Along with snow days and holiday breaks, winter also brings one not as pleasant quality: flu season.

Symptoms include achy bones, headaches, sore throats, and pretty much every other issue possible. Even those who claim to be the healthiest end up getting sick. In fact, according to statistics, about 20% of Americans will get the flu at least once during the duration of the year.

This year so far, according to CNN.com, the flu has resulted in 200,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. alone. In a school that has 1,200 students, it can be difficult to not catch an illness that has been going around, such as the flu. The simplest ways to prevent the flu is to carry  hand sanitizer in your backpack and use it when necessary, and avoiding touching your face, mouth, or eyes at school.

To gain further insight into how the flu has affected NAI, we interviewed the school nurse, Mrs. Istone. When asked about the number of students affected by the flu so far, Mrs. Istone informed us that she “hasn’t seen a large change in students who have gotten the flu. Although, a decent number of students in this building have had the flu, and some have been hospitalized.”

“I don’t think anyone washes their hands enough to avoid sicknesses. I also know that it’s hard to miss school for students, but they really should rest for at least 24 hours to avoid transferring the sickness to another kid”, Istone advised.

If and when students get the flu, there isn’t an abundance of things to do due to the fact that they may pass out if they do anything more demanding than laying down.

After speaking to NAI students to find out what they do on sick days (besides sleeping), we determined that there is two categories. The first being entertainment related activities, and the latter being frantically trying to make up the school work they are missing.

Some teachers often expect students to be ready with their missed work on the day they come back to school. However, they sometimes cease to remember that when students are missing a day due to illness, the last thing they feel up to doing is school work. Because of this, days that should be spent resting can often be spent stressing about all the school lessons and activities that is being missed.

“I never rest on my sick days because I’m so worried about the work I’m going to have to make up”, reflects an NAI student.

As for the entertainment factor, most students interviewed replied that they eat and watch Netflix when they are not sleeping or working on homework. 

Stay healthy, NAI!