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Have your friends been absent recently? They most likely were sick. It's flu season, but a different flu than usual is taking over. Swine flu. It has been an issue that many people are VERY worked up about. If you remember from last spring, some schools had to temporarily close because of the sickness.

To review, H1N1, better known as Swine Flu, has been a sickness that has become a pandemic. There is still a shortage of the vaccine. Everyone knows that this flu is no joke. At the high school up the road, there was a swine flu outbreak. Five hundred people caught the flu and had to miss their homecoming. An interesting fact about the swine flu vaccine is that it's a little bit of the germ, so that your body recognizes the germ and is able to fight it right away when you are at risk of actually getting the H1N1.

How do I protect myself from getting the swine flu? Well, first the obvious, WASH YOUR HANDS. If you can't reach a sink and get some soap, you can easily use

hand sanitizer. Don't touch your mouth, eyes, or nose before washing or sanitizing your hands. Make sure wash your hands after f you touch a commonly used object. As you can see, washing your hands constantly is the key to not getting this virus.

Consideration tips:

· Stay home for at least 24 hours after you are fever-free before coming back to school, because you may still be contagious.

· Coughing on your hands can easily spread the virus, even if you think that you have already recovered from the sickness. Make sure that when you do cough, you cough straight into your elbow, and point your elbow away from your friends AND other people.

Everyone knows one of the biggest issues in America... Health care.

Maybe you heard about it on the news, from your parents, or at school. But one way or another almost everyone has heard about the health care issue. Some say President Obama's plan will work... some say it won't, but before you decide, here is some info to fill you in:

Millions of Americans don't have health insurance. That makes going to the doctor or dentist a lot more expensive. Some people can't afford it at all. The main objective of the health care plan is to provide every citizen in the U.S with affordable health insurance. But how do we do it? There are a lot of important questions to be answered. For example, should the insurance be provided by a private company or the government? Should there be any limits on the type or amount of health care provided? How will we pay for it? These are questions that senators and congressmen/women are currently debating.

Do you think the bill should be passed? Do you think the proposal is a step forward or backward? If kids could vote, what would you say?

a) I think the bill should be passed

b) I think it shouldn't be passed

c) I don’t know

Email your responses to ifkidscouldvote@gmail.com. Your opinions will be in the next issue!