Diabetes in School

[ClaireBringins]

I'm looking to get schools to implement presentations in school to inform students about diabetes and wonder how I can go about this? My T1 son had som5class mates keep away from him as they thought it was contagious. He did a presentation and this changed their ideas. There is a lot of misconceptions around diabetes.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @ClaireBringins 🙂 Well done to your son for educating them! Diabetes U.K. have school packs but I know that’s not exactly what you’re looking for:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/your-child-and-diabetes/schools/school-staff

I would say it’s the teachers and school’s duty to ensure children with medical conditions aren’t bullied or disadvantaged.

 

[ClaireBringins]

@Inka thank you for your reply. I'd like it to be a compulsory government requirement for it to be rolled out and presented to schools. Probably a big ask but worth a try.

 

[rebrascora]

@Inka thank you for your reply. I'd like it to be a compulsory government requirement for it to be rolled out and presented to schools. Probably a big ask but worth a try.

I understand your situation but I think that you then get into the scenario of having to explain or provide content for other conditions too and there is only so much school time. Kids can sometimes be mean and pick up silly ideas very easily. I am sure there was a rumour that you could catch freckles when I was in school a lot of years ago and kids with red hair usually came in for some stick and my friend who had very tight curly hair was picked on for that and freckles. These are obviously nothing like dealing with diabetes but in some respects it is the same because kids single out other kids for being different. I think it may be one of life's lessons, learning how to deal with these situations. I know you will want to protect your child from it, but in some respects they need to learn to deal with it because they will come across misinformed people regarding diabetes throughout their life, as we are all well aware here.

 

[Inka]

@Inka thank you for your reply. I'd like it to be a compulsory government requirement for it to be rolled out and presented to schools. Probably a big ask but worth a try.

I think there’d have to be conditions, eg schools only did it if they had a child with Type 1 because some schools might, for example, have a number of children with epilepsy, asthma, etc, and would prefer to concentrate on those at that time.

Personally, I think there should be educational ads about common conditions that might need input from members of the public, so that members of the public know what to do if they find someone they suspect has hypoglycaemia/is having a seizure/is having a heart attack, etc, and also what not to do.

When I was teaching, I educated all children in my class about any conditions or differences their classmates might have. I also tried to cover conditions children in the whole school had. If the major concern is ignorance (like those children who thought they could catch Type 1) then I understand why you’d want some education as well as it being covered under their general bullying policy. Sadly, I’ve read about children with Type 1 being teased at school and it’s not acceptable.

 

[Lily123]

The only time school has it to cover in the curriculum is about one or two lesson during the homeostasis topic in biology during GCSE.

If you can change that, good luck.

If all common conditions like diabetes,asthma and epilepsy and alergies were taught about they’d hopefully be less bullying and ignorance

 

[JJay]

I think this is so sad. I was at school from 1955 to 1970, at uni from 1970 to 1973, and I can honestly say that I was unaware of anyone with diabetes, epilepsy or any other chronic condition in all that time. Nor did these conditions figure in any science lessons. Yet statistics indicate they must have been there in a school of 1200 pupils. If there had been any bullying or discrimination I'm sure I'd have been aware. I think these things were "hidden" then. I now wonder how these people managed? To clarify, I was diagnosed at the age of 43, and work colleagues just acknowledged it - I dealt with potential hypos with the usual sweeties without fuss and I don't actually recall anyone ever saying "are you OK?", though I'm sure they would have if necessary!

On the one hand I realise that better awareness, better education, would improve things, especially for young people, but on the other, I reflect that my own approach has been only to mention if important and just get on with it, and I'm fine with that. But I do think that my generation was more tolerant of "different", and I believe social media and the tabloid press are to blame for a huge amount of disinformation that fuels prejudice.

 

[SB2015]

I'm looking to get schools to implement presentations in school to inform students about diabetes and wonder how I can go about this? My T1 son had som5class mates keep away from him as they thought it was contagious. He did a presentation and this changed their ideas. There is a lot of misconceptions around diabetes.

I volunteer as a speaker for Diabetes UK, with a focus on schools. I go in to schools that ask for a speaker. They often ask for someone to do an assembly, I prefer to go in and do a full lesson, involving the student with T1 as little or as much as they want.
I have also done a session for the teachers On their training day. This is generally for schools where there is a student with T1.
You could contact your local Diabetes Uk office and see if they have a speaker in your area.

 

[SB2015]

I'm looking to get schools to implement presentations in school to inform students about diabetes and wonder how I can go about this? My T1 son had som5class mates keep away from him as they thought it was contagious. He did a presentation and this changed their ideas. There is a lot of misconceptions around diabetes.

Well done to your son for doing his presentation.