# Prof brings sick baby to class; gives suck. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662 "2012-09-14T04:16:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/21 "2012-09-14T08:05:07Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Babies who are cared for in daycare get many colds in the first year until they develop better resistance. They get fevers and most daycares won’t allow them to attend, so one of the parents or a sitter will have to take care of them. \*\*Most of the time, the adults have greater resistance, and so we parents do not catch as many colds from them. She was not negligent in “exposing” her students to the baby’s fever. > \*\* > She’s a single parent, and didn’t have an alternative lined up. A bit naive, perhaps, but if so, then she’s got plenty of company. > > **As far as if it were professional or not, she had an emergency and she dealt with it.** It’s not an ongoing issue, she’s lined up a baby sitter for if it happens again. > > There does seem to be a huge hang up in America about breast feeding. It’s no big deal. I can’t imagine who would go out of their way to contact the school paper to report it. Referring to the bolded parts: You have no way of knowing how much exposure the sick child caused her students. No way of knowing. Yes, most of the time adults _do_ have greater resistance but you also have no idea of the health of those people in the class or who THEY are bringing this stuff home to. I’m sorry, I’m not about to give her kudos for “dealing” with her emergency. She’s a professional adult in charge of the welfare of a child. She is supposed to have backups to daycare. Any idiot knows that daycare facilities do not allow feverish children to attend so an actual **responsible** professional makes sure that he or she has a backup to that. Perhaps even a backup to the backup if they value their job in this tight job market. Like someone else mentioned, she could have cancelled class. I know I had professors cancel for less reason than that. No, instead she decided to bring her kid to where students are paying good money to be taught. Distractions are part of any educational setting but it’s a damned shame when it comes (quite willingly) from the person who is supposed to be in charge of the classroom. I’d be willing to bet she did it fully anticipating it would become a newsworthy thing and she could wrap herself up in the “I AM A MOTHER I CAN BREASTFEED ANYWHERREEEEES!” mantra that even some in this thread are trumpeting. For most people I doubt it’s about the breastfeeding at all, but there are always people willing to make it about that because that’s a favorite button to push. What’s next? Plenty of adults are now caring for their incapacitated elderly parents. Maybe grandpa can attend class in the corner and regale the group about his WWII days in a dementia stupor if his home health care worker bails for the day. Most people have life responsibilities outside of their jobs and they have to learn acceptable ways to handle them. Bringing your sick kid to work to bother your class of students isn’t a good one but I suspect she already knew that. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/22 "2012-09-14T08:21:17Z")
Some relevant articles from American University’s newspaper “The Eagle.” [http://www.theeagleonline.com/opinion/story/a-note-from-the-desk-of-the-editor/](http://www.theeagleonline.com/opinion/story/a-note-from-the-desk-of-the-editor/) [http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/story/breast-feeding-news-judgement-under-scrutiny-after-national-attention/](http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/story/breast-feeding-news-judgement-under-scrutiny-after-national-attention/) Apparently, the breast feeding professor was the first one to bring this issue to the attention of the public. I have no problem with breast feeding in public, and I strongly support top freedom for women. But anyone who cannot easily see the practical problems of professors bringing their infants to class with them is living in a dream world. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/23 "2012-09-14T10:08:00Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > Don’t pretend it’s about the germs, because you’re completely full of shit if you do. It’s about her whipping out a tit and sticking it in her kid’s mouth. Breast feeding makes some people uncomfortable even though _that’s what boobs are for_. I don’t much care about breast feeding in public (although to be honest I hate the sound) and the sight of boobs bothers me not a whit, but surely there are limits to this behavior just like there are limits to any other behavior. I’m hard pressed to think of any bodily function that is acceptable anytime, anyplace. Even eating, which is so socially acceptable it is practically required in many social settings, is not okay under all circumstances (eg., while teaching a class). Apart from anything else, if the baby is in daycare presumably mom regularly pumps breast milk to be fed to the baby during the day. So why not prepare a bottle that day and give the baby that? It would still be unprofessional as hell IMHO, but it would at least be marginally less distracting. Is it too much to ask that she be even that prepared? > [@](#): > > It should be acceptable — even encouraged — for women to bring their children to work. Are you serious? It’s hard to even have a casual conversation with a new mom without her being distracted every few seconds, I can’t imagine what it would be like to try to work with one. And all the crying and pooping would not be a welcome addition to most offices. What the US needs is better maternity/paternity leaves, not workplaces filled with packs of babies. