14 Percent: Bad Medicine

Percentage of parents who say they've sent a child to school with a fever higher than 100 degrees. Nearly 40 percent of parents report sending a child to school sick, but slightly more than that -- 45 percent -- missed up to six days of work last year while caring for a sick child, and 36 percent lost wages as a result. Despite the typical assumption that kids would do anything to stay home from school, when asked whether they'd rather do away with homework or with being sick, kids ages 5-10 prefer to wipe out illness.

Source: "Back to School Spells G-E-R-M-S." Clorox Survey, 2006.