How is Virtual School affecting students and parents?

By: Leo Gast

For most students, a regular school day consists of waking up before the sun, rushing to the bus, and squeaking into a desk by 7:40. Now, they get up after sleeping in, roll over, and grab a computer to start the day.

About a month ago, COVID-19 forced over 10 million K-12 students in the US online all at once, disrupting families all around. For many, the experience has been a mixed bag. Some of the people enjoyed the freedom, while others struggled to adapt.

Aton attends school at Stirling elementary, or so he did. He says “I like online school more because, I don’t have to sit in a desk all day and I am not in a big building all the time”. He explained that he still gets to talk with his friends but that it’s not the same. What is interesting is that his mother feels the same way. She said that she loves having the kids home and feels she is getting the bonding experience of the century being able to home-school them. The mother said “I feel like I am getting closer to my family and I will take what I can during these times”.

Twins Alexander and Atticus Chrisant who are both attending Nova South Eastern High School also like online school more than standard school. The reasons being mainly the freedom, but another key factor is the wake up time. They used to wake up at 5:40 AM and now they wake up around 1:00 PM. They play with friends a lot more, they just do it differently. ” whenever I am finished working, I get online and play games with my friends, its an all around good time”. Their mother unfortunately disagree’s and feels “Pain” whenever dealing with virtual schooling. She says it is a reasonable substitute for a few days but that it needs to be looked at and revised if reports are correct and that the will virus continue into oncoming months. She is often helping her children and working full time as a nurse at Joe Dimagio, this meaning she has no time for any glitch’s or questions. She hopes they will get back soon so that she can focus on her work.

Lastly is Mika Elby who lives on campus at the University of Maryland. He explains that it is widely different from his average day at school. He says he is not easily distracted and that “I like in person teaching because I can get my results quicker, plus I live on campus. Whenever I am out and about I am met with whats looks like a ghost town.” He says that he hopes this ends soon. His mom Tami and his dad Stu both feel he is missing out on the college experience. They carried those moments with them like diamonds and wouldn’t trade those moments for the world. They hope he will go back soon.

Overall, what is mainly said about virtual school is it is not good enough. The hope is, soon everyone can be going on with their regular way of life and that we will get through this alright. If this is how it will be for a while, then hopefully changes are made to the way virtual school carries out. But the biggest hope is that it ends. Mika said “Freedom is fun, but not this, this is different”