With the surge of COVID-19 cases in our community, leaders in our city, state, and nation have been urging citizens to stay at home as much as possible. These orders have led to the closure of many businesses, including schools. Of course, learning is a very big part of what it means to be a student, and school districts across the nation weren’t going to let this pandemic get in the way of students expanding their knowledge.

Remote learning has its advantages and disadvantages, and students are learning how to cope with new sets of challenges online. Some students like the idea of school from home, such as Brayden Rooks, 8th. “I like online school because it’s self paced and takes less time than school normally lasts,” he said. 

There are a lot of advantages to online schooling, such as learning at your own pace and being able to learn in a more comfortable environment. Having a more flexible schedule is also a perk of distance learning, but not every student likes the idea of remote learning.

At home, students have to be responsible for other things apart from schoolwork. The amount of work that builds up can cause a lot of stress, and it can be hard to keep up with schoolwork that was usually a breeze to do. “I’m honestly not a fan of online school because of the distractions there are at home. At school, all we had to do was work, but at home, there is so much more we can do, so it’s hard to just sit down and work,” said Shelby Rettmann, 8th. 

Other students don’t like remote learning because of the lack of social interaction. “I don’t like online school because I’m so used to being there in person and I enjoy it more when there are other people to learn with me,” said Nianna Shaffer, 8th.

And it’s not only affecting students; this pandemic is affecting the mental health of millions of people. According to a poll made by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on national health care issues, 45 percent of those surveyed reported that this crisis had an impact on their mental health. That’s why it is more important than ever to stay connected, to stand strong during these troubling times. 

While distance learning becomes more and more prevalent in our society, it is important to realize the purpose behind our shift online: to protect others.  Even though it has its drawbacks, we must overcome them so that we can slow the spread of COVID-19. Learning from home is now an option that could potentially save many lives.

Sources:

A guide made by the CDC about school closures: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/considerations-for-school-closure.pdf

Government website with up-to-date information on the virus: https://www.coronavirus.gov/