By Ryan Lynch
March 12, 2020: It’s 9:50 a.m: Halfway through second block. Less than an hour till lunch. You think about the gossip you’ll share with your friends at the table or the homework you’ll rush to finish before third period. Oh, the days.
April 2: It’s 9:50 a.m.: Halfway through hitting snooze for the third time. Less than an hour till your mom’s yelling at you to get out of bed. You open your computer to your own reflection staring back at you–a completely blank expression, paired with messy hair and the pj’s you’ve been wearing for three days straight.
For many Morristown High School students, this has been their daily routine. As we round the corner of the third week of online learning, many teenagers have learned to adapt to their new lifestyle.
Although most students have been able to adjust to life behind a screen, opinions regarding this new schooling differ drastically.
Many of my classmates explain that online assignments are often “busy work” and don’t have instructional value. Even more voice their concerns about grades, as tasks are worth few points and/or are not weighted as heavily.
Yet, this is the price we must pay. Given the circumstances, learning new material can be difficult, and teachers do not want to assign work that might negatively affect a student’s grade. The most resonating and redundant comment, however, was that students feel they’ll be unprepared to go back to school, if that is the case.
On the other hand, some students enjoy instruction from the comfort of their beds, and report that they are able to focus more without in-school distractions. Even more love the freedom and the flexibility that an 11:59 p.m. deadline provides.
No matter the student or how they feel about online learning, one thing is for certain: Nothing will ever compare to face-to-face contact.
Classes, entire teams, and friends alike have taken advantage of apps like Zoom and FlipGrid to stay in touch. Although these apps provide some feelings of unity and normalcy, teachers miss their students, players miss their coaches, and teenagers need their friends.
Ryan Lynch, Morristown High School ’21, writes for the MHS Broadcaster.
