Online School: Necessary but Damaging
With Covid-19 affecting schools nation-wide, BVSD students have felt the impact of online learning, especially during the first month of school.
Online school is suffocating. It is a boring, unengaging schlock, with no purpose other than to take the place of the real school we can’t attend. It’s necessary, yet it does an incredibly poor job of replicating in-person learning. While boring to those who have breezed through high school so far, online learning further damages the mental health of those suffering from mental illnesses. Limited social interaction resulting from COVID-19 already has severe, negative implications for mental health. The reality of staring at a screen for six hours a day while being expected to produce high-quality work deals a further blow to a student’s mental state. For students with a mental illness, these effects are only worsened.
I set up an anonymous online survey to see students’ opinions on online school. Out of a group of 175 students, 50.3% said that they do not enjoy online school, while 27.4% said that they do. The other 22.3% said that they might. When asked whether they have a mental illness, 62.1% said that they do not, 25.3% said they do , while 12.6% said they might. The overall response to online school is ultimately negative. While it is not certain online school is bad for everybody, it seems that online school is mentally draining.
Mental illness is prevalent in modern society, among high school age kids doubly so. Many who have mental illness struggle due to a lack of social interaction or mental stimulation, whether it’s due to the illness itself or some other factor. Isolating students from their peers, keeping them trapped in a room forced to sit at a computer all day while a teacher drones on about something that’s being tuned out, certainly isn’t the way to help any struggling students.
Senior Elanra Spiritwind says, “Online school is extraordinary. I’m used to it by now… but my focus is definitely harder to work on. The level of attention and concentration I have is not very high, so it’s straightforward for me to get distracted when I don’t have a teacher’s eyes on me. I am more afraid to ask questions in a way, so online has definitely not helped my confidence. I can turn my camera off and mic, unlike being in a classroom in an assigned desk.”
“Online school is less work, but it’s mentally and physically exhausting from having to sit in front of a screen all day. It gets very lonely being at home without many interactions as well,” expressed senior Nathan Lee.
While students seem to be getting more used to online school, there is no fix because online school cannot be as socially engaging and interactive as a normal school. After all, there is no good learning space for the students. Kids are constantly urged to get outside and off computers and screens, but now it seems they have no choice. Teachers are doing their best to make online schooling work, which is evident in the courses they’ve set up and the adaptations they make so that online classes can work. But that doesn’t change the reality that online school is extremely stressful while also mundane beyond measure. For many, online school is and will continue to be a massive struggle that isolates and damages while teaching little.
Lucca Swain is a senior writer for The Owl and is currently in his third year of working for the publication. Lucca joined The Owl because he loves writing about and exposing readers to the topics and ideas that fascinate him, and this year he is extra committed to furthering that goal, despite how challenging it can be. In his free time, Lucca enjoys reading, listening to music, and exercising. Lucca also is also a firm believer that green grapes are superior to their purple brethren in every way, especially in flavor and texture.
Monica • Dec 14, 2020 at 10:18 pm
I completely agree with everything you said in this article, and you made some very good points. Online school has definitely severed a lot of social interaction, and although some people are still seeing their family and close friends, I think that the basic human connection we used to experience in schools is unmatched now that most interactions are through a screen. Even personally, I have felt that this limits my motivation to do work and makes it harder to focus, and I related very much to both what you wrote and what the people you quoted had to say. Your explanation of how harmful online school is to mental health was also very important and I am glad you wrote about it because it is something more people need to discuss. Of course, as you said, there really isn’t much to be done in terms of solving this situation, and I am simply hoping that with new vaccines being introduced school might eventually become normal again.
T. Wagner • Dec 14, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Great article! It’s incredibly important for teachers to consider the strain caused by online learning, as well as for students to realize the problems their teachers face. I’ve had an almost non-stop headache for about three months caused by too much time spent on a screen, and my vision has also gotten significantly worse. Yet still, many people have it worse than me. Extroverts, in particular, are harmed by this approach, as are people who have trouble concentrating or need extra help from their teachers. Those with mental illnesses face the brunt of the impact, and I think it’s important to bring awareness to that. On top of that, those without access to wifi or devices are at a severe disadvantage, which reflects unfairly in their grades; those in disadvantaged positions are being one-sidedly impacted, often dealing with the impact of, for instance, working jobs to support their families, or having a lack of internet or devices on which to learn. Online schooling is a solution, sure, but it’s not a perfect one, and it’s good to draw attention to that fact so that people can start thinking of ways to lessen the burden.