Around the middle of March, 2020, the CoronaVirus set foot into society in New Jersey, and all of the other states in America . Thousands of lives were changed dramatically within days because of the pandemic and a lot of peoples’ everyday activities were altered for the worse. Poverty rates skyrocketed, people were losing their jobs, businesses were being shut down, people were dying left and right, but a major change that occurred was the closing of schools. Schools all around the country were being converted to all virtual learning in a matter of days. This caused a huge deal of uncertainty for all of the students without the country, especially in New Jersey. Governor Murphy talked of a full state shutdown, while many superintendents of schools talked of only being quarantined for 2 weeks, which then extended to one month, and ultimately lasted the rest of the school year. It is now November of 2020 and most New Jersey schools have acted on the hybrid way of schooling, meaning students only go into school two times a week. Although this has been a sign of improvement from not going to school at all, virtual learning continues to show countless reasons why in person learning is much more effective and efficient. Virtual learning has become an underlying problem that most don’t even recognize fully. It has led to a plethora of negative effects, not only physically, but mentally for students.
In spite of the fact that some may prefer virtual schooling methods more, it needs to come to an end soon in order to revive the motivation in the youth generations to want to learn and become more knowledgeable of the lessons that are put in front of them each day. Change is required in order to ensure full succession in educating all levels of students. We, as a society of the youth generation, have suffered enough from being forced to stay home and having to try to enjoy school sitting alone, with no other peers to interact with.
It is necessary to emphasize the negative aspects of virtual learning. According to edmediagvu.weebly.com, it states, “There are several disadvantages to virtual schools that have left parents uneasy” (Disadvantages paragraph 1). Some of these disadvantages include technical challenges, safety, lack of interaction, lack of motivation, and preparedness. To start, technical challenges can cause a lot of frustration for an individual. Computers are much more difficult to manage than paper that is given by a teacher. Sometimes there are network problems or unexpected updates that take hours long and prevent one from completing an assignment. Other times there may be problems emailing a teacher and an individual can’t ask a question, or a glitch occurs and they are kicked out of a zoom call. All of the problems that occur cause major frustration and take away from a students opportunity to learn. Additionally, safety issues have aspired due to virtual learning. The internet is not always the safest place, and having to be on it a lot more than usual leads to a higher risk of putting one’s privacy in jeopardy. While attending virtual school, there is no teacher that is supervising at all times considering cameras, and microphones, may be off during the class. This allows for some students to become easily distracted by using social media instead of participating in class, which can ultimately lead to online predators, and hackers, to become more relevant within society. To add, the lack of interaction plays a major role in negative mental effects on students. Due to the fact that students can not be face to face with their peers, communication skills tend to disappear. Everyone is so used to sitting in front of a screen that when the time finally comes that we can see others face to face, no one will know how to interact properly with one another. The lack of interaction also affects learning methods such as hands on learners, who are forced to miss out on personal instructions by the teacher. Also, the lack of motivation comes with virtual learning. It is inevitable for students in high school, and middle school, to procrastinate. However, this procrastination is often managed by teachers and other advisors. Since there isn’t much supervision, and there is a surplus of distractions at home, procrastination becomes much more frequent and work never gets done. Lastly, unpreparedness comes with not being in school. When at home, it is hard to find a really efficient working area to lay out school supplies used for each class and have complete focus, whereas in school, almost every student is provided a desk to have their supplies ready to be used. Not only does this affect organization but it causes many students to feel unprepared for college. The workload in college is much more frightening than in highschool. Thus, if procrastination becomes much more of a habit, grades in college will be treacherous compared to those in highschool.
To further expand on the negatives of virtual schooling, it is important to analyze the statistics provided by certain peer reviewed sources. According to Neil Kokemuller, writer for education.seattlepi.com, statistics show, “A study revealed in July 2011 by the Columbia University Community College Research Center indicated that Washington community college students were more likely to drop online classes than traditional ones. Course completion for traditional courses was 90 percent, and for online classes, it was 82 percent. Additionally, students in the study who took online courses were less likely to complete a degree or transfer to another college. Students studied in 2004 who took at least one fall online class were 34 percent likely to drop out after one year compared to 26 percent who only took face-to-face classes” (Kokemuller paragraph 5). Due to the inclusion of virtual online classes, students have been noticeably dropping out of school at a much higher rate than students who participate in face to face schooling. Additionally, it is not only important to analyze these present negative effects on students, but sources show that continuing virtual schooling may lead to various negative long term effects as well. According to the News 12 staff of connecticut.news12.com, it was stated by pediatrician Dr. S. Amna Husain, “I’m seeing higher rates of anxiety, and higher rates of depression” (News 12 Staff paragraph 1). She goes on to continue by explaining, “The longer we sort of prolong our children kind of staying out of school or not getting that face-to-face time, they fall further and further behind” (News 12 Staff paragraph 2). Anxiety and depression is growing at rapid rates due to virtual school, and having to be separated from peers. If we don’t go back to in person schooling soon, these health issues are only going to get worse. Unfortunately, negative mental effects of having to shelter in place already led to some cases of suicide. According to Arianna Prothero, a writer for edweek.org, “ In the first full week of April, Chris Evans, the superintendent of a Sacramento-area school district, received a call one evening informing him that two high school students had died by suicide in the past 24 hours” (Prothero paragraph 1). She continues by explaining, “Later that week, 50 miles away in Stockton, Calif., Hillary Harrell, the principal at Bear Creek High School would receive a similar call from her school’s resource officer notifying her that one of her students had died by suicide” (Prothero paragraph 3). Due to having to be isolated and away from all of their peers, these poor victims could not handle the idea of being alone and fell to the pressure. It is our job to make change and possibly save an individual’s life before it is too late.
