With the school year now in full swing, cold and flu season has swept in on its coattails. Kids who filled the summer months playing outside or in limited groups now spend their days inside. Elementary classrooms average 22 students, while middle schools and high schools pack 25 kids or more. Under these conditions, the average elementary student will pick up five to six viruses per school year, and an adolescent will average four.
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Students, both large and small, have little personal space in the average classroom. When one student sneezes or coughs, their germs almost certainly spread to several others around them. Parents often complain that their children seem always to be getting sick since starting school, calling it the "back to school plague." So, what can a parent do to prevent those germs from turning into a full-blown illness?
According to experts, the best way to teach your kids to prevent illness comes by way of good modeling at home. When kids see their parents constantly practicing good hygiene, they will automatically do it at school and be much less likely to pick up germs. For example, when parents sneeze into their elbows and practice diligent and proper hand washing, students will follow suit.
As bad as the discomfort of illness might be, homework piling up because of school absences can be just as hard for a child to deal with when they are feeling better again. With younger kids, one parent must take time off to stay home if he or she works in-person. Clearly, germs can wreak chaos if they find a way in, so wise parents diligently guard against their progress.
Factors other than preventing the spread of germs play key roles in keeping kids healthy. Parents must also focus on these key elements:
Despite a parent's best efforts, those persistent germs will sometimes still infect kids. How does a parent know whether to send them to school with a cold? Parents must consider not only their own child's well-being, but whether their student is contagious. In general, experts agree on the following guidelines when making the decision about keeping a child home or sending them to school:
Students in high school who aren’t feeling well should follow the same guidelines about when to stay home. However, elementary school kids and teenagers require different levels of parental care. While most teenagers can look after themselves with frequent check-ins, younger students need a parent with them during their illness.
Teachers often excuse makeup work in the youngest students, while older elementary kids can usually catch up fairly quickly. The real quandary lies at the feet of high schoolers, who often face mounds of makeup work missed during their absence. These students can easily become sleep deprived, tirelessly trying to catch up, putting them at risk of remaining sick longer or catching something else. To avoid this, parents should work with teachers to create a manageable makeup work schedule.
The reality remains that when parents send their kids to school, most of those kids will contract a virus simply from being in such close proximity to their peers. But diligent parents can make a difference, reducing the number of viruses their child contracts. Smart parents remember these guidelines:
As the world returned to a relatively normal state, and COVID-19 ceased to be the only virus on people's minds, kids went back to the classroom. The common cold joined them, as did strep throat and tonsillitis, the flu, and stomach bugs. School nurses everywhere spend their days calling parents to pick up sick students, but with a bit of prevention, parents' phones don't have to ring quite as often.