Stay home when sick!

I remember during middle school, I’d go to school even with the worst illnesses just to keep up with work. Now, I’ve learned to stay home and rest. Going to school when sick has minimal benefits and more consequences for everyone.

I had personally learned this the hard way. For years before the pandemic, I had gone to school ill because I wanted perfect attendance. My middle school had even revered perfect attendance, giving students with such “achievement” a full field day while leaving all the other students with assignments that would impact their grades.

Now that the pandemic has (mostly) run its course, I now realize that I shouldn’t be trying to “tough it out” and stay in school when I clearly need to stay home. Just this year alone I have taken the most sick days off I had ever done in my time as a student.

“The most important piece is that we want people to stay home. Then it’s even more important for people to just stay home if they’re feeling sick,” said Assistant Principal Kevin Baker. He additionally recommends that people should go back to masking, even if masking hasn’t been required for nearly a year. 

You shouldn’t stress about missing any potential assignments or assessments either. Baker mentions that Google Classroom is a useful tool for students absent from school to catch up on assignments. 

“Most teachers have adapted and learned to keep stacks of makeup [work] and be prepared for any kid. Another recommendation is that it doesn’t hurt to just email your teachers,” Baker said. Due to this pandemic, students now have more reliable means of virtual communication, where teachers should be able to respond to them should they be absent from any class. Though this form of communication did exist before the pandemic, COVID has caused it to become more prominent, and teachers are more likely to use Gmail to contact their students.

Don’t let FOMO (fear of missing out) intimidate you into staying at school either. Even if there’s some big event, such as Homecoming, or you can’t play in a game because you’re sick, you’re better off staying home. It may be tough to miss exciting events, but you certainly don’t want to miss even more school as a result. Worse, someone else could get sick because of your decision to “push through.”

Missing school due to an illness can be tough sometimes, but you’re quite better off doing so. Now please stay home, I’d rather not miss more school.