Whether sick or tired, the student may find that sleeping can fill a significant part of the day. Indeed, the student may need the sleep to recover from an illness or return him to a state where he feels more ready to deal with school. He may find sleeping in an enjoyable alternative to sitting in class, or he may discover that the required bed rest compels him to recover and get out of the house.
Some students may decide to catch up on schoolwork when staying home. She may decide that staying current with studies prevents her from having a considerable load of make-up work when returning to school.
Since most teachers and students have Internet access, the student can communicate with the instructor and get the current assignments. She might also email her assignments to the teacher if her time at home will be more than a day or so. This can keep her current with her classmates and provide her with some activity during the day.
A student might spend the day playing on the computer or chatting. With a variety of gaming options and online communication choices, he may spend the entire day on the computer and not notice the passage of time. This time may not prove to be productive, but many students already spend a considerable amount of time doing so each day according to video-game-addiction.org. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 87 percent of students age 12 to 17 in 2005 said they are online and more than 50 percent admit they go online at least once a day. In 2005, 81 percent of teens admit to playing games online.
Students who stay home from school may spend much of the day texting friends as one way to stay in touch. According to the April 20, 2010 report by Pew Internet and American Life Project, 54 percent of teens text friends daily in 2009 and one in three sends more than 100 texts each day. Hypertexters may send 120 or more texts each day according to a WebMD news article by Bill Hendrick on Nov. 9, 2010.
Some students may choose to watch television or movies while at home from school. With a wide variety of channels to choose from through cable, satellite and other subscriber sources, the student may find something interesting to watch almost anytime of the day or night.