Because of my OCD and frequent handwashing I've already permanently damaged the skin on my hands and arms, and it would be a thousand times worse now if I hadn't started carrying around and frequently applying lotion back in middle school.
But teenage!me would have been mortified at the prospect of having to get a doctor's note to justify having lotion for that reason, let alone having to explain all of that to my parents or having that shit put in front of a public notary.
With any sort of hygiene product I never grill my students about it because I know perfectly well that a couple of them have their own anxiety issues and compulsive rituals that involve soap, hand sanitizers, lotions, etc. And I have many more kids who just plain have dry skin, or are actually taking medication that makes their mouth and skin dry out.
That plus an environment filled with dry air, chalk dust, and allergens = NOT the place where you want to further punish kids by making things like chapstick and lotion controlled substances.
As for the cough drop thing, whatever. One of the district RNs suggested that we should keep a bag of Lifesavers with menthol in our desks to share with students instead. Apparently these exist, and recipe-wise are nearly identical to certain brands of cough drops (since menthol is the most common active ingredient in cough drops), but since they're packaged and sold as "candy" they don't officially count as cough drops. ;)
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Because of my OCD and frequent handwashing I've already permanently damaged the skin on my hands and arms, and it would be a thousand times worse now if I hadn't started carrying around and frequently applying lotion back in middle school.
But teenage!me would have been mortified at the prospect of having to get a doctor's note to justify having lotion for that reason, let alone having to explain all of that to my parents or having that shit put in front of a public notary.
With any sort of hygiene product I never grill my students about it because I know perfectly well that a couple of them have their own anxiety issues and compulsive rituals that involve soap, hand sanitizers, lotions, etc. And I have many more kids who just plain have dry skin, or are actually taking medication that makes their mouth and skin dry out.
That plus an environment filled with dry air, chalk dust, and allergens = NOT the place where you want to further punish kids by making things like chapstick and lotion controlled substances.
As for the cough drop thing, whatever. One of the district RNs suggested that we should keep a bag of Lifesavers with menthol in our desks to share with students instead. Apparently these exist, and recipe-wise are nearly identical to certain brands of cough drops (since menthol is the most common active ingredient in cough drops), but since they're packaged and sold as "candy" they don't officially count as cough drops. ;)