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/24 "2012-09-14T11:02:01Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > Pfft, big fucking deal. The main reaction seems to be against the nursing, not in bringing the kid to class. > > Some people are trying to frame it as a health issue, which is transparently bullshit. No one would even have noticed if the teacher had come to school with a cold unless she were literally streaming snot from her nostrils and coughing between every other word. > > Don’t pretend it’s about the germs, because you’re completely full of shit if you do. It’s about her whipping out a tit and sticking it in her kid’s mouth. Breast feeding makes some people uncomfortable even though _that’s what boobs are for_. > > As far as I’m concerned, it should be considered completely normal for women to breast feed anywhere, at any time. I would have no problem with women bringing their kids to work — even in an office environment — until they’re old enough to move around and need more attentive supervision than someone tied to a desk would probably be able to provide. > > It should be acceptable — even encouraged — for women to bring their children to work. The way it is now in many industrialized countries, many babies are effectively raised by strangers in creches from the age of about 6 months. Think that has no impact on later social development? If anyone did a good study on mother-child contact up to about age 2, I would be willing to bet a big chunk of my annual salary that they’d find it has a _huge_ effect on the child’s attachment to their parents, baseline anxiety levels, aggression, and the development of empathy. > > Man, the longer I live overseas, the weirder people back home seem to get. Six months? Try six WEEKS, which is when my day care will accept an infant. I know quite a few moms who had to return to work at six weeks postpartum. I returned after 11 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/25 "2012-09-14T11:14:42Z")
The situation really wasn’t an emergency at all. Yeah, it would suck to miss the first day of class, but it’s not a huge deal. Anyway, it being the first day, before the students know what kind of teacher you otherwise are, makes it all the more inappropriate. But I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. If I was in the class I wouldn’t care. I don’t care about the breastfeeding any more than I would if she’d been bottle feeding the baby during a lecture, but the baby being there at all wasn’t a good idea and I don’t see how she could have not realized it would have consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/26 "2012-09-14T11:34:06Z")
It does surprise me when people find breastfeeding offensive. I really don’t get that. But it surprises me equally that on the other side we have people who can’t understand that natural doesn’t necessarily mean appropriate. Well actually I think they do understand, but they somehow think the best way of winning the “breastfeeding in public” debate is to take the opposite extreme view of the situation to those who don’t like it. > [@Sleel](#): > > Don’t pretend it’s about the germs, because you’re completely full of shit if you do. It’s about her whipping out a tit and sticking it in her kid’s mouth. Breast feeding makes some people uncomfortable even though _that’s what boobs are for_. You know what dicks are for? Can I whip mine out and stick it in my girlfriend wherever I want? “Stop being uncomfortable grandma, _that’s what it’s for!_ Pass the butter, please.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/27 "2012-09-14T11:47:26Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I was actually more bothered by the sick baby crawling on the classroom floor, getting a paper clip in its mouth, and getting too close to an electrical outlet. “And now, class, we will see a demonstration of Faraday’s principles.” BZZZZT I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/28 "2012-09-14T13:17:26Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I do think breast feeding is good for babies generally Don’t start bringing those wacky foreign kind of ideas in here! ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/29 "2012-09-14T13:28:40Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > The situation really wasn’t an emergency at all. Yeah, it would suck to miss the first day of class, but it’s not a huge deal. Anyway, it being the first day, before the students know what kind of teacher you otherwise are, makes it all the more inappropriate. You’re exactly right; it wasn’t an emergency. In fact, I’ll bet my ass she was just _itching_ for class that day so that she could bring her ‘sick’ baby and nurse it in class. Because that was the lesson for the day, you see. Did I see somewhere that it was a 2-hour lecture? Nurse it before. Nurse it after. You can do it in the same room, you can do it in the hallway, you can do it on a park bench on the quad, for all I care. This was nothing more than a stunt, though. There is no practical reason to bring an infant to a lecture. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/30 "2012-09-14T13:33:43Z")
I think the relevant question is whether people would have considered it inappropriate if she brought the same baby to the class and used a bottle to feed her. If people have a problem with breastfeeding itself, and would have been OK with a bottle fed baby, I think they’re being out-of-date, pearl-clutching jerkwads who project sexual perversion on a normal mothering behavior. But if people felt that having a crawling baby in a classroom, under the care of the professor who’s trying to teach, to be distracting and inappropriate, I can completely see that. As noted above, babies need constant care and intervention, and when they can move about on their own, they are very distracting to the caretaker if that person is trying to do something else. They can also be loud! I can kind of see taking a newborn who would stay in a sling, either sleeping or quietly nursing. But an older baby is a legitimate distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/31 "2012-09-14T13:35:16Z")
I don’t care if she she brings a baby to class as long as it is _quiet_. I don’t care if she keeps it quiet by breastfeeding it or shooting it up with heroin. But if it’s crying, it is a distraction and I’ll be at the Dean’s door with torches and pitchforks. Not because of her fucking boob, but because a teacher who intentionally arrives with distractions is an asshole. It’s inapparopriate to bring anything that’s constantly noisy and requires human attention to a classroom environment, and then setting it free on the floor! It’s no different than bringing a constantly barking dog to class, and let it run around to lick people and pee on shit. