The last few years it has been very common to hear the words flu and homecoming in the same sentence. Why is there always an outbreak of some kind at Homecomings?

There are many reasons as to why everyone gets sick after Homecoming. Homecoming always draws in a ton of people who throw caution to the wind and attend the dance with anything from a cold to the flu, sometimes even Covid-19. The usual crowd who attend Homecoming are lowerclassmen whose previous dances were small, short, and ended just before bedtime. Now they come to Highschool and feel the need to attend the second biggest dance a highschool can hold.

Homecoming is promoted to an extensive degree through tv, movies, social media, even commercials. So when they get the chance to hit the dance floor with some friends they take it, no matter how they’re feeling. And for many this excitement lasts all four years.

Then there is the accommodation. Everyone is wearing fancy clothes, which are meant to look good and only to be worn every now and then on a special occasion and don’t have all that many pockets. Students tend to bring things like phones, wallets, keys, makeup, jewelry, deodorant, even the souvenirs the school hands out, and have nowhere to put them. And yes, while the girls tend to bring purses and bags to carry these things and they still don’t have anywhere to put their purses, so where do these things end up? Discarded on the tables, sometimes the floor, often behind the bleachers, and some are left on benches.

Everyone uses the tables and benches meaning that they could become a petri dish for unwanted germs and illnesses to spread. The floor is covered day in and day out with peoples shoes that have stept in almost everything under the sun. And the bleachers are often covered in grime which leads to more attendees getting illnesses. 

There are a couple things students can do to avoid these problems, wear something with enough pockets to carry what you’re bringing home, keep your purses with you, and don’t attend if you are sick. If you do attend while you’re sick, don’t touch too much and don’t over-exert yourself either, drinking water also helps. Doing these small things could help keep people from getting sick.