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Professor Sparks Debate After Breast-Feeding Sick Baby in Class
mysanantonio.com ^ | 11 September 2012 | via WaPo

Posted on 09/11/2012 9:32:27 PM PDT by smokingfrog

WASHINGTON — One day late last month at American University, Adrienne Pine was in a jam.

The assistant anthropology professor was scheduled to begin her course “Sex, Gender & Culture.” But her baby daughter woke up with a fever, and the single mother worried that she had no good child-care options.

So Pine brought her sick baby to class.

The baby, in a blue onesie, crawled on the floor when she wasn't strapped onto Pine's back.

The mother extracted a paper clip from the girl's mouth at one point and shooed her away from an electrical outlet.

When the baby grew restless during the 75-minute afternoon session with 40 students, according to the professor's account, Pine breast-fed her while continuing to lecture and review the syllabus.

(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: education
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To: smokingfrog

This “militant” teacher is dumber than a box of rocks. She should have stayed home with her sick kid and nursed it there instead of bringing it to class to make a statement.

She shouldn’t bring a kid to class, nursing or not. What would this idiot do should she show up to class one day and all the female students had brought their crumb crunchers?


21 posted on 09/11/2012 10:17:04 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Congrats to Ted Kennedy! He's been sober for two years now!!)
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To: svcw
If hey baby had a fever, why didn’t the mom seek medical attention.

Don't even get me started on people who run to the doctor at the first sign of fever. If the baby had been running a fever for the last 48 hours, medical attention would be warranted. Waking up with a fever? Not so much.

22 posted on 09/11/2012 10:25:38 PM PDT by Melas (u)
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To: smokingfrog

Yeah, she could have cancelled, but clearly bringing the baby along wasn’t a problem: the baby crawled around, got fed, and probably fell asleep afterward. So what’s the harm? If I were in that class, I’d be mildly amused, not outraged. Sometimes when you’re a single mother of a baby, life is complicated.

And for those who say that a professor can’t be fired: unless you’re tenured, yes, you can be fired. You may well just be working by a contract. If you don’t go to a lot of classes and cancel instead, your contract is not going to be renewed. It’s very motivating.


23 posted on 09/11/2012 10:27:35 PM PDT by ottbmare (The OTTB Mare)
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To: brightright

Babies with fevers are nothing to be concerned about. Unlike adults, infants become feverish with the slightest provocation. Infants with fevers do not need to be rushed to the doctor, and do not need to be kept away from healthy people. Unless the fever is accompanied by other symptoms such as pronounced lethargy which obviously was not the case here, there is nothing to worry about.


24 posted on 09/11/2012 10:29:30 PM PDT by Melas (u)
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To: ottbmare

Frankly, a loving mother would call in sick and care for her child. I’m not suggesting this woman hates her child, but you don’t have to be a professor to realize that taking a day off for your child is the best medicine in this situation.


25 posted on 09/11/2012 10:44:46 PM PDT by This Just In
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To: Melas; ottbmare
Infants with fevers do not need to be kept away from healthy people.

The hell they don't. A fever is often a sign of a contagious disease. It is irresponsible to expose the public to a child with a fever. A child with a fever should not be crawling around a classroom spreading disease. This selfish bitch didn't care if she infected the students. What if one of her students was on immunosuppressants? What if one of the students was sick and she was exposing her baby when it was vulnerable due to a virus?

And babies haven't developed the mechanisms to control fevers. A baby's fever can shoot up to dangerous levels very quickly. That woman was either neglecting her students or not watching the baby closely enough considering the fever. You can't teach a class and care for a sick child at the same time. You have to pick one.

What ever happened to common sense?

26 posted on 09/11/2012 11:09:01 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Whatever a homosexual union might be or represent, it is not physically marital. - F.Cardinal George)
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To: reflecting
Wow,is FR letter junior high boys post now?

I was using an accurately descriptive term but I guess it hit home.

27 posted on 09/11/2012 11:11:54 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Whatever a homosexual union might be or represent, it is not physically marital. - F.Cardinal George)
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To: Melas

“...and do not need to be kept away from healthy people.”

