I shouldn’t have to say this, but I will. Could we please stop using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to not do schoolwork?
On Instagram, students mock CHCCS’s policies about snow under the guise of being afraid of COVID. In the halls, students beg for school to be cancelled or online for a few weeks so they can get an easy A in the second quarter. Yet outside of school, students by and large carry on with their daily lives, no matter the impact of the Omicron variant.
I understand that there are students who legitimately fear infection with Omicron because they or close family members are at a high risk. These people have a reason to take precautions in and out of school. I am concerned for the rest of the population, who use this as an excuse to avoid the responsibilities of being a student.
School going online, although it would likely offer less work and a more relaxed schedule, is no innocent pleasure. For students, Google Meet doesn’t work for everybody, particularly those who are currently struggling. For parents of young children, they now must stay home to oversee their lessons. For teachers, it may lead to an increased workload and an even higher rate of burnout.
There’s also a deeper problem: School isn’t superfluous, but rather a necessity. Shallow learning from vaguely listening to an online lecture doesn’t prepare students for college, the workforce, or even the rest of high school. CHCCS has already missed more in-person learning than most of the country. Getting further behind imperils our future prospects.
However, I’m also concerned about the ways in which this reflects a neglect of the rest of our society. People are faking concern for their neighbors in order to justify the personal benefit of easier online classes. There are reasonable people who argue that schools should go online because of Omicron’s spread, but it’s ridiculous to argue that schools should be shut down because students want easy As.
It’s past time for students to realize that COVID is about more than just them. The decision to change CHCCS’s COVID measures rests in the hands of scientists and education professionals, not online mobs. This is how it should be.
