When and Why Should Students be Granted a Sick Day? Taking Breaks for Both Physical and Mental Health

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Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, prioritizing illness prevention and taking care of student health—both physical and mental—still remains crucial. While it can sometimes feel inconvenient to keep your child home from school, doing so when they are unwell is a key step in fostering a healthy learning environment for both your child and their peers. A sick day isn’t just about recovery; it’s also about teaching your child the importance of listening to their body, and respecting their physical and mental health. By exploring the many reasons to take a break, and offering practical tips informed by the guidelines of government publications, we hope to empower you to make informed decisions concerning days of rest during the academic year.

Sick Days for Physical Illness

There are many clear and compelling reasons to keep your child home from school when they are physically ill. Here are a few of them to keep in mind when contemplating if your child should take a sick day.

1. Preventing the Spread of Illness

Schools are hotspots for the transmission of illnesses like colds, the flu, and stomach bugs. Keeping your child home when they’re unwell helps protect other students and staff, reducing outbreaks and keeping the school community healthier. If fewer people get sick, then more people will be able to participate in class activities. Nobody likes getting sick, and nobody likes having their friend be absent because of it. That means that keeping other people healthy means being able to see friends in class, smoother group activities and fewer students feeling left out.

2. Helping Recovery

Rest is one of the most important parts of recovery from physical illness. Sending a sick child to school not only prolongs recovery time, but can also exacerbate their symptoms and increase discomfort. Staying home gives their body the chance to heal properly, preventing long-term damage to health.

3. Providing Care and Comfort

When your child is sick, they need the comfort of home and the support of a parent or caregiver. The Government of Canada advises that a parent encourage their child to rest, take their temperature, keep them hydrated, and not overheat with blankets. Treatment may also include providing appropriate medication, which can make a significant difference in how quickly they recover. Ensure that medication is given in the prescribed dosage and kept out of reach of children. This can be done by handing the dosage to your child yourself and storing it immediately after use. 

4. Recognizing the Connection Between Physical and Mental Health

Neglecting physical health can have a cascading effect on mental health. For example, chronic fatigue or prolonged illness can lead to stress, anxiety, and/or frustration. A sick day for physical health often indirectly supports mental health, giving your child the energy and focus to return to their routine refreshed.

Sick Day for Mental Health

1. Processing School Challenges

School can be a source of stress for students of any age, whether it’s due to academic pressure, social challenges, or other factors. Taking a day off to rest emotionally can prevent stress from building up to unmanageable levels.

2. Preventing Burnout

Just like adults, children can experience burnout. Signs might include exhaustion, irritability, and a loss of interest in activities they usually enjoy. A mental health day can help your child reset and return to their responsibilities with renewed energy. Similar to preventing burnout, simply taking a day to rest can reduce or even avoid future meltdowns for younger students and others, ensuring your child can feel at their best and perform to the fullest!

3. Self-Paced Reflection

Allowing a mental health sick day teaches your child to recognize when they are feeling overwhelmed or stressed. This self-awareness is a skill that will serve them throughout their life, helping them manage future challenges. It also reinforces the importance of prioritizing their mental and physical health, encouraging them to value their overall well-being. By taking a break when needed, they learn that rest and self-care are part of a work-life balance. These habits are important to develop early on. For example, planning the tasks and activities of the day themselves allows them to work at their own pace, teaching both self-regulation and reflection that will benefit them in the long term. 

4. Building Stronger Bonds Through Quality Time

A mental health sick day can also be an opportunity for you to connect with your child. Spend time talking to them, engaging in activities they enjoy, or simply being present. These moments can help you better understand their emotional needs and build trust. Understanding their needs can help you find the root of any avoidance behaviors. Perhaps you’ll find there is something upsetting your child at school, such as bullying or another difficult circumstance. Taking the time to understand your child helps you to make adequate decisions, ensuring that they trust you and you understand when action needs to be taken.

When and How to Take a Sick Day

Knowing when to give your child a sick day—and how to handle it effectively—is key to ensuring that the day serves its purpose of recovery and support.  Unlike employees in a workplace, children rely on parents and guardians to advocate for their well-being. You are their protector and primary supporter. It’s your responsibility to prioritize their physical and mental health, setting the foundation for them to take care of themselves as they grow older.

