School has always been tough on students, but more often than not, it’s harder than it needs to be. All of the assignments from classes, club activities, sports and personal life already make every student’s day-to-day life more difficult. There are the tests that some students have multiple of in one day, stacked on top of each other by teachers because they need to get through material. However, this is at the expense of the students.
If that wasn’t bad enough, add being sick into that routine. In the past, more students would stay home for a day or two when they didn’t feel well, but not as many now. They feel the need to come in while feeling ill in order to not miss what is being covered in their classes. It feels like after COVID-19, students think that, unless they have COVID, they can deal with the cold and go to school. Not everyone does this, but enough students choose to, which makes this an issue. This decision causes chain reactions that lead to their friends getting sick as well, and that friend getting others sick, with the cycle continuing until it affects many people in the school and they still come to school because they have to.
For example, there have been students who have come to school after having migraines solely to not miss classes. Additionally, students with colds and other illnesses continue to come into school. Finally, the worst of all, missing a singular day of school and finding out that they had to make up three tests because they left early. Why are students having to make these decisions and being inconvenienced for being sick?
Students should not have to do this. Students are risking their physical, social and mental health coming into school while they are sick. This leads to added stress because they have clouded minds, stuffy noses, and headaches, yet they still have to take tests and learn. That is less efficient than taking a day off, but students feel unable to do so because they have little to no time to make up these tests, which sometimes take a week to do. That leads to the student having to learn new content in the class while still having to remember the work that is on the test they have to make up. It is just too much to handle.
Since this is such a relevant problem in all students’ lives, there could be a solution to this issue. The teachers have the schedule of their students’ workload when they put assignments into Schoology, so why not work around that? There could be designated days for each subject for tests. This does spread out tests on multiple days, but then there would be only one test that students would have to study for on one night instead of three. This would be helpful for all students, whether they are in sports and clubs, or just come to school and leave. This reforming of test schedules could lead to an overall rise in students’ physical and mental health, while also allowing them to afford to take a day off when they feel under the weather without having to worry about what they miss in a day.
