Re: Headline: "Child Dies At Jackson Elementary in South Philly"
A little reminder, in case you forgot.
You have two jobs, school systems.
1. Teach something. (Duh.) 2. Keep children safe. (Also duh.)
A 6th grader died from an asthma attack in a school around the corner from my new apartment yesterday. His classmates and educators watched him suffer, attempted CPR and called and ambulance, but to no avail.
Due to budget cuts, the school only hires a nurse on Thursdays and every other Friday.
Wait. Hold on. ….What.
Because kids don’t get sick Monday-Wednesday.
Because emergencies can’t happen at any moment.
Because in an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, where human beings are literally cess pools of germs because kids pick their noses and sneeze without covering their mouths and eat old chewing gum from under tables and fall because they have dumb little kid arms and legs, a nurse isn’t necessary.
As a person who works regularly with children (and just somebody with a sense of basic moral responsibility) I saw this horseshit article and my heart hurt.
My heart hurt because the idea of “budget” is more important than a human’s life.
My heart hurt because this kid had an asthma attack. Yeah. Asthma. Something fairly common place and easily remedied with the proper care from a health care professional.
My heart hurt because growing up in a city isn’t always safe for a 6th grader. Sometimes all they have is school.
My heart hurt because I love this city and I want it to get better at taking care of itself.
So really, Philadelphia. Get your shit together. The inevitable lawsuit coming along with this incident is about to bend you over and fuck your budget system so hard, it won’t be able to walk in the morning.
Real talk.
Here’s a link to the full article, as seen on Philly.com, in case you felt like being sad today.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20140522_First-grader_at_Jackson_Elementary_in_South_Phila__dies_at_school.html