After analyzing the countless negative effects of virtual learning, it is clear that change is desperately needed. Going back to school would help solve all of these problems that occur daily due to virtual schooling, and will provide numerous positive outcomes for society as a whole. According to parisscholarpublishing.org it was explained that most schools were expected to reopen completely by the end of summer 2020. Although this may be true for some schools in other states, this isn’t particularly true in New Jersey. In New Jersey, many schools have resulted in hybrid schooling which means that the students are divided by their last names, A-L and M-Z, and half of the alphabet goes into school Monday and Tuesday, while the other half goes Thursday and Friday. Everybody is virtual on Wednesday for school cleaning. Although this is improvement from not being in school at all. It still has many students feeling fairly alone. Many students are forced to split from their friends and only have about 3 kids in a single class. It is nothing like what school used to be, which is why depression rates are still increasing, and motivation levels are still extremely low.
With my proposal, in a perfect world, I am hoping to go back to 5 days a week and return to normal schooling. However, I understand that that might be a stretch which is why I am willing to propose a similar idea of going to school 4 days a week, and having one day be full virtual so that schools could be cleaned thoroughly. This proposal would be implemented as soon as possible so that students can go back to enjoying school and learning with their peers.
However, I do expect a great variety of complications to come along with this process. A major problem would be convincing those who are still worrisome about getting the coronavirus. Although I completely understand the concerns it is important to analyze the mortality rate of the coronavirus for individuals who do attend school. For those of us in highschool, and in college, the age range is from about 15–24 years old. According to cdc.gov, it is stated that out of the 257,000 deaths in America, around 27,000 of those deaths include individuals from the 15–24 age range. However, only 418 of those 27,290 cases are deaths strictly involving the coronavirus, the other 26,872 cases involved other underlying health issues along with the coronavirus. This means that the chances of the coronavirus single handedly killing an individual of a student in the 15–24 age range is around 0.1%. This shows that COVID-19 is not much of a danger to us as teens, but more so for older generations. Although these statistics provide a clear enough picture on why the coronavirus is not as scary as it seems, it is understandable why some would still rather play it safe. We would still wear masks and follow other covid guidelines, but if it is more comfortable for an individual to stay home, they are more than welcome to remain going to school virtually. In addition to worries about the coronavirus, another complication would be the number of students that prefer virtual schooling over face to face schooling because it is easier in certain ways.
Although it may be true that some students find virtual schooling to be easier, there are a plethora of reasons why in school learning is the best solution. According to www.ahomeeducation.co.uk, “School learning leaves parents more time to path out their own tasks and/or career during everyday life” (Homeschool vs School Education paragraph 2). Aside from in school learning being more beneficial for students, it also helps out the parents decently. This website continues by mentioning “Also a school based education usually allows both parents to bring in an income, if that is desired” (Homeschool vs School Education paragraph 3). This further explains the benefits for parents of children who attend school. Additionally, another positive aspect of going to school rather than being virtual would be the environment. It is stated, “A school teaching environment offers qualified teachers who will usually have experience with various teaching methods as well as in their own specialist subject, and schools also have specialist teachers and staff available, for example career counsellors and PE teachers. This may especially affect children with special educational needs who further benefit from expert teaching and care” (Homeschool vs School Education paragraph 4). Being in a teaching environment allows for more efficient learning for all students.
In addition, in school learning is the better option because it allows for more methods of learning. According to teachtci.com, there are a variety of different learning styles that need to be accounted for when deciphering which method is most effective for a student to comprehend knowledge. While in school, teachers provide a variety of learning styles and adapt to their students. However, virtual schooling makes it hard for teachers to connect with their students. With this absence of connection, teachers are not able to adapt to their students’ learning styles and maintain a single teaching method that may be less effective for some students than others. To continue, teachtci.com provides information about how in school learning provides social interaction that is needed for human social skills. Being surrounded by other classmates allows for students’ communication skills to prosper which will aid them in the future.
In conclusion, it is crucial that we, as New Jersey students, go back to school and stray away from virtual learning. After a thorough analysis, it is clear to see the negative effects of virtual schooling that are gradually getting worse each day. These negative effects include some aspects such as a lack of interaction, a lack of motivation, higher rates of dropping out, higher rates of anxiety and depression, parents having to stay home rather than work and provide more income for the family, increase in technological problems, and overall a much worse schooling experience than being surrounded by teachers and classmates who may help in the gaining of knowledge process along the way. The Board of Education must act fast in order to put an end to these negative effects that are slowly taking over youth generations. To make this proposal a reality, the Board of Education for the state of New Jersey must come together and come to the conclusion of reopening schools. Health issues will most likely be the only factor holding them back and for this I say that we will continue to follow all health guidelines provided by the cdc. We will continue to wear masks, continue to wash our hands before and after classes, and maintain social distancing. We will follow the oneway hallway systems in order to ensure that there is no lingering and no locker usage. We will continue daily temperature checks and possibly even include monthly corona testings. Lunches will still be more isolated and days could still be shortened. If going back five days a week is too much to ask, we can start with four days a week and leave Wednesdays for deep cleaning of the school. With all of these guidelines still in act, the health of the students, and teachers, are ensured and schooling will be able to go back to normal. This idea of virtual schooling heavily impacts the senior class in ways that can’t be given back. Seniors are forced to stay home by themselves in their last year of high school. They cannot surround themselves with their peers that they have gone to school with since they were little. Senior year is one of the most important years of schooling because it is the last time an individual will get to be around a majority of their fellow classmates before they enter the real world. However, this privilege to spend time with other classmates is stripped as of right now and they are forced to sit in front of a computer, alone, instead. Let’s go back to school and fight for the happiness of our students.