1. Check-In and Assess

For physical health, checking measurable signs like temperature or observance of other symptoms is important in assessing the severity of illness. To check in on mental health, you can input important, open-ended questions into conversation to help you evaluate emotion and energy levels. For example, you could ask how they feel about seeing their classmates again, or inquiring whether there is a cool concept they’re learning in math. If your child doesn’t approach you with their symptoms, you could start a healthy practice by asking your child how they feel physically and emotionally, often in casual conversation or before they leave for school.

2. Judge the Symptoms

Obvious signs like fever, significant pain, coughing, or vomiting clearly indicate the need for a sick day. However, it’s important not to overlook subtler symptoms. These can include fatigue, sluggishness, irritability, or loss of appetite. For both physical and mental health, these changes in behavior can be strong earlier indicators or something wrong. Ultimately, it will be up to your discretion if the observed symptoms warrant a sick day. But keep in mind, according to the government of British Columbia, the protocol for communicative diseases when a child develops symptoms at school does include separation from class and the arrangement for the child to be taken home by their parent or guardian.

Short-Term Relief, Long-Term Solutions

In deciding on granting a sick day, particularly for mental health, consider the context of your child’s schedule. For instance, if they’ve just returned from a stressful period, such as exams or an intense extracurricular commitment, a sick day might help them recharge. Conversely, if they’re avoiding a specific test or project, use this as an opportunity to discuss their feelings and find solutions since avoiding them can make their stress and workload worse. While the immediate goal is rest and recovery, the long-term aim should be to address how you can support your child going forward.

Occasional sick days are normal and necessary, but if your child frequently asks to stay home, it’s important to investigate further. Repeated avoidance could signal larger issues such as bullying, academic pressure, or an undiagnosed physical or mental health condition. It is always encouraged to seek help from resources and health professionals to best support the well-being of your child.

If you’ve already decided on a sick day, you may also use it as an opportunity to observe patterns or underlying causes. For physical symptoms that may not be explained by the common cold or flu, this might mean following up with a doctor to rule out chronic conditions. For mental health, consider whether stressors like academic difficulties, social dynamics, or a lack of balance in their schedule could be contributing to their need for a break.

Once the sick day is granted, create a plan that supports recovery. For physical illness, this might involve rest, hydration, and light activities. For mental health, consider relaxing activities like reading, creative projects, or talking and listening.

Preventing the Frequency of Sick Days

1. Rest Throughout the Year

One of the easiest and most effective ways to support mental and physical health is to make sure your child is getting enough rest. This includes both physical rest, like sleep and breaks from academic workloads. Reducing stress and taking adequate breaks during the school year is very important in not only keeping students physically healthy with a strong immune system, but also in looking after mental health. While physical health is often what first comes to mind for a sick day, ignored mental health can have consequences on a student’s well-being. A student's well-being affects so many things like their happiness, their performance, and their health—all things that any parent would care deeply about.

2. Reducing Spread of Communicable Diseases

As a parent, making sure your home is well-ventilated and clean prevents spread in your own home. Respirators and masks are also recommended to prevent spread. While COVID-19’s threat is less significant than during the pandemic, masks are still recommended for cold and flu symptoms. The government of Canada has the same mask recommendations for adults and children over 5. Children between 2-5 may also wear a mask if supervised, tolerated by the child, and are able to take it off when they want.

3. Health Awareness

Making sure that your child knows how to wash their hands and not share personal items like utensils and water bottles is important in reducing the frequency that your child gets sick. However, keep in mind that despite best efforts, it is almost inevitable that students experience illness at some point or another. While it can be frustrating, remember that most illnesses are temporary, and with proper care and rest, your child will be back, maybe even with renewed excitement. Getting sick is part of growth and building their immune system, and with each challenge, they learn valuable lessons about taking care of themselves and others.

Sick days aren’t just for recovering from colds or stomach bugs: they’re for addressing any aspect of your child’s health, whether physical or mental. When used thoughtfully, sick days can be a powerful tool to support overall well-being, provided they don't unintentionally encourage avoidance that could lead to long-term challenges. As we spend time with loved ones during the Family Day long weekend—or any holiday—it’s essential to check in with those we care about. Healthy relationships thrive on you and your children being open to talk and willing to listen and care about each other's wants and needs. Taking the time to connect meaningfully strengthens these bonds. On Family Day, let’s celebrate the bonds that come from prioritizing our well-being and supporting each other.