It is true that babies with fevers shouldn’t cause great concern, and that it is perfectly normal for them to experience high fevers at their age. By the same token, their fever could be one symptom of a contagious illness, and the child should be kept at home. Furthermore, a classroom, let alone an public location is not place to take a baby whose running a high temperature. They should be cared for in a sheltered, clean and controlled environment.


28 posted on 09/11/2012 11:37:50 PM PDT by This Just In
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To: Jeff Chandler
She brought a child with a fever into the classroom. What a selfish bitch.

If we all had Obamacare, you'd be able to go to the hospital if you got sick from her and her kid. < /sarc >

29 posted on 09/11/2012 11:48:49 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Obama likes to claim credit for getting Osama. Why hasn't he tried Khalid Sheikh Mohammed yet?)
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To: a fool in paradise

Good point.


30 posted on 09/11/2012 11:51:34 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Whatever a homosexual union might be or represent, it is not physically marital. - F.Cardinal George)
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To: GregH

I raised 5 and the women is to stupid to be a mother...No one takes a baby with a fever out into a crowd of people and let them baby crawl around on a dirty floor....any one that thinks she did right is a half wit...wonder what else the sick baby could pick up especially with the immume system is compromised with fever.....Breastfeeding hasn’t got a dam thing to do with it....


31 posted on 09/11/2012 11:59:20 PM PDT by goat granny
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To: goat granny

Yeah, she caught the babywith a paperclip in her mouth, off the floor.

She may not have caught all the paperclips, or other stuff.

I would take care of my animals better than she took care of her own daughter.


32 posted on 09/12/2012 12:11:35 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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To: GregH

What, no pics?


33 posted on 09/12/2012 12:14:01 AM PDT by Dadofmany
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To: Dadofmany
What, no pics?

I think that's the last thing FReepers would want on this thread.

34 posted on 09/12/2012 12:25:41 AM PDT by Isabel C.
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To: goat granny

Agreed, but the title of the post seemed to be saying breast feeding in public is a debatable topic and that is wrong.


35 posted on 09/12/2012 12:26:16 AM PDT by GregH
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To: Secret Agent Man

Your right on that, I would treat an sick animal better than that...she definately is a femi-nazi and they are all stupid....


36 posted on 09/12/2012 12:27:09 AM PDT by goat granny
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To: smokingfrog
Dr. Pine has worked both outside and inside the academy to effect a more just world. Prior to and following the June 2009 military coup in Honduras, she has collaborated with numerous organizations and individuals to bring international attention to the Honduran struggle to halt the state violence (in its multiple forms).

I'll just bet she collaborated.

I also have to wonder if she and her ilk will refer to Obama's November defeat as "an electoral coup by the bourgeoisie".

37 posted on 09/12/2012 12:32:43 AM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Love me, love my guns!©)
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To: GregH

For dumb women, a sick baby crawling on the floor is fine. I coun’t care less if she flopped both breasts out and wandered around the room...She doesn’t have a brain in her head and probably thinks she’s an expert on babys cause she breast feed it public.....I breast fed at the mall one day with my youngest, sitting next to the elevator and not one soul knew I was doing it.....its called being modest in your behavior....I wonder if she even bothered to wash off the breast and nipple before she stuck it in the poor babys mouth....


38 posted on 09/12/2012 12:32:55 AM PDT by goat granny
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To: ottbmare

I agree with your post!
Our opinion on this will be held in low esteem here I expect...but I don’t care, I think allowances must be made
for small children when they need a bit of extra care. What the heck is a mother supposed to do when her baby needs her!?

Nothing I said above makes me like a leftist fool any better though... but whether leftist fool or Sarah Palin clone a mom’s gotta take care of her baby!


39 posted on 09/12/2012 12:49:21 AM PDT by Bobalu (It is not obama we are fighting, it is the media.)
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To: smokingfrog

Call in sick, stay home, take care of your baby.

The world won’t stop turning no matter how important you think you are.

Even for radical leftist womyn without husbands.


40 posted on 09/12/2012 12:58:32 AM PDT by Iron Munro ("In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit." - Ayn Rand)
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