Most Texas students will spend the first three weeks of the school year learning online from home, the Texas Tribune reported, despite evidence indicating no significant risk for in-person instruction.
Jessica Baker, a senior at Deer Park High School, told the Houston Republic that she feels every student should have the option to go back to school rather than learning online.
”We’re not getting the same education opportunities right now,” she told the Houston Republic. “We’re just not learning the same that we would if we were in a school building, and we’re not even given the choice.”
Despite the lack of choice for Baker and her classmates, a French study demonstrated that school children aren’t even spreading COVID-19, Bloomberg reported. Australia has discovered the transmission rate even among older students is very low, Business Insider reported.
Policies that keep students behind computer screens and away from their classmates to avoid minor medical risks also put their mental health is suffering.
”A lot of students’ mental health is suffering pretty bad right now,” Baker told the Houston Republic.
Even just stress over the level of education they are receiving and whether they are being properly prepared for college is creating mental health problems for her classmates, Baker said. That is on top of the social opportunities students are missing.
Baker, a member of the school marching band, said that they have not been able to practice all summer or attend any camps.
A CDC study of the mental health effects of coronavirus restrictions has already documented the negative effects of loss of social interaction, CNN reported.
Baker also said that while teachers do what they can to help students get their coursework completed, it is still difficult for students to keep up through virtual learning.
”They realize some kids are at home with siblings that they’re having to take care of because their parents are working. Some kids are in just loud households. Some kids don’t do well at home, just for whatever reason,” she told the Houston Republic.
In addition to all the distractions and added concerns students learning from home face, they also are often receiving watered-down lessons as educators try to create workloads that they can meet in the midst of those challenges, Baker said.
While fear has dictated much of the policies around the coronavirus pandemic, Baker said she isn’t scared. Students who are at high-risk or have someone high-risk in their household should have the option to stay home. But that shouldn’t be applied as a blanket solution to everyone.
”I’m ready to get back; I’m not scared,” she told the Houston Republic. “I’m not high-risk, myself. No one in my immediate household is.”
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