We all clearly remember leaving school for a “2 week” COVID vacation and then those 2 weeks turning into nearly a whole year of online school. Returning to school has caused a lot of different emotions to arise; good and bad for both parents, teachers, and students. I believe in person learning is more efficient for success, but no one talks about the negatives of returning to school; while there aren’t many, the few negatives are hard to overlook. 

The major negative of returning to school is obvious: the potential exposure of coronavirus. For many students and parents the return of in person school has caused worries and anxiety about the spread of Covid-19, online being considered the “safer option”. Many students don’t take COVID seriously by pulling masks down or forgetting the 6 feet distance rule we all agreed to when we decided to come back to school. The statistics of covid 19 since the majority of students and faculty began regularly attending have risen, the average number of new COVID-19 cases in the country increased to about 73,000 a day, about 8,000 more than a week ago  ( Center for disease control and prevention). When we attended classes  online it cut the risk by more than half, and we got comfortable with that. Returning has forced us all to be aware and adapt to the new conditions of in person learning. 

When classes aren’t online we miss some opportunities that may have never been available before. Virtual meetings make it much easier to bring community partners and guests from far away into the classroom. The pros and cons of being online versus in person schooling are very different. For example, a pro of being online is the inclusiveness and lack of limitations.  A main pro for many students and the teachers who taught at home was it made us reach a level of comfortability, we were in our own environments which allowed some students to be able focus more and improve, it was flexible and overall efficient once things were settled. Students who attend online classes were presented with the opportunity to take their education into their own hands, if they logged into class on time that was on them, if they missed an assignment they either checked canvas or didn’t, and some students took that opportunity and excelled. 

Expense is something that went unrecognized while online, students were provided with a chromebook and books from school, and all the traditional materials we would have bought at the beginning of the school year were ignored. A majority of students and parents found it not necessary to spend money on new clothes and supplies when we had all we needed on the screen in front of us.  Families with children in elementary through high school averagely spend $696 on school supplies, clothing and accessories ( NBC news). Alongside the topic of expense parents and students deal with, I can’t forget to mention the faculty and amount spent for heating, air conditioning, lights, food for every student, not needing gas for the schools transportation, etc. It’s pretty self explanatory that the price to teach in person is drastically higher than the price needed for online schooling. 

Are students adapting to our old normal ways of schooling, besides the addition of masks, and the possibility of exposure? As we returned we were forced to break out of the shell being online put us in, we have to be more social and present then what was acceptable online. Students still struggle with that factor. I can agree first hand as one of those students. Being in person has its pros and cons, but you can’t beat the numbers and that is that overall grades were not very impressive when it came to being online, 38% of grades in late October were failing, compared with 8% in normal times ( AP news). Being in person is more efficient for success even after bringing attention to the negatives of returning.