Will schools survive the pandemic?
October 7, 2020
All across the country, school districts have begun to go back to school since the pandemic. Will the experience and significance of school be the same with the new regulations students and teachers must follow?
Changing the dynamic of traditional schools concerns parents, and especially students regarding routine. Change in something that has become so repetitive to the traditional student might have a heavy effect on the learning and social aspects of school. Do you think they’ll be able to do it?
New student life
At Jenison Public School, all faculty and students must wear a mask at all times, unless eating lunch or taking a drink. Many new enforcements including rules and regulations are in place. Their normal six class periods a day now consists of three class periods a day. They have two class blocks. Block A consists of 1st, 3rd, and 5th hour, and Block B consists of 2nd, 4th, and 6th hour. Only having three classes a day cuts down on traffic and passing through the hallways, limiting close interaction between each other. Students obtain the option to do remote online learning, where they can attend Zoom or Google Meet sessions at the time of their normal classes. This allows the remote learners to be able to interact with the teacher, and the kids attending school. The new rules and regulations make it hard for school to feel the same. It feels like a completely different environment, and has been a hard adjustment — Bailey Irwin
Schools mention the lack of communication since mask requirements. Less students communicate in class, resulting in students communicating less with teachers. When wearing masks, students may feel the need to be quiet because of something covering their mouth. “The classrooms have felt very quiet because with our masks on I almost feel silenced,” said senior Cameron Hennip. Especially in the lower school levels, lack of communication could be impactful to the development of children and teen’s social skills.
Do students agree with these rules?
Considering new policies to wear masks, do the students agree with this rule? Do the students agree that this rule keeps them more safe at school? “Wearing a mask at school does not make me feel more safe. Cases are still increasing with people being required to wear masks. It has just become more of a distraction than anything,” stated by Case Hennip. According to the Mayo Clinic, masks are helpful in decreasing the spread of Covid-19: “Yes, face masks combined with other preventive measures, such as frequent hand-washing and social distancing, help slow the spread of the virus.” If they are effective as medical experts say they are, why are people, especially students so apposed to using them? Proper information and education on the benefits of masks could result in students wanting to wear masks. The school should be responsible for informing us on the potential positive effects that wearing face masks can have. We should feel like we want to wear it instead of being forced to — Bailey Irwin
Over time, school systems and the world will begin to fall back into place. We can only hope that it will not affect the students of our generation.