American University professor breast-feeds sick baby in class, sparking debate

[avebury]

I am curious to see what people have to say about this article. Is this truly an issue of a hostile workplace, anti-breast feeding story? Or is it a health issue of bringing a sick child into the workplace? Should she have availed herself of a sick day offered by her employer to stay at home with a sick child? Should she have let her Teaching Assistant take over lecturing for either the whole class or part of it while she took her daughter to another room? With a Teaching Assistant, I would think that the class would not have had to be canceled if she was unavailable. Does the concept of professionalism in the workplace play a role here?
Ms. Pine was in a situation that many women find themselves in.

Let the discussion begin.


FYI From American University's website:

Adrienne Pine
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology

Adrienne Pine is a militant medical anthropologist who has worked in Honduras, Mexico, Korea, the United States, and Egypt.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/american-university-professor-breast-feeds-sick-baby-in-class-sparking-debate/2012/09/11/54a06856-fc12-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html

Adrienne Pine was in a jam. The assistant anthropology professor at American University was about to begin teaching “Sex, Gender & Culture,” but her baby daughter woke up in the morning with a fever. 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 of the lecture hall during part of the 75-minute class two weeks ago, according to the professor’s account. The mother extracted a paper clip from the girl’s mouth at one point and shooed her away from an electrical outlet. A teaching assistant held the baby and rocked her at times, volunteering to help even though Pine stressed that she didn’t have to. When the baby grew restless, Pine breast-fed her while continuing her lecture in front of 40 students.

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On Tuesday morning, university officials issued a statement about the incident that seemed to indicate some disapproval of Pine’s actions, generally citing them as a health issue because the baby was sick. But school officials also noted that the situation was one that could confront any parent with multiple responsibilities. The university emphasized that faculty members should take advantage of options such as sick leave, break times and private areas for nursing mothers to express milk so they can “maintain a focus on professional responsibilities in the classroom.”

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In the Sept. 5 essay, Pine wrote that she was “shocked and annoyed that this would be considered newsworthy.” She lamented that her workplace had suddenly become “a hostile environment.” She also upbraided journalists at the Eagle student newspaper — which, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not published any article on the matter — and wrote that the tone of a reporter’s questions implied an “anti-woman” view.

[gollygee]

1. This should be interesting

Let the flame war commence.

I am very pro-breastfeeding, and have no problem with a baby being breastfed about anywhere, but I think if the baby was sick she should have stayed home with the baby.

[sammytko]

2. Yeah, sick baby crawling around on a dirty floor? Gross

I think she's just trying to make a statement, stir up controversy.

[vanlassie]

3. Was someone bothered by distraction in the form of

form of a crawling baby, a sick baby, or a BREASTFEEDING baby?

[Brainstormy]

4. Simply unprofessional

I'm the most avid proponent of breast feeding in the world, but having also been a college professor for 14 years, I find this whole thing incomprehensible. There had to have been some other solution for this mother. Besides, if the child was sick, she was endangering her class, too. And what the hell is a "militant medical anthropologist"?

[joeybee12]

12. When kids get sick, they spread it around quickly...

And in a closed area like a classroom, those students might have caught something...this mother sounds very irrepsonsible.

[Kookaburra]

5. Sick baby?

That's the only thing that stands out here. It isn't wise to bring a sick baby to the workplace because you cannot, regardless of how carefully you shield the child, be sure that whatever the kid has won't spread to everyone.

[gkhouston]

11. You also can't be sure that the already-sick child won't pick up something else.

And who's going to pay attention to the lecture when they can watch a baby instead?

[Blue_Tires]

6. Uh...Professor Pine, just CANCEL your goddamned lecture for the day

You students will understand, and other professors do it all the time...

[malaise]

14. That was her best option

I have no problem with her breast feeding the baby, but having a healthy, let alone a sick child crawl around on a dirty floor with paperclips and an electric outlet is irresponsible.

[abelenkpe]

7. I would have stayed home with the baby

Honestly the paperclip worries me most about this story. Breastfeeding while teaching....no big deal.

[disidoro01]

8. I'm torn

So, if she could not stay home with the baby due to her own concerns over how it would affect her tenure, was it smart to breast feed in the middle of a lecture she was conducting? That may impact tenure. I am positve the school has a progressive policy on breastfeeding but I am not so sure that it says a professor can stop a lecture to breastfeed. Breastfeeding in public shouldn't be attacked but just as she would expect her students undivided attention, the students deserve hers.

