The Sandspur

Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: News

Media Credit: MCT Campus AGHHH: Will you survive the assault of the Swine Flu?

As of Oct. 28, 351 schools in 19 states closed during the previous week due to the H1N1 virus, better known as Swine Flu. Federal officials are urging schools not to close except in extreme cases. The number of students who have had Swine Flu is rising, and Rollins students became included in that number when the virus swept our campus at the beginning of the school year. On Oct. 26, a middle school in Connecticut closed after 120 students stayed home sick and administration sent home another 20 students by noon. Since the beginning of the school year, close to 600 schools have closed; if this number continues to rise, it will soon surpass 700-the number of schools that closed during the first outbreak.

The amount of students calling in sick to school is staggering is some areas. St. Charles East High School, located outside Chicago, had 800 out of 2200 students call in sick on one day, causing the school to close its doors. However, officials are debating whether closing schools is actually helping the outbreak.

Donna Lovell, the director of pupil personnel for Berea Community Schools in Kentucky, feels that contagion is inevitable in schools.

She says, "Students are in such close proximity [to each other] and they're in two or three classrooms a day at two or three different desks."

Other officials argue that closing the schools is only prolonging the spread of the flu and increasing the probability of contracting the sickness.

There are several problems with closing schools. The number one debatable issue is coursework. Some schools are posting lessons on the internet, so students can continue their schoolwork, sick or not. Other schools are strongly against this approach, claiming that the kids just need to rest and get better. The last thing kids want to do is homework when they feel sick and have a fever.

Another issue is the pressure students feel while sick. If students are not allowed to go to school because they have the virus, their grades suffer the consequences. This is especially a problem for high school seniors applying to colleges.

Lastly, schools in urban and poor districts have many children who rely on free or reduced lunches in order to eat. If they are at home, they often do not have food available to them.

Kids are always exposed to one another, even outside of school. They go to each other's houses. They go to the mall. They go to the movies. Consequently, closing schools will not halt the outbreak of the Swine Flu, but many feel that closing is justified because it considerably reduces the spread of the virus.

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