, pediatrician-in-chief of Children's Healthcare in Atlanta, a child should not be sent to school if it is clear that he or she is in the contagious phase. He added that although some kids faked symptoms, their behavior will show if they are really sick.

"If your child is feeling ill and all they want to do is sleep and stay home and rest, that's a child that's sick. If he or she has the option to go down and watch TV or play a video game and they don't want to do it, that child is not feeling well," Fortenberry explained.

Moreover, school phobia may also be the reason. Dr. Cindy Gellner, a pediatrician in Utah, told The Scope that if children usually feel ill during school days and get better on the weekends, there is a possibility that they are suffering school phobia.

Gellner said that instead of tolerating them, school-phobic children should be encouraged to attend school so that the problem will not get worse. She explained that the fear could be conquered if parents would make it sure that their children are in school every day.

"You should never ask your child how they feel because it will encourage them to complain," Gellner added. "For the majority of children who have school phobia, there is no physical reason for them to stay home. You must be strong and reaffirm that missing school when they are not truly sick is not an option."