We kinda have our own "diabetic communication" it's weird cause our dad is like what are yall talking about and one of us will be like he/she is high or he/she is low. And he's like how do you know. It's really funny when we guess each other's numbers and we are almost always right!! We are 8 years apart and it's like twins when they can read each other's minds. It is weird, but really helpful in cases like me driving today and when we go huntin or playing baseball/softball or any where for that matter.
Wow.
"For all we know it could be laced with LSD." Really?! Sure, in the same way candy passed out by a teacher for good behavior could be laced with LSD. I remember being sad when I couldn't eat candy as a reward from a teacher, before pumps came out.
"He said that it wasn't the substance that mattered; it was the principle - he was passing out drugs." Um... the substance DOES matter if it is not actually drugs.
I had a similar experience, although on a much smaller scale. When I was in middle school a teacher saw my pump which was clipped on my waistband and she asked me to put my pager away. I patiently explained that it wasn't a pager, it was an insulin pump. She said to put it away anyway so people don't think it's a pager. The pants I was wearing didn't have pockets, so that wasn't really an option, and obviously I wasn't about to disconnect it... I just ignored her. Fortunately she didn't say anything else. Has anyone else had an experience like that?
I don't think I could get away with it now, but when I was in school (graduated in 2000), I carried my insulin, snacks, glucometer, whatever, with me and did what I wanted. They DID tell me at first that I had to go to the nurse at lunch to test, but I just didn't do that, I did what I wanted to do. But I was a rebellious type, kinda, "I DARE you to tell me I can't do what I know is best for my diabetes!"
As we see across this board, whenever diabetics interact in any type of situation where the people there think they know better than you in general, diabetics run into problems. That includes schools and hospitals. I'm actually glad diabetics are prohibited from joining the military. At least I've never heard of churches trying to mess with anyone's diabetes, except those kinds of religions that don't believe in health care. Don't even get me started on the horrors faced by diabetics who go to prison (never been myself, but I have a great many problems with the US prison system and this is among them). And, actually, the worst care I ever had in my life was as a child at a diabetes camp, where they kept having group sports, and I was this kinda arty little kid who hardly participated in the group sports and just stood there during games, unsure of what to do, and then they'd FORCE me to eat extra food to counteract all the "extra activity" I was doing. Man, I was an angry third grader, and my sugars were through the roof.
Honestly, all KINDS of people think they know something about diabetes and are just wrong. Practical strangers will INSIST I can't have sugar, or need special meals, or that a series of highs were caused by my NOT eating. I remember CORRECTING my high school health teacher when she taught the class about how diabetics couldn't have sugar and when she said type 1 was genetic. Do you remember back when EVEN DOCTORS would tell diabetics that sugar made your bs go up high then fall back low quickly? Even as a little kid, I KNEW that wasn't true. I knew it made your blood sugar go up but not back down. The way that people really grasp onto and defend their ignorance consistently infuriates me.
Sorry if this has gone off topic of this boy who was suspended for having glucose tabs. But I posted it originally BECAUSE it demonstrates so well the attitude that so many ignorant teachers and school officials have. Now, I know a few good teachers, and even had a few, but MOST of the people I know who became teachers were the bottom of the barrel people -- low on smarts and "liked kids." I'm sorry if that offends, but it was true! The people from my high school who I see on facebook became teachers were the most simple (read that how you like) folks. If I had kids, I'd home school.
This is just not right. Please have anyone you know email the super at rcharles@mail.stcharles.k12.mo.us
Quick note, it looks like this happened in the late 90's or early 2000. The article was last updated in 2002.
-Jonathan
Age 30, dx age 2
MM722 2007
that school needs to fire its principle and superintendant! i pass out glucose tablets to my friends all the time. if they are a "drug", then im a supplier of drugs. if it happened to me i'd sue my school for every penny they had. (which isnt much).
~Melanie
Dxd: Sept, 14 1999
Being a teacher myself....I have to look at this from both sides.....true...sugar tablets are not drugs and all of the student's teachers should be aware and actually have sugar tablets on hand in case of lows.....where this young man went wrong, was he shared them with other students. This shouldn't have happened! I am sorry to see that this situation went as far as it did. There was probably a huge breakdown in the communication system......very unfortunate.
This is rather old, the last update to the article was in August of 2002.
It does make me sad our school districts no tolerance policies are this strict.