Apparently, I missed the memo that it’s sickness season again. Everyone on campus seems to be sick with stuffy noses, coughs, and achy bodies. It’s an epidemic sweeping through the BYU community.
And yet, PEOPLE KEEP COMING TO SCHOOL. Here I sit in a very enclosed room with a chronic cougher sitting right behind me. Is it just me, or are the germs visible as they spew from the coughing mouth into the air around me? And I’m BREATHING that air?
Great. Thanks, buster.
Look, I understand the need to get good grades. I understand that you don’t want to miss any notes in class, and need to prepare well for the test–but at what expense? The health of the other 49 people in the classroom?
And here’s a flaw in our schooling system–attendance-based classes. Teachers are essentially the ones forcing kids to cough and hack and wheeze their way from class to class. Let’s be honest–a sick student would not be coming to class if there was a chance to make up the work after having talked with the teacher. But many teachers/departments aren’t that flexible. “This is college,” they say. And I reply with, “This is common decency.”
When the swine flu was first rolling through, teachers were asked to make special accommodations for students who were sick. Why can’t that always be the case? Why does it take the SWINE flu to finally get teachers to admit that maybe it’s better to keep sick people home?
Oh well. Maybe I’m totally off my rocker on this one.
