A sick student’s sneeze can spray a barrage of germs up to three feet, and the cold viruses within it can survive for up to three days on inanimate objects like desks, textbooks and computers. In short, it’s a bad idea to come to school sick. And yet, we all do it because students feel that missing a day is completely out of the question. There’s simply too much that goes on in school, and often times students find themselves making up work weeks after their illnesses. But blaming our school’s notorious workload is hardly the solution to this unsanitary practice.

In reality, the problem begins and ends with us. It’s a self-inflicted cycle. When students come to school sick they are less productive and take twice as long to recover when they refuse to take a day off.

This cyclic process is only heightened due to the infectious nature of colds. Statistics have proven that more than 50 percent of the expected yearly colds are contracted from school. By eliminating the sick from school, it will not only create a higher percent of attendance but will also help to stop the spreading of sickness. The logic is simple: the fewer students that come to school sick, the fewer students will become sick.

Stopping this increasingly prevalent practice requires collective effort, but if it keeps us healthy in the process, it’s worth a shot.