How High Schoolers are reacting to online school

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What a students virtual school setup may look like.

Drew Maddox, Editor In Chief

School is one of the main things that has been affected during the pandemic, as it is a huge gathering of people. However, education is too important for COVID-19 to restrict it.

This past year has been extremely challenging for high school students while schools pivot to the easiest option by using online tools such as Microsoft Teams to help students be more engaged in their classes while staying safe at home. Students are trying to adapt to the new digital systems which has many negative outcomes. Technology also comes across many issues daily and it affects the way students retain information and get work done. 

High school students are having a difficult time adjusting to their new learning environments and finding positive reasons to learn from home. One of the best things about going to school is seeing your peers and being social, especially in high school. Doing school digitally means staying at home all day. It’s obvious that students are constantly staying in their rooms all day and staring at a screen while they are at home. This causes complaints from the students about not being able to socialize with their friends like they would on a regular school day. 

Many high schoolers have been polled about their online learning experiences and most results were negative. According to The New York Times, many teens feel like the workload is overwhelming and they are missing out on their high school experience. One student in particular, Stephan T. Easton, says, “I find it impossible to actually learn anything new through the distance learning.” Doing assignments online is challenging because you have to teach yourself about the topic and it’s sometimes hard to find the usual help from teachers or classmates. He feels that it’s easier to be less stressed about deadlines when you’re at home but teachers are still putting a huge workload on students and some teens have a more difficult time staying organized and keeping track with work than others. 

For other students, having this time to do school in a more comfortable environment has positive outcomes such as making their own schedule throughout the day or logging onto a class in the comfort of their own bed. While there are some positive outcomes, most high schoolers still prefer to be at school in a more effective learning environment, even during a crazy pandemic. 

Elementary and middle school students are also experiencing many challenges. Click here to see Rachel Sandstrom’s article about how they are adapting to online school.