Q: I’m a teacher in the trenches, which is not hyperbolic language. And I keep soldiering on. I don’t like being made to feel like wanting to stay healthy means I don’t want to teach my students in person. I want more precautions to be put in place, including getting tested regularly at school, for students to be tested as well, and for students and teachers to be supplied with quality masks that everyone must wear properly. And I want those things so I can keep teaching kids in person. I know that’s what most of them need, and it’s how I like to do my work. The thought of returning to remote learning fills me with dread. But while omicron itself is usually mild, if your colleagues are testing positive at increasing numbers, the reality is that schools can’t function effectively in person. Plus, who wants a virus, no matter how mild, that we’ve all been conditioned over the last couple of years to fear, and for good reason. It’s hard to fathom the sheer numbers of people who have died from COVID.
Yet, every day I head into battle because I’m fiercely loyal to my “squad,” aka my colleagues. Or perhaps it’s not loyalty exactly, but rather a sense of duty — we feel an obligation to help one another and try to keep the wheels turning even though they’re falling off the truck. We go to school because we know we’ll need that same support at some point, if we haven’t needed it already, and believe me when I say that there are no subs (or bus drivers, cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, or building services professionals to clear the parking lots of snow).
Which leads me to my point. As a result of all of the above, my colleagues and I are coming to work with the worst winter bugs of our life. We can feel and look like death, be on prescribed antibiotics or steroids (or know we need them but have no time to see a doctor!), and have a hacking cough or killer sore throat, but if our COVID test is negative and we don’t have a fever, most of us just show up. It’s a bizarre situation. Asymptomatic teachers who test positive yet feel fine are isolating, while COVID-negative teachers who feel sick as a dog are coming to work. Apart from making no sense, we’re all either crashing or on the road to crashing. I don’t know what the answer is. Do you? Does anyone? Where do we go from here?
A: First, I’m sorry you’re in this situation. No teacher should feel scared to go to work, or feel they must go to work when they’re too sick to function. You’re right; that’s not sustainable. It may sound counterintuitive, but I’m going to suggest that you and your colleagues are not helping one another as much as you think you are. While it might feel like generosity or reciprocity to cover for another under these circumstances, it’s a short-term (and short-sighted) “solution.” You can’t run on fumes forever. If you push yourself too hard and don’t allow yourself any time to rest and recover, you’ll eventually crash. Plus, you’ll spread the illness to other staff members (not to mention students), and over time more and more teachers are going to be out. You’re only propping up a broken system.
Instead, encourage unhealthy colleagues to stay home and to see a medical professional if their symptoms don’t improve. And set that same example, because COVID isn’t the only virus making the rounds. As the comedian Vinny Thomas recently tweeted: “Very embarrassing that I got sick and it wasn’t COVID. Everyone else got the name brand and I got Kroger Winter Illness®.” His humor may be dark, but he’s not wrong.
And while you can advocate for better safety measures, you can’t “make” your district prioritize your health. But what you can do is set good boundaries and take care of your own health, slow down when you feel terrible, and urge your “squad” to do the same. Remember that stress itself can make you tired, particularly the sustained stress that everyone is experiencing right now. You need more rest, not less, and that’s true for everyone, whether they’re sick or not.
Click here for more Career Confidential
Have a question that you’d like Career Confidential to answer? Email contactphyllisfagell@gmail.com. All names and schools will remain confidential. No identifying information will be included in the published questions and answers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phyllis L. Fagell
Phyllis L. Fagell is the school counselor at Landon School in Washington, D.C., a therapist at the Chrysalis Group in Bethesda, Md., and the author of the Career Confidential blog. She is also the author of Middle School Matters and Middle School Superpowers, available at https://amzn.to/3Pw0pcu.
