With a virulent cold, the flu, and Covid creating a perfect storm, classrooms are regularly filled with the familiar sounds of coughing and sniffling. However, an alarming number of students still insist on coming to school even when they’re sick, putting both themselves and others at risk. This behavior stems from the hyper-focused, fast-paced atmosphere fostered by our school environment that is not quick to forgive students who take a day off. It’s a familiar dilemma for many IHS students—take a sick day and face heaps of catch-up assignments when you return to school, or go to school feeling miserable and try your best to stay on top of it. Unfortunately, many students choose the latter.
The Tattler firmly believes that students should always prioritize health, both physical and mental. It’s an obvious concept on paper, but this idea is much more complicated in real life and requires action from both students and teachers to be realistically implemented at IHS. This issue is not exclusive to high-achieving students in rigorous classes; it also applies to students who are overwhelmed with other work as well, be it sports, clubs, music, jobs, or family commitments.
Before digging up a solution, it is necessary to address the root of the problem. We are all fully aware that continuing to work while unwell is never beneficial, but years of rigorous work have taught us to prioritize school above health. Students who face this decision are often painted as overachievers taking too many AP classes, but this overlooks those who are overwhelmed with additional commitments as well as the bigger issue at hand—the expectation of academic excellence placed upon students at IHS. Students face staggering levels of pressure from classmates, parents, social media, and themselves to perform exceptionally well by taking on impossible workloads while also being constantly told to take a break and prioritize themselves. Simply telling students to take on a lighter workload is unrealistic and ignores the societal pressures students face as well as the multitude of other, non-academic commitments IHS students must balance.
One deciding factor for students considering taking a sick day is if they can realistically stay on top of their grades or other commitments. For students to feel comfortable prioritizing their health, advanced classes’ rigid mindset must adapt and become more lenient. Teachers can combat this unhealthy behavior by providing students with more support systems such as late work policies that-
can sufficiently support students and give them the chance to take a breather when they need it. Teachers who have adopted the policy of allowing late submissions as long as the assignment is submitted before the teacher begins grading makes the process more realistic and reasonable for students with no extra burden for teachers. This is not to say teachers should completely abolish any consequence for not keeping up with work; instead, late work policies should be realistically tailored to the teacher’s grading schedule and lesson plans. Creating late policies that are realistic about when the assignments will be graded builds empathy between students and teachers and alleviates unneeded stress on the student. It is also important for teachers to clearly state their late policies at the beginning of the year and keep that information easily accessible on canvas.
In addition to more reasonable expectations for late assignments, teachers can also consider providing different forms of support to students outside of school. Small, practical things like providing helpful YouTube videos or recorded lessons, posting class notes, and creating a lesson archive will allow absent students to stay on top of their work easily while putting very little extra work on teachers.
Setting the classroom precedent that extensions and days off from school will not be the end of a student’s progress in the class allows students to feel comfortable staying home if they are sick and/or mentally exhausted. It’s up to all of us to build a more supportive and healthy environment in the place we spend nearly forty hours per week in. Students: make room for yourselves. Teachers: give them the space to do so.