[Javaman]

9. Frankly, the breastfeeding isn't the issue here.

it was a sick child that 1) shouldn't have been around other people who could potentially also contract what ever the child has 2) whose immune system is weakened due to its illness and is open to other possible contagions by being on a filthy floor eating filthy objects 3) and should have been kept at home and the prof canceling her lecture.

There is the a lot of stupid here, none of which has anything to do with breastfeeding.

[HappyMe]

10. When my kids were sick,

I stayed home with them.
Letting a sick baby crawl around on the filthy floor, and having to get a paper clip out of her mouth is an 'issue' for me. She should have stayed home.

[avebury]

13. More on the topic

http://moms.today.com/_news/2012/09/11/13806173-is-it-ok-for-a-college-professor-to-breast-feed-during-lecture?lite


Is it OK for a college professor to breast-feed during lecture?

This is not about breast-feeding in public

Pine whipped it out in public, but she didn’t do it on a park bench or at the library. She breast-fed while she was performing a public function of her job. It was no more appropriate to breast-feed her child than it would have been to change the baby’s diaper (or potty train her) in front of the class. What if the breast-feeding hadn’t soothed the child? Would she have delivered her lecture to the tune of "Rockabye Baby"? What if the baby were a sick, hungry 5-year-old? Would Pine have brought the contagious little cherub to work and had a pizza delivered?
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This is not about breast-feeding. It’s a matter of professionalism. And, yes, sometimes we all have to make very difficult choices between our families and our jobs. The truth is Pine’s daughter could have waited until after class to eat. Had she not been ill, she would have been in childcare during class, presumably either being bottle-fed or not eating.

[Marrah_G]

15. Parents with sick children should be able to stay home and care for them

That is what would happen in a civilized country/community.

[d_r]

16. I'm a university professor

I typically end up giving at least one internet-based class a semester because one of my kids is sick. It isn't that big of a deal - fire up your e-mail and your blackboard and give the students an assignment, and call in and have someone put a note on the door for students to check their e-mail and blackboard. I'm sorry but no lecture is worth dragging your baby in and letting them crawl on a university floor. A 200 level class a few weeks into the semester. And who has a TA in a class of 40? Are you kidding me? She has a TA and she goes in and lectures? Maybe she felt so pressured on the tenure track that she was afraid to cancel the class or something, but imho bad judgment on the side of the kid's welfare. It isn't "anti-woman" to say so, also imho, and calling yourself "militant" isn't a license for making bad decisions.

ETA: OMG it was the first day if class! E-mail your syllabus and tell them to print it out and see you the next class session. There's going to be drops and adds before the next class anyway. Chill out.

[Blue_Tires]

17. I work at a university, too

(staff not faculty), and this was a shocking show of unprofessionalism...

But to her credit, she inadvertently did the one indisputably great service to a college campus: Spark a very vivid debate...

[d_r]

20. you are right

And you are right she is sparking conversations and thoughts.

But I'm just going to say my opinion here. I'm sure she honestly feels threatened and pressured. She said she went because she was afraid if she canceled the first day it would reflect on her student evaluations and jeopardize her tenure path. Honestly, I don't think the students would have remembered or cared by the end of the semester if she had canceled the first day. But they will remember that first day now. And if she gets any negative ratings, she will say that the students were biased against her. But the students will probably be afraid to say anything negative even if there are other legitimate reasons over the course of the semester to do so, because of all the attention and because they will not want to look biased. And no one will have the guts to vote against her for tenure because they won't want to look like they are biased - and if they do, she could argue it was persecution. She may have a hostile work place and that will be uncomfortable, or she may not depending on her colleagues, and I am sure she never intended for this situation to play out this way. The work family balance is hard for everyone to figure out.

[LuvNewcastle]

18. I'll bet the students really learned a lot from that lecture.

Whether she used her breast or a bottle or a spoon to feed her child isn't the issue here. This teacher has two big responsibilities: she has a child to care for and she has students who are paying large sums to learn what she knows. She tried to kill two birds with one stone and, in the process, did a disservice to her child and the students. This was about the worst choice she could have made in this situation.

[MadrasT]

19. Ridiculous.

What child can't go 75 minutes without eating?

Anti-woman, my ass. Being a woman isn't an automatic license to be an idiot and scream "sexism" every time you make a dumbass decision.