As flu season rolls by, student absences start to increase

Coughing up a lung when you’re sick is never fun. It’s even worse if it’s in the middle of a test. You and your peers are aware of the germs and bacteria dispersing into the air. Not a pleasant thought.

Being sick can take a toll on not only your health but also your academic performance. Deciding whether or not you should go to school when you’re sick can be tough.

Sophomore Olivia Owens-Treiger has been sick multiple times this school year and has missed a lot of school because of it.

Owens-Treiger believes that people coming to school sick depends on how long the person has been out.

“I missed a week of school because I was sick and felt completely dead so at some point I had to come back,” Owens-Treiger said.

Despite the struggle to get caught up in school after being out for a while, Owens-Treiger feels that Schoology is an important and helpful tool for her.

“I think Schoology does a good job at keeping students up to date on what’s going on in their classes even when they’re at home,” Owens-Treiger said.

Freshman Emily Weintraub believes that it’s best to stay home and rest when you’re sick even though it can be very difficult to catch up on missed work.

“It’s tough coming back to school because I still feel drained and tired from being sick,” Weintraub said.

Despite students wanting to keep up with their work, coming to school sick can endanger other students’ health as well.

It’s easy for school-wide epidemics to break out.

Just earlier this fall, Roosevelt High School experienced their own epidemic of whooping cough which infected 13 students just in October and November.

The British Medical Journal conducted and reported a study in 1978 of a flu outbreak in a boys boarding school.

Out of the school’s total population of 763 boys, 512 were put on bed rest after one infected boy started the epidemic.

English Teacher Alec Duxbury believes that being exposed to sick students comes with being a teacher. Duxbury feels that he has benefitted from being around students throughout the years.

“Being surrounded by students all the time has actually been good for my immune system,” Duxbury said. Duxbury believes that throughout his teaching career, his immune system has gotten stronger thanks to always being around students and other teachers.

One of the biggest and most important ways to prevent getting sick is washing your hands. It may seem like a simple thing, but it can have a huge impact.

Many believe that hand sanitizer is sufficient but Duxbury feels differently. “I’ve always felt like using Purell doesn’t allow your body to be as strong as it can be naturally,” Duxbury said.

The American Journal of Infection Control cited numerous studies showing that “hands are the single most important transmission route for all types of infections.”

At some point in your life, you’ve probably not washed your hands before leaving the bathroom. Be honest, everybody’s done it.

Things like doorknobs and bathroom faucets are touched by hundreds of people every day. Don’t take the chance. We all know being sick sucks.

By: Jen Wen