Hello Kirkwood Call readers, I come to you snuggled under my covers in bed with a pounding headache, red-nosed, sniffling and out of tissues. We are in the midst of the season of sickness, and my plea to you all: keep your germs to yourself and stay home from school if you are sick.

Spreading sickly germs to other students seems to be the least of your worries, especially when it’s necessary to miss more than one day of school. The missed school work continues to pile up, not to mention having to make time to learn the material you missed while you were out.

Staying home to avoid spreading your sickness to other students and faculty should be common courtesy. Even though in a school our size, illness is bound to spread. Nevertheless, keeping your germs to yourself is always the polite thing to do.

According to CNN news, their studies show that giving your body a day to recover from and fight off illness can shorten the duration of it and be more beneficial for your body in the long run. Continuing with routine can actually take your body longer to recover from being sick. So do yourself a favor and stay home to rest.

Though a teacher’s sympathy to sickness is rare, they should allow at the very least students the number of days the student was out sick to catch up on work. As for learning the material you missed, homeroom would be ideal, but good luck learning anything waiting in line to ask your teacher a question. I have found meeting with a teacher before or after school is best.

Whether the illness is contagious or not, it’s best to rest and recover from the comfort of your own home. Your classmates will thank you.