Sick students should stay home because they are a threat to the rest of the student body and faculty. Spreading illness and disease should be prevented by the removal of contagious students. At West High there has been an outbreak of coughs and sneezes. Students are still obviously going to school and spreading their illness to their peers and teachers for the sole purpose of salvaging participation grades, what can be considered a selfish act.

Because illness spreads exponentially one student sick in one class can make tens, and even hundreds of other kids sick simply by being present at school. Teachers should have authority to send any of their sick students home because with bigger class sizes packed in smaller rooms viruses are probably be spreading faster than they ever have before. Also, there are no benefits of going to school sick. When students enter school with their flu or cold they are unlikely to learn anything because they are either restrained by their illness or have taken so much medicine that they are constantly drowsy through all of their classes. By coming to school, sick students are also putting their peers at a disadvantage by making their healthy classmates sick and forcing them to stay at home, disrupting other’s health and studies. It’s just wrong to risk the health of multiple friends and classmates for grades.

The solution to this problem is to rid of all sick students until they are approved by a nurse to work in a classroom. Students who cough excessively or appear to be sickly should immediately be sent home. No sick teacher or student should be allowed to go on campus and spread viruses and illness to other people. Teachers should put lesson plans and homework assignments online for ill students to access at home, away from school. Also, ill students should not be penalized for their absence because teachers with harsh absence policies force ailing students to come to school and expose their peers to sickness. If the flu is underestimated it won’t take very long until West High is submerged with disease. To all sick students going to school please go home and get well for yourself, your classmates and your school.