Dear all sick students and their parents,
Sick students: Don’t come to school. Parents who insist on sending their kids to school: fix your parenting.
Most students know the feeling of waking up on the morning of a big test and feeling like absolute garbage. The option of ‘toughing it out’ for just one day to not get behind on work or miss important assignments or lectures is always there, but please, in the interest of everyone else who has to be at school with your flu or cold ridden body, just take the day off.
High school is a stressful time for everyone and the thought of missing a day of school can often send kids into a frantic state of worrying. Illnesses appear to come at the most inopportune times, striking just when you need to be at peak physical and mental capacity. Being sick is terrible and having to make up work is no better, but it is not worth getting everyone else sick so you can take that one quiz and not have to stay after school for the make-up. Nobody wants to sit at a germ ridden desk where someone, unbeknownst to an innocent healthy student, has been wiping their snot all over throughout the last period.
Illnesses spread like wildfire in schools and their presence can immediately be felt throughout the entire school when they hit. When winter comes, so do the sniffles. And when the flu hits, it hits the school hard. So if you feel sick, stay at home and do not subject the rest of the school to your illness.
To parents, stop forcing sick children to go to school. Sometimes, extra work will be required and accommodations may have to be made to ensure the health of your child. This is a sacrifice that should be taken in the interest of your child and all the other students who will be exposed to them. Regardless of what a child is saying about the work he has in school that day, if he or she is sick, tell them to stay home. Their work can wait and a single absence is not worth the added stress of a school day when they should be resting at home.
If someone has a fever, they need to stay home until their fever has gone away for at least 24 hours. This is a rule that is often disregarded, contributing to the rapid spread of illnesses in schools. Allow ample time for recovery, as there is no way a student can do their best work fighting an illness, so parents, do not push them to fight through sickness, tell them to rest.
As a parent and a student, a decision must be made to decide if going to a school is a necessary risk. A small cough is not a valid reason to stay home so it is important to accurately assess the degree of your sickness. The only person who knows how sick you are is yourself, just do not wait until everyone else at school can tell also.
Sincerely,
Everyone else who would prefer to stay healthy
Matthew Lind
Back Page Editor
