MS Nurse Kicked DD off the SB Team

[Rocketech1]

You’re probably right. It is probably normal for the nurse to go to the principal to tell the HC that a player cannot play.

Quincy - I'm just trying to understand why a nurse would target your daughter out of the blue? Just seems there is more to the story than incompetency by the public school system, but maybe I am naive about school politics in the Chicago area?

 

[JNew0872]

I took it that Amy meant to get a note from her doctor releasing her to full activity so she didn't have any limitations.

 

[riseball]

Quincy - I'm just trying to understand why a nurse would target your daughter out of the blue? Just seems there is more to the story than incompetency by the public school system, but maybe I am naive about school politics in the Chicago area?

From what I gather it appears that the player in question had a medical restriction from her doctor with respect to her gym class activities. Many school administrators, nurses, and athletic trainers take extreme exception with a student with a gym class restriction participating in any way whatsoever in extracurricular athletics. Basically if they can't do the mundane stuff in gym class they reason that they cannot do something such as walk-throughs on the softball field. Which is why a note from the doctor addressing both activities is need to put those dolts in their place.

I had a similar situation with my DD her senior year. The idiot head coach even though she claims to have played D1 ball, which was a lie and was an athletic trainer could not understand how DD could be cleared to play yet still continuing with physical therapy. Apparently the concept of strength training to prevent future injury was something she could not quite grasp.

 

[BobInMadison]

There are a lot of different educators in the world.

I remember something DD #1 said when her original MS principal retired: "She was on our (the students') side". [In another forum a poster correctly figured out DD #1 had attended Spring Harbor MS in Madison, WI]

DD #1 and DD #2 are both at Madison Memorial HS in Madison. Up until February, they had an absolutely rare gem as a principal. He was a student at Memorial, then a student teacher, then a teacher (also coaching football, basketball and baseball for about 15 years), then assistant principal (the school has 4) and finally principal. He often traveled to see his former students play college ball or NBA. He died of a heart attack in Knoxville, watching a former student play basketball at Tennessee. Every student felt that he was on their side. I once had some conflicts with a teacher and an assistant principal, until after about a year DW and I met with the principal, and that was an incredibly positive experience. Our son had a new AP the next year, another great guy who is the new principal.

Also, the Memorial athletics are first rate dealing with injuries. DS had shin splints from track, and they knew exactly what to do. Strength training to build up the body so he could run again.

As a student, then for a while as a college educator, and now as a parent, I have seen all kinds. The best are always the ones who really try to do what is best for the student. Although, esp. back when I taught pre-med classes, sometimes the best thing for the student was the tough love of a low grade. The last teaching job, I had students come to me for help for classes I didn't even teach! The word somehow got out that I was the guy to see for help.

It really hurts to read the stories about school officials who really get in the kids' way. It was so horrible dealing with that sort of "educator" as a kid, and in some ways harder as a parent.


The ONLY advice I can give to parents: SOMEBODY has to be the advocate for your kids, and NOBODY will do it better than the parents. Even if you have the best principal in the world, YOU have to be the one to bring situations to the principal's attention. They don't know everything! If some @$$#0!3 gets in the way, fight like #3!! for your kid! One time I was teaching at a dinky little college in La Grande, Oregon, and the pediatricians office was treating DS like absolute $#!t. It took almost a week before they would agree to x-rays for a broken leg, and that was because I was in the middle of their office raising holy #3!! until they did their jobs. I made at least one enemy at that office, but it was well worth it. In my case, I was lucky that I could get out of that town fairly quickly. Raising a kid in that town would've been child abuse. I have considered it better to be unemployed than to raise my kids in the wrong place, and not for the last time.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

What is strange to me is all of these MS/HS nurses that are targeting specific student-athletes to "harass"? Just not my experience with the public school system in my area.

That is exactly what it is => harassment. And for us it was the gym teacher hating on my DD who is normally loved by teachers (we think it was some sort of sports jealousy or something).

My son had a far worse case that displays HUGE bully-ism by the school district here. Short-story he basically got mugged by a bunch of young 20 yr old punks (part of the fight-club or knockout game crap going on - this was when he was 16 yrs old). Following that, in a standard "search" that went on in school he got busted for having a pocket knife in his pocket (never took it out)and gets kicked out of school all together (in a kid with nothing on his record except for not the best grades). You might think in this incredibly lax right/wrong society we live in now that I would be able to describe the whole scenario to the school board and get some compassion for a kid that went through some serious trauma,.... no way. The friggen school boards nazi's said they had no lenience and out of school my son went.

I think it's ironic where some of the biggest programs targeting kids in public schools is about anti-bullying. At the same time public schools do some of the most egregious renditions of bullying. (the two examples I state are not the only examples I have investigated)

 

[Out in Left Field]

I do have to say if a piece of paper exists from a doctor about not performing certain physical activities, the school has to enforce it. I just know the nurse has gone home from my HS by the time we start, so she does not see at all what we do. I checked with my other coach, and I found out the nurse would give her info to our HS trainer. He would take it from there, in interpreting what the letter means for HS sports. She would not be involved in the slightest.

 

[riseball]

I do have to say if a piece of paper exists from a doctor about not performing certain physical activities, the school has to enforce it. I just know the nurse has gone home from my HS by the time we start, so she does not see at all what we do. I checked with my other coach, and I found out the nurse would give her info to our HS trainer. He would take it from there, in interpreting what the letter means for HS sports. She would not be involved in the slightest.

Very true. Conversely if a doctors note exists clearing a player to participate in a sport, the school must respect that discussion and no further discussion is warranted.

 

[Out in Left Field]

Actually no. The trainer and coach have additional flexibility for gradual return, conditions of the return, or generally to take the kid out for an injury or issues. For example, in returning from concussion, the protocol has extra days for a gradual return that the trainer supervises. Again the nurse would not be there. Yes, the parents do have to work that out with us if they don't like the pace of it, but concussions are serious.

After the condition of our senior star pitcher, I will now pull kids out more often and sooner for physical issues, and add additional steps as necessary. She is going off to college and her arm is a mess (Mostly from TB as what we did she considered a lot less work, but the rest of her is in top notch shape. I have other pitchers who have no stamina, so their arms are fine....).

 

[riseball]

Actually no. The trainer and coach have additional flexibility for gradual return, conditions of the return, or generally to take the kid out for an injury or issues. For example, in returning from concussion, the protocol has extra days for a gradual return that the trainer supervises. Again the nurse would not be there. Yes, the parents do have to work that out with us if they don't like the pace of it, but concussions are serious.

After the condition of our senior star pitcher, I will now pull kids out more often and sooner for physical issues, and add additional steps as necessary. She is going off to college and her arm is a mess (Mostly from TB as what we did she considered a lot less work, but the rest of her is in top notch shape. I have other pitchers who have no stamina, so their arms are fine....).

So if I understand you correctly, even though a medical doctor clears a player, a school and the dolts involved know better than the medical professional? That is yet another example of why the education system in this country is a failing the people it serves.

 

[BobInMadison]

I remember one of the wisest things I ever saw about education, from an unlikely source. It was from a basically knee-jerk left-wing publication, criticizing some left wing education activists.

The article pointed out that sometimes educators and education activists forget that these are the PARENTS' kids, and do not belong to the educators, the activists, or the government.