Posted on 11/21/2006 12:21:51 PM PST by eartotheground
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Dozens of middle school students will be tested for hepatitis and HIV after their substitute science teacher allowed them to share needle-like instruments to prick their fingers for blood.
The teacher, whose name was not released, was giving a life-science lesson to five seventh-grade classes Thursday at John F. Kennedy Middle School when he asked for volunteers to have their blood drawn using lancets so they could look at it under microscopes. Lancets are similar to the tools that diabetics use to test their blood sugar.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Science teacher???
She sure was.
Was this done because of a lack of supplies or just incompetence?
These tests may not prove anything.
On the other hand, 5th graders SHOULD be untainted by HIV at the tender age of 10-11, so LIKELY nothing happened.
is a 'substitute teacher' another term for a 'sex surrogate' ?
I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of lack of supplies. With all the money being poured into public schools, it sure doesn't go to supplies, at least not in the Baltimore area.
ABSOLUTELY no reason for this to have occurred!! The SCIENCE teacher is in the wrong profession.
Do these people do this just so the people will be sued?
Two possible answers:
1) Lack of supplies caused this -- the schools need a big cash infusion so they can hire administrators to oversee a bigger budget for school supplies.
2) Incompetence caused this -- the schools need a big cash infusion so they can hire administrators to oversee a bigger training budget.
She should have flunked biology labs in college.
JFK Student Manual, Rules & Regulations
IV. Life Science
a.) Students may not prick their fingers, but they may finger their pricks. (Teachers may assist, per collective bargaining agreement, Local #123.)
(G. Carlin)
But the ones morphing from - to + sure can.
What an idiot. My husband does blood typing in his biology classes and he's absolutely fanatical about keeping the kids from exchanging lancets or bleeding on one another etc. In fact, he's gone so far in certain classes as to not allow the students to prick their own fingers, he gets the nurse to come in and do it.
Nor does he force any student who objects to participate in the experiments. He provides alternatives to make up the grade. He also requires a signed permission form before these types of experiments, if they don't have it, too bad. No grade and no makeup.
SUBSTITUTE TEACHER. Hey, I'm not certified to teach science, but I understand basic hygiene when it comes to dealing with medical equipment. The school district just opened themselves up for a lawsuit, I'm afraid, with this one.
The risk is statistically low, sure, but kids can still have been exposed by sexual predators, their mothers, or blood products due to surgery or treatments such as those used for hemophilia.
Well if the class turn up negative, then it's unlikely one of them had been positive to pass it along. If my child were in one of these classes you can be certain I'd do testing every six months through the next school year.
The substitute teacher's name should be released.
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I agree. What an idiot. Even before HIV and Hep B became a problem, you would not let students share a lancet.
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Was this done because of a lack of supplies or just incompetence?
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I would be willing to bet that this school district has the same policy as many others across the country of not even having the kids do this particular lab. Most school districts are so afraid of problems with contamination that they will not allow any labs that involve using bodily fluids or even cheek swabs. I am sure that it's never been a practice anywhere to have students share a lancet.
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