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/32 "2012-09-14T13:38:28Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Referring to the bolded parts: You have no way of knowing how much exposure the sick child caused her students. No way of knowing. Yes, most of the time adults _do_ have greater resistance but you also have no idea of the health of those people in the class or who THEY are bringing this stuff home to. Oh my god, won’t someone think of those student who will be killed by that baby? Yes, this is terrible. There is a whole class of people who could drop over from the flu, and take it home and spread it to their elderly parents. The lives of millions of people are at stake here. Let’s see. When a baby get a fever, it’s often an ear infection or similar germ. Pretty much no danger from that. However, it could be The Flu! This could be a plot to make our youth sick. Except that young adults are typically the most resistant to the flu. [For adults who are sick:](http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/spread.htm) > [@](#): > > How Flu Spreads > > Person to Person > > People with flu can spread it to others up to about 6 feet away. Most experts think that flu viruses are spread mainly by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Less often, a person might also get flu by touching a surface or object that has flu virus on it and then touching their own mouth or nose. So an adult who is sick and spread the virus up to six feet away. A baby, with significantly smaller lungs maybe two feet? Three? Won’t someone think of all those students who are within three feet of this sick baby? ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/33 "2012-09-14T13:38:56Z")
I don’t see any huge big drama about bringing a sick baby to class - presumably the professor would’ve turned up herself if she’d had a fever, so she wasn’t exposing the students to any more germs than she would’ve in that situation, plus germ hysteria is boring. I also don’t see the big deal about breastfeeding in class. With a good sling, it’s perfectly possible to breastfeed while giving your full attention to something else, so it’s not like the breastfeeding had to take away from her concentration on teaching. The very fact that it’s an issue, when ‘OMG she bottlefed in front of everybody!!!’ wouldn’t be, is silly. At first I thought this was like a six-week-old, and I didn’t see why anyone would be bothered - stick it in a sling, it’ll happily spend the whole lecture nursing and dozing, not bothering anyone. But this kid was old enough to crawl (and, of course, go straight for everything dangerous). That’s a distraction to everyone in the room, professor and students alike. It may have been unavoidable, but once it harms the lecture, it’s unprofessional. Not horrific, but not a good idea. ETA: Unauthorized Cinnamon basically said it already. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/34 "2012-09-14T13:49:23Z")
It’s not the most professional thing ever, but I can’t imagine caring at all about it as a student. I’d much rather have had a professor show up with a baby so we could get the syllabus and get a feel for things than have her cancel the class and have to deal with making it up later, considering how little time my school had for its initial drop-add period. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/35 "2012-09-14T13:55:47Z")
> [@Vihaga](#): > > It’s not the most professional thing ever, but I can’t imagine caring at all about it as a student. I’d much rather have had a professor show up with a baby so we could get the syllabus and get a feel for things than have her cancel the class and have to deal with making it up later, considering how little time my school had for its initial drop-add period. They wouldn’t have had to make up the class, or at least I’ve never heard of such a thing. Not much usually happens the first day of class anyway, and she could have posted the syllabus online. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/36 "2012-09-14T13:57:44Z")
what’s the big stink? if she changed the kid’s diapers on the table in front of the class then that would be a big stink. everyone should be able to bring kids and pets to school if they are in a jam, not just faculty; it ain’t fair. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/37 "2012-09-14T14:06:04Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > They wouldn’t have had to make up the class, or at least I’ve never heard of such a thing. Not much usually happens the first day of class anyway, and she could have posted the syllabus online. I was talking about the material. Not much happens the first day other than a discussion of the syllabus and goals, so it seems like it would be the best class to have a distraction present and still get the point across. I’d still have rather had the class than taken up the time later. (I pretty much never skipped classes.) ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/38 "2012-09-14T14:09:05Z")
If this professor were intelligent, she’d have turned this into a really great lesson. The class was a feminist studies class on sex, gender, and culture. This class is focused around this situation. What better way to teach than to say “here is what women deal with in real life, every day. I’d like a discussion on your reaction to seeing a baby in the classroom and a 500 word essay on the pros and cons of breastfeeding in the workplace.” But she didn’t do that because she’s not smart and she didn’t think about anyone but herself. So because it wasn’t a classroom activity, we need to back it up and ask “is it appropriate for a woman to breastfeed while simultaneously teaching class?” The answer is no. No more so than her bringing in plate of biscuits and gravy and saying “sorry guys, couldn’t get to breakfast this morning,” and consuming it while trying to lecture. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/39 "2012-09-14T14:14:43Z")
Professor Pine’s [essay](http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/09/05/exposeing-my-breasts-on-the-internet/) is a great example of Poe’s law. It’d be nearly impossible to say definitively that it wasn’t a parody if you weren’t aware of the context. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662/40 "2012-09-14T14:21:37Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > If people have a problem with breastfeeding itself, and would have been OK with a bottle fed baby, I think they’re being out-of-date, pearl-clutching jerkwads who project sexual perversion on a normal mothering behavior. Maybe they just don’t see the need for her to engage in controversial behaviour during a lecture, regardless of which side of the debate they’re on, when there is an alternative that is just as practical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prof-brings-sick-baby-to-class-gives-suck/634662.md?page=3)